Xu Xilin (December 17 1873 – July 7 1907), was a Chinese revolutionary born in Dongpu,

Shanyin Shanyin County () is a county in the northwest of Shanxi province, China. It is under the administration of Shuozhou City. The Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), ...

Shaoxing Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitant ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. Xu was sent to Japan in 1903 for study where he joined other Zhejiang students in rescuing

Zhang Taiyan Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known by his art name Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist, textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary. His philological works include ''Wen Shi'' (文始 "The Origin of Writing"), t ...

, who was arrested for spreading anti-Qing views. Xu set up a publishing house and a public school called Yuejun in Shaoxing with Zong Nengsu and Wang Ziyu. Xu was recommended into the China restoration Society,

Guangfuhui {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Guangfuhui ( zh, t=光復會, p=Guāngfùhuì, l=Revive the Light Society), or the Restoration Society, was an anti-Qing organization established by Cai Yuanpei in 1904. Many members were from Zhejiang. Notable me ...

in 1904 by

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

and

Tao Chengzhang Tao Chengzhang (January 24, 1878 – January 14, 1912) was a Chinese political leader during the Xinhai Revolution period. He was one of the founders of the Restoration Society, along with Cai Yuanpei and others. In 1905 he founded the Datong ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. Xu entered the imperial exams and he met his cousin,

Qiu Jin Qiu Jin (; 8 November 1875 – 15 July 1907) was a Chinese revolutionary, feminist, and writer. Her courtesy names are Xuanqing () and Jingxiong (). Her sobriquet name is Jianhu Nüxia (). Qiu was executed after a failed uprising against the Qi ...

. He introduced her into the Guangfuhui. 徐錫麟行刑前

Fan Ainong was a student of Xu. Xu refused to join

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...

's revolutionary league, the

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China (or T'ung-meng Hui, variously translated as Chinese United League, United League, Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, Chinese Alliance, United Allegiance Society, ) was a secret society and underground resistance movement ...

, when his Guangfuhui organization was merged into it. In 1906, Xu purchased an official rank and was placed in charge of police HQ of Anqing in Anhui province. On July 6, 1907, he was arrested before the scheduled Anqing Uprising, part of the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...

. During his interrogation, Xu said he had murdered En Ming, provincial governor of Anhui Province, just because En Ming was a Manchu, and he had a hit list of Manchu officials he was prepared to assassinate, admitting that he hated Manchus in general. He was executed the next day by

slow slicing ''Lingchi'' (; ), translated variously as the slow process, the lingering death, or slow slicing, and also known as death by a thousand cuts, was a form of torture and execution used in China from roughly 900 CE up until the practice ended aro ...

, and his heart and liver were cut out by En Ming's bodyguards; a week later Qiu Jin was beheaded for her association with the plot.

References

External links

Xu Xilin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Xu, Xilin 1873 births 1907 deaths People from Shaoxing Chinese revolutionaries People executed by the Qing dynasty Executed Qing dynasty people People executed by flaying Executed people from Zhejiang