From constitutional monarchy to republic: The trajectory of Yuan Shikai

Abstract

In the conventional narrative of the 1911 Revolution, the reemergence of Yuan Shikai leads to a series of troubling actions. First, he bargained with the Qing court by taking advantage of the crisis at Wuchang to extract concessions for himself, and then he used the Qing military force to menace the southern revolutionaries. Eventually Yuan used the southern revolutionary threat as a pretext to force the abdication of the Qing emperor. Moreover, he traded his contribution for the position of the first president of the Republic, and thus stole the fruits of victory. This narrative is quite different from the historical facts. As one of the most important higher officials in late Qing times, Yuan played an essential role in pushing the political reforms of the late Qing. His generation of the political elite largely supported constitutional monarchy, consequently he chose to promote political reform to realize a constitutional solution after he returned to the political arena during the 1911 Revolution. Only after realizing that the goal of a constitutional monarchy had been rejected by all the political groups did Yuan follow the trend by supporting republicanism.

Keywords:

• Yuan Shikai
• the 1911 Revolution
• abdication of the Qing emperor

Notes

¹Sun Yat-sen, Sun Zhongshan quanji [The Complete Works of Sun Yat-sen], vol. 1 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), 557.

²Lo Hui-min, ed., Qingmo minchu zhengqing neimu: taiwushi bao zhu Beijing jizhe, Yuan Shikai zhengzhi guwen Qiao·E ·Molixun shuxinji [Inside the Political Arena of the Late Qing and Early Republican Period: Letters of G.E. Morrison, The Times Correspondent at Beijing, and Political Advisor to Yuan Shikai], vol. 2 (Shanghai: Zhishi chubanshe, 1986), 250.

³Zhang Guogan, “Hongxian yiwen” [The Old Stories of the Hongxian Emperor], in Wenshi ziliao xuanji [Selected Materials on History and Culture], vol. 1 (Beijing: Zhongguo wenshi chubanshe, 1986), 133.

⁴On 22 June 1911, Yuan Shikai wrote a letter to Duanfang, the supervisor-minister of railroad construction in Guangdong, Hubei, and Sichuan, criticizing the Railroad Protection movements in the concerned provinces as just “irrational trouble making and a manifestation of the low-quality of the people.” See Wang Ermin and Chen Shanwei, eds., Jindai mingren shouzha zhenji [Photocopied Handwritten Letters of Eminent Modern Chinese People], vol. 9 (Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, 1988), 4261.

⁵John Gilbert Reid, Qing di xunwei yu lieqiang [Manchu Abdication and the Powers 1908–1912], trans. Sun Ruiqin and Chen Zexian (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1982), 271.

⁶Wang Xitong, “Yizhai wenji” [Selected Writings of Wang Xitong], vol. 4, 1939, no publisher information, 17.

⁷Ding Shiyuan, “Meileng zhangjing biji” [Notes of Mengleng Zhangjing], in Jindai bai hai [The Collection of Unofficial Modern History], vol. 1 (Chengdu: Sichuan renmin chubanshe, 1985), 458.

⁸Yuan Shikai, “Yuan Shikai zouzhe” [Yuan Shikai's Memorials], in Xinhai geming [The 1911 Revolution], ed. Zhongguo shixuehui [The Association of Chinese Historians], vol. 8 (Shanghai: Shanghai renmin chubanshe, 1981), 307. Many people did not accept Yuan's explanation in the past, and believed that Yuan was blackmailing the court or avenging his forced retirement in 1908. This was actually groundless. For details, see Ma Yong, “Yuan Shikai baguan guiyin shuo” [A New Interpretation of Yuan Shikai's Dismissal and Retirement], Shixue jikan [Collected Papers of History Studies], no. 4 (2011), 105–10.

⁹Fenggang ji men dizi, ed., Sanshui Liang Yansun xiansheng nianpu [Chronology of Mr Liang Shiyi], vol. 1 (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1990), 100.

¹⁰Huang Xing, “Zhi Yuan Shikai shu” [Letter to Yuan Shikai], in Huang Xing ji [Collected Works of Huang Xing], ed. Hubei sheng shehui kexueyuan [Hubei Academy of Social Sciences] (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981), 81.

¹¹Min Erchang, “Min Erchang jiu cun youguan Wuchang qiyi de handian” [Letters and Telegrams Concerning the Wuchang Uprising in Min Erchang's Personal Archives], Jindaishi ziliao [Modern Historical Materials] 1 (1954): 63.

¹²Li Yuanhong's reply to Yuan Shikai dated 7 November was: “If we talk about peace right now, then we need to relocate the royal house and take care of their food and clothing, but prohibit them from managing our Han people's matters. If we do not overthrow the emperor and seek an easy peace, then there will be nothing we can do in the future.” See Liu Cheng'en, “Liu Cheng'en zhi Yuan Shikai shu” [Liu Cheng'en's Letter to Yuan Shikai], Jindaishi ziliao [Modern Historical Materials] 1 (1954): 69. It is suggested that this was the earliest plan for the abdication and relocation of the Qing emperor and the earliest favorable conditions for him.

¹³Cao Boya, Wuchang geming zhenshi [An Authentic History of the Wuchang Revolution], vol. 2 (repr., Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1982), 263.

¹⁴Guo Xiaocheng, “Yihe shimo” [Peace Negotiation: From Beginning to End], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 66.

¹⁵Cao, Wuchang geming zhenshi, vol. 2, 339.

¹⁶“Zhuerdian jueshi zhi Gelei jueshi dian” [Telegram Sent by Sir Jordan to Sir Gray], dated November 28, 1911, Beijing, in Yingguo lanpishu youguan Xinhai geming ziliao xuanyi [Selected Chinese Translations of the Materials about the 1911 Revolution in the Blue Book of the British Parliament], trans. Hu Bin, vol. 1 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1984), 96.

¹⁷Zhang Daxiang, “Wo suo zhidao de Xu Shichang” [The Xu Shichang that I knew], in Wenshi ziliao xuanji, vol. 48, 224.

¹⁸The Japanese government instructed its chargé d'affaires in England saying that the independence of Chinese provinces was driven by their desire for self-protection and to avoid conflicts with the revolutionaries, not because they were really powerful. For details, see “Riben zhengfu gei riben zhu ying daiban shanzuo yuancilang de zhishi” [The Instruction of the Japanese Government to the Japanese Chargé d'Affaires in England Yamaza Enjirō], in Xinhai gemingshi ziliao xinbian [New Materials from the 1911 Revolution], ed. Zhang Kaiyuan, vol. 8 (Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 2006), 120.

¹⁹“Xuantong sannian shiyue jiuri lutou dian” [Reuters News Report on October 9, 1911], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 196.

²⁰Zhang Guogan, Xinhai geming shiliao [Archival Materials of the 1911 Revolution] (Beijing: Kexue chubanshe, 1958), 289.

²¹Yan Fu, “Yu Chen Baochen shu” [Letter to Chen Baochen], in Yan Fu ji [Collected Works of Yan Fu], vol. 3 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), 503.

²²“Nanbei daibiao huiyi wenda suji lu” [Minutes of the North–South Meeting], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 77.

²³Ibid., 79.

²⁴Qian Jibo, “Xinhai nanbei yihe bie ji” [An Account of the South–North Negotiations in 1911], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 103.

²⁵Liao Shaoyou, “Xin zhongguo wuzhuang jiejue heping ji” [An Account of the Peaceful Solution of Military Conflict in the Founding of the New China], in Xinhai geming ziliao leibian [Sorted Historical Materials of the 1991 Revolution], ed. Zhongguo shehui kexueyuan jindaishi yanjiusuo jindaishi ziliao bianjizu (Beijing: Zhongguo shehui kexue chubanshe, 1981), 377.

²⁶Xia Qingyi, “Yundong beijun fanzheng ji” [Recounting the Defection of the Northern Army], in Xinhai geming ziliao leibian, 404.

²⁷Liu Housheng, Zhangjian zhuanji [A Biography of Zhang Jian] (Shanghai: Shanghai shudian, 1985), 192.

²⁸Zhang, Xinhai geming shiliao.

²⁹Ibid., 300.

³⁰Xu Baoheng, Xu Baoheng riji [Diary of Xu Baoheng], vol. 1 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 2010), 390.

³¹Puwei, “Rang guo yuqian huiyi riji” [Daily Account of the Royal Meetings before Yielding Power], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 113.

³²“Xuantong sannian shi'er yue chuwu ri shu Huguang zongdu Duan Qirui zhi neige junzifu lujunbu dian” [Deputy Governor-General of Hunan and Hubei Duan Qirui's Telegram to the Military Advisory Board and the Ministry of the Army, Dated the 5th Day of the 12th Lunar Month, 1911], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 171.

³³“Xuantong sannian shi'er yue chuqi zhi” [The Imperial Edict, Dated the 7th Day of the 12th Lunar Month, 1911], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 172.

³⁴“Xuantong sannian shi'er yue chuqi ri shu Huguang zongdu Duan Qirui zhi neige dian” [Governor General of Hunan and Hubei Duan Qirui's Telegram to the Cabinet, Dated the 7th Day of the 12th Lunar Month], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 172.

³⁵“Xuantong sannian shi'er yue chuba ri neige Xu Shichang Yuan Shikai deng fu Huguang zongdu Duan Qirui dian” [Telegram of Xu Shichang, Yuan Shikai et al. to Duan Qirui, Governor General of Hunan and Hubei, Dated the 8th day of the 12th Lunar Month], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 174.

³⁶“Xuantong sannian shi'er yue chuba ri huiban jiaofu shiyi diyijun zongtongguan Duan Qirui deng zhi neige qing daizou dian” [Telegram of Duan Qirui, the Commander of Great Qing' First Army of Extermination to the Cabinet Asking for the Transmission of the Message to the Court], in Xinhai geming, vol. 8, 174.

³⁷Yang Du, “Yu Xue Dake deng faqi gonghe cujinhui xuanyanshu” [Manifesto of Initiating the Republic Promotion Society with Xue Dake et al.], in Yang Du ji [Collected Works of Yang Du] (Changsha: Hunan renmin chubanshe, 1986), 543.

³⁸Hou Yijie, Yuan Shikai quanzhuan [A Complete Biography of Yuan Shikai] (Beijing: Dangdai zhongguo chubanshe, 1994), 248.

³⁹Zhongguo diyi lishi dang'an guan, ed., Xuantong chao shangyu dang [Archives of the Imperial Edicts in the Xuantong Reign], vol. 3 (Guilin: Guangxi shifan daxue chubanshe, 2008), 415.

⁴⁰Ibid.