"Joint-Provinces' Autonomy" Thought And Political Development Of The Late Qing Dynasty

The movement of joint-provinces autonomy that sprang up at the late Qing Dynasty and exerted an important impact on the Chinese political situation of the whole 1920s. During the twenty years prosperous of this movement , the developing process can be divided into three stages. In the first stage, the joint-provinces autonomy thought was proposed as a form of local autonomy accompanying crisis of the Qing dynasty and requirements of the bourgeoisie political participation. It mainly embodies requirements of all the social stratums especially the emerging bourgeoisie against feudalism. The second stage of this movement was put forward for resisting the autocracy of Yuan Shikai reflecting the advocates dissatisfaction for autocracy.In the third stage, focusing on the Northern warlords' tangled fight and end the situation of national division after Yuan Shikais death , the federated autonomy became a vigorous social reform movement to achieve national unity and political democracy. However, as a movement of theoretical reform, the joint-provinces autonomy thought represents strongly implemental and political colors for the bourgeoisies weakness and their own class limitations. It is impossible for the movement to eliminate division of the country among warlords, as well as accomplish the historic task of national reunification.In the process of the federated autonomy movement, from opposing the Qing Dynasty feudal rule and the autocracy of Yuan Shikai, to the evaporating of national unification and decentralization reform in the 1920s, the federated autonomy mainly embodies the political ambition of Chinese advanced intellectuals in modern times and it also promotes the process of political development in China during this period. What is noticeable is that the failure of the federated autonomy movement promoted the spread and the process of Marxism in China, which was the significant content to the Chinese political development. As the important revolution thought of bourgeoisie in the late Qing dynasty ,"Federated autonomy"advocated by academic elite, social celebrities and the warlord strength was once popular. The early 20th century is the federated autonomy booming time when Marxist was widely disseminated throughout China. By the early Marxists critique on the joint-provinces autonomy movement and thought, the revolution movement of bourgeoisie couldn`t adapt to China. As a result, it accelerated the Marxist dissemination in China, and provided the possibility of localization of Marxism in China.