On The Centralization Of Power, In The Late Qing

New policy at the end of Qing Dynasty was self-help measures Qing Dynasty adopted to retrieval the crisis of governing, but the actual results was that a series of measures of New policy had not only promoted the modernization of China, but also had speeded up the destruction step of Qing Dynasty.The primary reason lay in the centralization measures of New policy intensified various contradictions .In the late Qing Dynasty, based on internal disorder and external invasion of unprecedented magnitude and the objective situation that local forces had already grown strong, in addition strong authority desire of New policy highest decision-makers Ci Xi and Zai Feng, Qing court had gone from bad to worse on the consistent direction of centralization.First, in the reform of the bureaucratic establishments, Qing Court not only maintained imperial power in adjustment of administrative bodies, but also centralized power to Man Nationality Qingui in arrangement of executive staff. Second, in the reform of military affairs, Cixi contended urgently for military authority with local Du fu and centralized military power to central insititutions;Zaifeng focused military power on royal Qingui radically. As far as the direction of centralization, it changed from central institutions of Cixi times to royal Qingui of Zaifeng times. The measures of centralization in Cixi times were comparatively flexible and limited to the range that government officials acquiesced in, but the reform of Zaifeng times was beyond the society's elasticity range then.The more and more serious centralization measures durning New policy not only intensified the contradiction between the central authority and local governments, more over aggravated centrifugal tendencies of local forces, but also strengthened the inside fighting which had already been serious in the ruling class of Man Nationalty, futher stimulated the national emotion of Han Nationality people so that the ethnic conflicts between Man Nationalty and Han Nationality turnend to whtie-hot. In short, the intensified centralization measures Cixi and Zaifeng had carried out successively durning New policy at the end of Qing Dynasty were same as constraints to itself, had stimulated a lot of contradictions and accelerated the rapid collapse of Qing court. Regarding this, Zaifeng should shoulder primary responsibility for his wrong decision-making and out of control operation.