Constitutional Monarchy In The Late Qing: Conception And Practice

During the late Qing period,advocates of democracy in China were divided into two groups,the Revolutionaries,and the Constitutionalists. Though the two groups were equally committed to securing democracy for China,their ideas about how to achieve this goal differed greatly.From the perspective of the Confucian social tradition,focusing on the discourse of Constitution monarchy,this dissertation analyzes and understands how the constitution has been interpreted.Upon broad discussion within the governing regimes from central to local,Qing Government formally announced to conduct the Constitutional Reform on 1 September 1906.At the ending of period of Empress Dowager's governance,the Principles of Constitution were promulgated, which was the first constitution in the history of China.The Principles of Constitution are highly of Chinese characteristics,which laid down the dual mode of monarchy and constitution of "general powers under the imperial court and other powers entrusted to the public opinions",being new guidelines of traditional China.The reform movement engaged in a creative appropriation,based on limited knowledge of the West,of several notions that were seen as compatible with Chinese culture:the nationstate, mass citizenship,a constitutional monarchy and representative government(local self-government and national parliaments ),and commercial development.In other words,for the reformers,"political modemity" did include the institution of the monarchy.The moral authority of an emperor's critics never extended to challenging the institution itself;nor did it even match the charismatic authority of the emperor,which was rooted both in ancient cosmological notions and in the Confucian social tradition.Of course,"new knowledge" from the West played a major role in this process,but the essential framework remained Confucian.In China's institutional and legal framework,the ancient pedigree and traditional charisma of the monarchy were seen as advantages.Reformers seized on the long-standing links between the sage-king ideal and the Mencian notion of popular legitimacy(minben民本)...