At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Japan was under the impact of Western capitalist industrial civilization and carried out a top-down, capitalist-natured reform movement.
This reform began in 1868 with the establishment of a new government by the Meiji Emperor, who underwent modern political reforms and established a constitutional monarchy. Economically, it promotes "breeding and rejuvenating industries", learns European and American technologies, carries out the wave of industrialization, and advocates "civilization and enlightenment", the Europeanization of social life, and the vigorous development of education. In the end, this reform made Japan the first country in Asia to embark on the road of industrialization, and gradually made it one of the world's great powers.
Since then, the gap between China and the West has also given the Chinese people an object and motivation to learn, so the people have called for reform of the old system. Among them, the most vocal reform is "constitutionalism", and posterity, these ministers who advocate reform are also called "constitutionalists". In the environment at that time, there were many subjects of the "Constitutionalists", including not only students studying in foreign countries and students of new-style schools, but also local gentry and rich people.
In the twenty-seventh year of Guangxu, when Lafayette Cixi took refuge in Xi'an with the Guangxu Emperor, the reform had quietly begun. One of the most important reforms was the reform of the department dealing with foreign affairs, which was later renamed the "Ministry of Foreign Affairs". Because of the Boxer Rebellion in China, Westerners urgently needed the Qing government to establish a docking department to deal with the needs of Westerners, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established under this pressure.
However, the reforms that followed stagnated, and the biggest change was to change the official system or publicize the contents of the Penghu Reform Law of that year. With this wave of learning and changing the law, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others were extremely excited, and immediately advocated change, creating public opinion in society and letting everyone participate in this change. At a time when the whole people were mobilized, the imperial court could not satisfy everyone by simply changing the official system, and all of them must vigorously promote reform.
Constitutionalists demanded that reforms be thorough and must be completely bordered by the West.
In 1904, Japan and Russia fought a war on our borders, and this time It was Japan who won, and the victory was very thorough. In the present view, this is a shame for China, and there are other countries fighting in China for China's land, but China is indifferent. However, at that time, many people were willing to go to the Japanese as spies, or to the Russians, and some unlucky spies were beheaded, and even later made into documentaries.
At that time, Lu Xun happened to be studying in Japan, saw the situation that the Chinese people were willing to sacrifice for the Japanese, and angrily gave up medicine and turned to literary creation. Another part of the Countrymen still looked at the Russo-Japanese War with a lively mood, especially after Japan's victory, and those who were eager for change were extremely excited. Before this war, conservatives thought Russia would win, while those who supported change wanted Japan to win. Now that Japan has won the war, it is an incentive in the eyes of the constitutionalists.
So, why?
Because this is the first time that Asians have broken the myth of Europeans, and let them know that as long as the country changes, sooner or later they can defeat these aggressors like Japan. The war gave hope to many people, but as for the nature of the war, they were less concerned. Of course, this incident also alarmed the Western Empress, who lived deep in the imperial palace. Since the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the signing of the mediation contract, the inside and outside of the palace have not been as quiet as before, and more and more ministers are eager to move.
Outside the court, Zhang Jian and Tang Shouqian began to agitate the people, demanding that the imperial court establish a constitution as soon as possible. There was no tranquility in the court, and many high-ranking officials and nobles could not sit still, always wanting to do something. At the imperial court, Yuan Shikai and Qu Hongyu were hostile to each other and always attacked each other, but on the issue of constitution-making, they were surprisingly unanimous, demanding that the Qing Dynasty should establish a new constitution. Even Prince Qing, who usually had a bad reputation and was highly regarded by the empress, also stood up and demanded reform.
Not only that, but the local governors Zhang Zhidong and Zhou Fu also showed enthusiasm for the constitution, and the local officials' recitals were handed to the Western Empress dowager in one seal and piled on her desktop. Empress Xi, who had experienced the escape, seemed to have become enlightened, and now, mixing with western ministers and wives all day, may still be a little unaccustomed, but the empress dowager still has to endure, and sometimes, when she is happy, she will give these ladies some rewards.
When Western culture spread to China, the empress dowager was still more worried, she was worried that the status of the imperial family would be insecure, and she was worried that the situation in the country would be turbulent. Now, will the constitution that everyone demands be able to develop the strength of the Qing government, or will it shake the status of the Qing government? The old lady's own heart had no bottom. At this time, a person appeared in front of the old lady, and he was Cao Rulin, who had returned from his studies in Japan. Later, this person was a traitor to the country and seek glory during the May Fourth Movement, but now he is not.
At that time, Cao Rulin's status was still very ordinary, but he knew about Japan and was one of the few experts who knew About Japan. Cao Rulin is defined as one of the origins of a famous traitor, dating back to 1905. On November 17 of that year, The Plenipotentiary Ambassadors of China and Japan, Yi Xi, Komura Shotaro, and others began negotiations in Beijing on the treaty between the three eastern provinces, with Yuan Shikai participating as one of the Chinese representatives, and Cao Rulin, the "Japan Master", appearing as Yuan Shikai's assistant. So, later accused of traitorous.
Empress Xi summoned Cao Rulin on a special order, and before that, Cao Rulin was prompted by Yuan Shikai that empress dowager Xi's inquiry must be related to the constitutional movement in Japan. Sure enough, Empress Nishi went straight to the point and asked about the changes in Japan, including: when Japan completed its constitution, which countries it visited before the constitution was established, which country's constitution was used as a basis for reference, what was the situation of the two houses up and down the parliament, and how the members were elected.
From here, we can also see that before empress dowager Xi summoned Cao Rulin, she also made up for a bit of tuition in the Western constitution, and she also wanted to understand what this thing was, how it was superior to the Chinese system.
In addition, Empress Nishi also particularly wanted to know whether different parties would attack each other when Japan held a parliament. Later, Cao Rulin replied to a question of special concern to the empress: It is always inevitable to quarrel at meetings, but once a resolution is formed, the two parties will certainly unite and strive for a common goal. Just like the Russo-Japanese War, before the war, there were different voices within Japan, but when the emperor decided to fight, everyone would work together to make suggestions for Japan to win the war.
Hearing this, Empress Xi replied: "Chinese bad is bad because we can't unite as one." Cao Rulin realized that his previous words had not eliminated the old empress's scruples about the constitutional movement, so he hurriedly said: "If the imperial court has a parliament, once everyone can sit down and hold a meeting, it will definitely be united." When the old lady asked why, Cao Rulin replied: "Unity needs to be centered on, and the Constitution is the center." ”
In this regard, the old lady was still a little puzzled, and Cao Rulin said: "The deputies are elected by the people and are the representatives of the people; the prime ministers of the cabinet are appointed by the emperor and have administrative power." Both centres do things for the Constitution, and if there is no way to unify the two centres, the Prime Minister can dissolve Parliament and re-elect members. As long as the right parliamentarians are chosen, it is possible to achieve harmonious coexistence and unity of the monarch. Empress Xi listened to these words and fell into contemplation.
Cao Rulin's reasoning, I don't know if I can convince Empress Xi. However, we can see that the reform of the Qing court has obviously accelerated, and the pace of constitution-making has also accelerated. In 1905, the imperial court sent five ministers out to investigate the constitution. The following year, the Qing government promulgated a constitution, and the consultative bureau was composed of elected representatives of the provinces, and the central senior government was also formed. In 1908, the imperial court promulgated the Outline of the Constitution, which confirmed the time of constitution establishment. In 1916, the National Assembly was formed.
Of course, during this period, there were also many detractors who tried to express their loyalty in a way that opposed the central government, such as Wen Hai, a cabinet scholar, who pointed out in a piece of paper that there were six major mistakes in the constitution:
First, the five ministers began in the name of examining politics, but ended with proposing a constitution, which is a theft of beams and pillars;
Second, the constitutionalists proposed the abolition of the Minister of Military Aircraft and the creation of a cabinet of prime ministers, which was suspected of the separation of feudal towns before the return to Japan's constitution;
Third, China's legal system is complex and detailed, and the constitutionalists often comment on it, which belongs to the sword and the side;
Fourth, China and Western countries have different customs and customs, and they cannot copy the law;
Fifth, changing the law to seek speed, contrary to the objective law that legislation should be slow and not urgent;
Sixth, together with the preparation of the constitution, all the acts of raising salaries and training troops that had already improved were abolished, resulting in waste.
After empress dowager Xi's death, the heirs began to reject change and regain power in their own hands. As a result, in the imperial cabinet formed in 1911, there were almost all Manchus, and there were no large numbers of Han Chinese. This action of the imperial family made everyone chill, so the revolution began mercilessly, the imperial family was ousted from power, and the little emperor fell from the throne before he understood things.
In fact, most of the royal families at the end of the Qing Dynasty belonged to the conservatives. The constitutional movement of the Qing Dynasty, which learned from Japan, appeared to be very conservative, and most of the power was still in the hands of the Manchus, and only a small part of the power was distributed to the powerful Han Chinese. Therefore, Empress Xi, who decided to carry out the constitutional movement in the imperial court, knew that it was necessary to improve the status of the Han people and give them more administrative power.
However, the descendants of the old empress dowager did not know this truth, or stubbornly stuck to the old rules, seized their rights and refused to reform. Since the power was not dispersed, the royal family still held most of the power, and this movement was also a "false constitution" movement. Retribution for the royals soon came, and within a few months they were overthrown by the reformists, who had a broad mass base.
For this, the Qing government paid a heavy price.
Resources:
[Draft History of the Qing Dynasty" (清史》, "Meiji Restoration", "Constitutional Movement", "Outline of the Constitution"]