The Evolvement Of National Structure At The Early Republic Of China

The establishment of R.O.C. has the historical epoch-making signification, which declared the termination of China Feudal Society and establishment of R.O.C.The federal system sprouted from the end of the Qing Dynasty. Sun yat-sen, Liang Qi-chao and other scholars made comprehensive review about federal national structure. The ideology of the federal system spread abroad. At this era, building federal country became the mutual aim of all societies. After the Wuchang Uprising, all provinces declared independent one after another.By the effect of decentralization idea, the delegates accredited by each independent province arrived at Shanghai by Wu chang to attend the conference to discuss how to build R.O.C. At that conference, all of them agreed《An-O of interim government of R.O.C.》. At the stage of interim regulation by all concerned, current national structure had the distinct character of federalism.But after Yuan Shikai established his interim government in Beijing, he enhanced centralization of state power, and promulgated《An regulation of R.O.C.》then ensured restoration of imperialism. Finally, the single national structure was established.This article applied the method of juristic theory and analyzed the historical files to open out the evolvement of national structure at the earlier stage of R.O.C., which expatiated that the centralization of state power under the single form of national structure at the end of Qing Dynasty was overthrown and the germination of federal system. The germination lost its life-force without suitable political soil and was replaced by Yuan Shikai's absolutism of centralization of state power. However, by the reason that Yuan Shikai government didn't dispose the conflict between central government and local authority, this leaded the situation of local warlord occupied each province forcibly at the earlier stage of R.O.C. This situation went down to the establishment of Nan Jing National Government. Sun Yat-sen learned from the historical revolution and issued the idea of decentralization by local government. This idea settled the conflict between central government and local authority preferably, and reacted on the national development actively. To our today's conflict between central government and local authority the experience and lessons of evolvement of national structure at the earlier stage of R.O.C. does also have the meaning of edification.