The China Assassination Corps

The China Assassination Corps (Zhīnà Ànshātuán 支那暗殺團) was a radical republican secret organisation active in South China in the 1910-12 period, i.e., at the turning point between Empire and Republic. The Corps was based in Hong Kong, and drew inspiration from similar violent organisations active at the time in Europe and Russia. Hong Kong was obviously at the forefront in terms of penetration of Western views into Chinese society. The Corps also advocated the use of Esperanto to replace Literary Chinese.

The Corps was successful in the assassination of a Manchu general, but failed in its attempts on two other high Qīng officials with the loss of two members. When Guǎngdōng (the southernmost province in South China, just to the north of Hong Kong) declared its independence from the Qīng Court on 9 November 1911, the Corps voluntarily disbanded.

I have found an impressively detailed and lively description of the organisation, complete with a list of its best-known members and a narrative of their actions in the 1910-12 period. The post also provides information on other assassination plots after 1912. The latter are outside of the time frame of a game like The Celestial Empire, but could provide inspiration to a game master willing to spend some time to alter names, locales, and dates.