| From Late Qing Dynasty to Early Republic of China, the idea of constitutionalism spread rapidly in China, and it was practiced enthusiastically but yet encountered tremendous setbacks. The Progress Party and Constitutional Studies in the Early ROC shared the same political ideas with the Constitutionalists in the Late Qing, and as a critical force, they took part in the whole process of this movement. Tang Hualong, the research object of this dissertation, was an important leader of the political group, whose political career also began and ended with that movement. The research of his political activities provides a helpful perspective to examine the winding process of constitutionalism in modern China.The political career of Tang Hualong began at the end of1908when he was assigned to participate in the establishment of Hubei Provincial Assembly, and ended at the end of1917when he stepped down as one of the Cabinet Member of Duan Qirui Government. In the year of1918, he was assassinated when travelling in America. According to two important political events in this period, i.e. the1911Revolution and the reconvening of the First Congress, his political career can be divided roughly into three stages:Late Qing, the period of Yuan Shikai Government and Duan Qirui Government.In1908, Qing Government planned to establish Provincial Assemblies. Therefore, Tang went back Hubei. In a few years, the Constitutionalists achieved gathering within provinces and alliance national wide. Tang became the leader of the Constitutionalists of Hubei Province and a celebrity all over the nation. Thus, he gathered various experiences of parliament practice and contacts with all walks of life.In the Early ROC, China apparently established constitutional system, however, the real political power was within the control of Yuan Shikai, who took advantage of the Progress Party in order to suppress Kuomintang. On the other hand, the Progress Party hoped that they would come to power through Yuan’s success. In this process, Tang successfully became the leader of the Progress Party and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. After the dissolution of Congress, he served as education minister. It was until Yuan tried to be an emperor that Tang chose to break with him.After the Congress reconvened, Tang did not change his political views in Yuan’s period. Because of the minority of the representatives of Constitutional Studies in the Congress, his attempts in the Congress and other constitutional efforts all failed. Due to his disappointment, he chose to cooperate with warlords to overthrow the Congress. This has become his unforgivable political stain. Thereafter, he and the Constitutional Studies had to exit the political stage.This dissertation is divided into five chapters. Tang’s political activities in the three periods mentioned above are discussed in Chapter Two, Four and Five respectively. In addition, Chapter One provides Tang’s educational background and the formation of his constitutional ideas. Chapter Three discusses Tang’s political activities during the period of Wuchang Revolution in detail. |
