[2] It was formed during the First Sino-Japanese War, after a string of Chinese military defeats exposed corruption and incompetence within the imperial government of the Qing dynasty.

They disguised their activities in Hong Kong at 13 Staunton Street under the guise of running a business called "Kuen Hang Club"[8]: 90  (乾亨行).

[10] Yeung travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa, via Singapore to Chinese laborers and later to Japan, where he stayed from 1896 to 1899, to expand the Revive China Society and spread its ideas.

[11] Throughout this time, on numerous occasions did the society attempt to instigate an uprising in China, one prominent example being in the Spring and Summer of 1899, where the society attempted to incite a rebellion in Guangdong, Hunan and Hubei, where he made friends with Zhang Binglin, and smuggled guns to Ponce's army in the Philippines, however, no uprising materialized, as his allies in Yokohama, where Sun Yat-sen had stayed and begun promoting his ideas, all were too disorganized.

Sun Yat-sen attempted to revitalize the organization, taking trips back to Hawaii, and then to the United States, but failed to garner attention, and stayed in such conditions until it merged with the Tongmenghui and became the Kuomintang.