In 1898, the Chinese ambassador made a contract with the American China Development Company to construct the railway running from Kuangtung through Hunan to Hupei. In 1904, it was discovered that a Belgian syndicate had acquired the majority of interest in the company.
The gentry in Hunan began a campaign to force cancellation of the contract with the company, and it was canceled in 1905. The gentry-merchant in Hunan intended to recover Kuangtung-Hupei railway and to construct the railway without foreign loan. They have expected to develop industry in Hunan.
The Ching Government did not wish the railway to be controlled under the gentry-merchant, and did not believe their ability to construct the railway without foreign loan. In 1909, Chang Chihtung negotiated secretly a loan from a consortium of British, French, and German financiers.
The gentry-merchant and student groups raised a strong protest against nationalization of the railway and foreign loan.
This paper intends to analyze the protest movement in Hunan against the railway policy of the Ching Government.