China held a grand ceremony to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the 1911 Revolution, which terminated 2,000 years of imperial rule, on Sunday morning at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

China is marking the centenary of the 1911 Revolution in a ceremony Sunday morning in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The historical event, which began on Oct. 10, 1911, ended 2,000 years of imperial rule in China. [Xinhua]

The 1911 Revolution, or Xinhai Revolution, which began on Oct. 10, 1911 with an armed uprising, ended one of the longest autocratic rule in the world established by Emperor Qinshihuang in B.C.221 by toppling the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and resulting in a republican government, the first in Asia.

Chinese president Hu Jintao and other leaders attended the ceremony. Hu gave a keynote speech.

The revolution not only rid Chinese men of humiliating ponytails and women of the excruciatingly painful foot-binding, but also removed the people's blind faith in the emperor, as well as the fear of foreign powers. The event has since been emancipating people's minds from thousands of years of oppression and self-enclosure.

Since then, the country began to march on the road to become an empowered modern nation.