A Chinese colour woodcut shows revolutionary troops assaulting the walls of Nanjing from several directions as smoke billows from cannon fire and banners fill the crowded battlefield.

1911–1915 · Colour woodcut

Marshal Li recovering Nanjing during the Xinhai Revolution of 1911

Unknown Chinese artist

Why it matters

Unlike Western images that turn China into defeated matter, divided territory, or a sleeping creature, this print makes Chinese participants the agents of political rupture. Troops, banners, smoke, and simultaneous action fill the sheet, carrying the story from imperial crisis into contested revolution.

Publication
Chinese revolutionary woodcut
Holding institution
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division
Shelfmark
FP 2 - JPD, no. 2257 (C size) [P&P]; LC-DIG-jpd-02682
Rights
Public domain; no known restrictions on publication

Unknown Chinese artist. Marshal Li recovering Nanjing during the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, between 1911 and 1915. Colour woodcut. Library of Congress, LC-DIG-jpd-02682.