Man is the subject of history and is the consensus of historical research. However, there is still a lot of room for the study of historical figures to be expanded and deepened. For example, with regard to the thoughts and activities of historical figures, or confusing the evaluation of "opinions of the times" and "historical opinions", resulting in the ghosting or facial features of the images of historical figures before and after their deaths, or sticking to the specific behaviors and words of the figures of historical figures, it is difficult to analyze the direct and indirect influence of historical figures across time and space and the relationship between individual and collective thought.
If we can open up the trajectory of the activities of the buddha-figures of historical figures and their pluralistic historical images and diverse forms across time and space, re-sort out the influence of Sun Yat-sen, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others who fled abroad in the late Qing Dynasty in various strata and major events in China, and meticulously present the actual form of such influences, especially how to reproduce the embodiment of the influence of their speeches and ideas in the country, it will undoubtedly help enrich the complex connotations of the study of historical figures in the late Qing Dynasty.
In terms of sun yat-sen's actual influence at home during the Xinhai Revolution, because from the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911 to his return to Shanghai on December 25, 1911, he did not personally participate in the domestic revolution because he was abroad, which caused criticism from some political enemies and colleagues at that time, and later became an excuse for criticizing him for emphasizing theory over reality. Based on the expositions of various parties on Sun Yat-sen and the revolution during the Xinhai Revolution, this article carefully sorts out the specific influence of Sun Yat-sen on domestic revolutionary thought, revolutionary regime and revolutionary leaders, hoping to present the specific form of the influence of a revolutionary leader who is not at the scene of the revolution on the Xinhai Revolution, which can not only avoid taking political theory as a historical theory, but also correctly recognize and understand the influence of the diversity of historical figures.
First, the planner of the system
The outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911, and the subsequent restoration of the revolutionary situation in the provinces, marked the arrival of China's first national revolutionary climax in the 20th century. According to the information cai tinggan brought back from Wuhan a month later, the Wuchang uprising was "purely a military operation", implying that the new army activities had nothing to do with the revolution advocated by Sun Yat-sen for many years. If the new army of the Wuchang uprising was only a "pure military action", then what was being fought for was nothing more than improving the treatment of the new army, or expressing dissatisfaction with the hubei xinjiang ministers, at most forcing the Qing rulers to change politics or military, and expressing political demands within the Qing system. However, the institutional construction of the nationalist army after the Wuchang Uprising not only broke through the barriers of China's imperial power system for more than two thousand years, but also obviously fell within Sun Yat-sen's plan for revolutionary procedure and the construction of the revolutionary system.
Before the Wuchang uprising, the Hubei revolutionaries were already preparing the organization and personnel arrangements for the new post-revolutionary regime, that is, organizing a military government and electing "members of the military government." On October 11, the day after the uprising, the Dukes gathered in the Hubei Consultative Bureau to once again raise the organization of the military government and the selection of the governor, and finally elected Li Yuanhong as the governor. Since then, the provinces that have successively announced their restoration have also set up military governments in the organization of revolutionary power and elected governors.
In the past, most of the research paid attention to the personnel issues of the military governments in various provinces, and often did not pay much attention to the organizational origins and legal issues of the military governments. It should be pointed out that the institutional design of the military government originates from the revolutionary procedures of sun yat-sen's revolutionary law, covenant law, and constitution, and is an important part of Sun Yat-sen's civil rights. As early as 1981, scholars had noticed that before the establishment of the League, as late as 1904, Sun Yat-sen had formed a systematic thinking and vision of revolutionary procedures. The most crucial basis for this is a "remark by Sun Wen" published in the China Daily in 1904, stating:
Although there are many young people who profess to be revolutionaries, in fact they all follow the trend, but if they want to get the name of the revolution and think that they are boasting of their generations, they may not really have revolutionary ideas. He really has revolutionary ideas, and he also carries out revolutionary planners, except for Sun Wen, there are very few people. I have heard the words of the other party members who recounted the words of Sun Shi: ... If china's dozens of provinces are large, if they want to be included and restored, there must be several commanders, each with hundreds of millions of generals, each holding a battlefield, and whining to and fro, even if the commanders mu republican rule, give up power to the people, for their old subordinates, everyone will promote the new emperor, each will build a great cause, there will be a big king, a small Hou thought, and the origin of Chen Qiao's change. If you want to save their shortcomings, you should not hesitate to treat the law between the military law and the local autonomy law. The law of the military, the law of the junta. At the beginning of the military, the people who have crossed the realm will be deployed by military law, and they will accumulate weakness and easy to revitalize. Local subordinates, and far away from the battlefield, the military government is about local autonomy. If there are people in the local area, they will be subject to the control of the military government, and if there is none, they will be appointed by the military government, and for about five years, the local government will be completely autonomous, and the military government will interfere.
The name of the "military government" sun yat-sen either came from the history of Europe and the United States, or evolved from the advocacy of military nationalism in the academic circles in Japan, but its "law of covenant" is a unique creation. After the establishment of the Chinese League, in the autumn and winter of 1906, Sun Yat-sen, Huang Xing, Zhang Taiyan, and others formulated the "Revolutionary Strategy of the Chinese League Association," which continued the "Junta' idea of organizing the revolutionary regime, and published the "Manifesto of the Junta" and other documents, which stipulated that the first period of the revolution was "the rule of military law." All localities that broke away from the Qing government were subject to military law, and "those who broke the enemy and those who did not break the enemy, the local administration, and the military government generally took care of it, so as to eliminate the accumulated defects at the second time." As for the chief of the military government, he was named "Governor" and "at the behest of the military government, with the purpose and orders of the military government", he issued decrees to the people.
The Revolutionary Strategy also makes a slight stipulation on the relationship between the junta and the nationalist forces in various places:
(1) The national armies of all localities shall be supervised by one of them, and shall be appointed as the leader of the uprising.
Second, the military governor has full authority over military affairs and acts cheaply.
(3) With regard to major diplomacy, the Military Governor shall be under the command of the Junta.
(4) With regard to the formulation of the state system, the military governor shall be under the command of the military government.
5. The National Flag, the Declaration of the Military Government, the Announcement of the People's Republic of China, and the Declaration of the People to the Outside World shall be determined by the Military Governor in accordance with the Military Government and shall not be changed.
(6) The rules of the land, grain, etc., shall be determined by the military governor in accordance with the military government; However, if you are advisable, you may be able to work around it.
(7) The above articles shall be the conditions for the relationship between the military government and the military governor before communication; After it is traffic, another rule is set up to deal with it.
However, the "Revolutionary Strategy" did not plan in detail the organizational setup within the military government, and the so-called military government and the military governor "set up another rule to deal with it after communication", which left room for the later system construction and organizational setup of the military government, which also became one of the important factors for the uneven organization of the military government in various provinces. In fact, it is precisely for this reason that how to form the various departments and departments of the military government has become the criterion for the mutual restraint and balance of the forces of all parties in the provinces. For example, after electing Li Yuanhong as the governor of Hubei, the Hubei revolutionaries set up a strategic office within the military government as a real power organ for adjudicating and handling all major matters of the military government. Later, the parties fought over the regulations on the organization of the Hubei military government.
In addition, Sun Yat-sen's proposal to "make a covenant law" between the military government and local autonomy later evolved into "the rule of the covenant law". The institutional plan of the "Covenant Law" was also quickly implemented after the establishment of the Hubei military government. In mid-October 1911, Song Jiaoren and others drafted a covenant law in Hubei, which was later promulgated as the Ezhou Covenant Law. Some independent provinces have also followed Hubei's example and promulgated provisional treaty laws. When the Nanjing Provisional Government was established, it also actively drafted and promulgated the "Provisional Law of the Republic of China", which outlined a basic framework for China's republican system and became a solid foundation for the Chinese people to build a republican system.
In the eyes of foreigners, although the new political power in the provinces after the revolution is of the nature of a "military government", it has broken China's political system of more than two thousand years and embarked on the road of republican system. On October 13, The Denver Daily in Colorado reported that "the rebels declared China a republic," and "Li Yuanhong was elected president," adding: "If the news is correct, the revolutionaries will make China a republic today, and the form of government for the republican system has long been declared." Revolutionaries will hold important posts. Naturally, there are many untruths in this report, such as interpreting Li Yuanhong's election as the election of the governor as the elected president. However, the judgment of foreign public opinion on the nature of the revolutionary regime is at least biased towards a positive evaluation.
Second, the trumpeter of the revolution?
Shortly after the Wuchang Uprising in Xinhai, the editor of the Current Affairs New Daily published a record of the Chinese Revolution, describing the revolutionary situation in various places. The first volume is "On the Origin of the Chinese Revolution", which discusses the contribution of Sun Yat-sen in advocating and disseminating Chinese revolutionary ideas, saying: "The spread of revolutionaryism in our country was covered more than ten years ago. Guangxu Bingshen, a Cantonese man Sun Wen founded the Xingzhong Association in Guangdong, corrected the contract, wanted to raise a revolutionary army, leaked the matter, and fled to England", "so he traveled to Europe and the United States, Nanyang, and Japan, and advocated his doctrine." Other public opinion that is inclined to revolution is also called the "father of the revolution".
However, because Sun Yat-sen was not in China at that time, his relationship with the Wuchang Uprising was quite different at the time. On November 10, 1911, the negotiators Liu Cheng'en and Cai Tinggan, who had been ordered by Yuan Shikai, went to Wuchang to propose a peace plan, demanding the recognition of the "constitutional monarchy" and negotiating peace with Li Yuanhong's representative Tang Hualong and others. Liu and Cai then brought back Li Yuanhong's letter to Yuan Shikai. Interestingly, after Returning to Beijing, Yuan Shikai's close associate Cai Tinggan specifically talked with George Ernest Morrison, a Reporter for The Times in China, on the 16th to reveal what he knew about the revolution. During the talks, they talked about Sun Yat-sen's role in the Wuchang Uprising, with Cai Tinggan saying:
While in Wuchang, he asked Sun Yat-sen what role did he play in this revolution? He was told that Sun Yat-sen played no role in the uprising, which was purely a military operation. The revolutionaries with whom Cai Tinggan met said with some contempt that he was nothing more than a revolutionary trumpeter, had not participated in any practical action, and always hid aside in order to save his life. They say that although some of the people trained in Japan were former members of Sun Yat-sen's party, it cannot be said that Sun Yat-sen played any role in the current revolution.
This material has been repeatedly quoted and paraphrased by scholars and anecdotal people as the basis for the Wuhan revolutionaries to position Sun Yat-sen and the Xinhai Revolution. However, there is still a lot of information worth pondering. First, they positioned Sun Yat-sen as a "revolutionary trumpeter", emphasizing Sun Yat-sen's influence on the Xinhai Revolution in terms of revolutionary ideas and public opinion, and his lack of personal participation in this revolutionary action. Whether this "revolutionary trumpeter" is the original words of the Wuhan revolutionaries, or the generalization of Cai Tinggan, or the understanding of Mo Lixun, seems difficult to clarify. Second, as a representative of Yuan Shikai, Cai Tinggan obviously had the mission of exploring the inside story of the revolution, one of which was to understand the relationship between Sun Yat-sen and the Wuchang uprising and the revolutions in various provinces, so he specifically asked the revolutionaries in Wuhan about the relationship between Sun Yat-sen and the Wuchang uprising, and got the answer that the Wuchang uprising was not a revolution and that Sun Yat-sen did not play a substantive role. The "revolutionary inside story" he revealed to outsider Mo Lixun was obviously beneficial to Yuan Shikai, not only to achieve the goal of dwarfing Sun Yat-sen, but also to reveal the differences and contradictions within the revolutionary camp. Third, Yuan Shikai's side could not avoid Sun Yat-sen's relationship with the revolution, and whether or not he personally led the people's army at home, it must weaken the influence and role of the revolution and Sun Yat-sen as much as possible. Whether the perception Cai Tinggan brought back from Wuhan is true or not, the most important thing is the need to spread such information to foreign parties. In fact, Cai Tinggan's purpose was achieved, and Morrison quickly reported the contents of their talks to Bram, the head of China News in The Times.
Taken together, Cai Tinggan's account of sun yat-sen's relationship with the Xinhai Revolution directly reflects the answer that the revolution's opponents most look forward to. In fact, the same statement was made by Edmond Bapst, the French minister to China, four years ago. In 1907, when the Qing government used Sun Yat-sen to "refer to the forces that threatened it" because of the influence of the revolutionary party's activities at home, Bast said that Sun Yat-sen lived abroad in a European way, "paying too much attention to keeping himself out of danger, while others were taking risks."
The problem is that the political influence of important political figures cannot be measured solely by the trajectory of Buddha-figures. In particular, their speeches and thoughts can penetrate and transmit across time and space through various channels and media, and profoundly restrict the thinking and behavior of recipients of different time and space. Judging from the opinions of all parties, the influence of Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas and propaganda over the years on the Xinhai Revolution is beyond doubt. Therefore, the "revolutionary trumpeter" inherently demeans Sun Yat-sen, but it also has an undeniable ideological drumming effect.
Moreover, politics still has the distinction and connection between nominal and real, and it is also a common political situation to influence the actual situation by using false names. On October 30, the Communiqué of the Republic of China, the organ of the Hubei military government, published two revolutionary proclamations in the name of President Sun Wen under the guise of Sun Yat-sen, which not only consolidated the revolutionary legitimacy of the Hubei revolution and the junta, but also publicized the influence of "compatriots in all provinces who echoed the same voice and all recognized the revolution as necessary today." These bulletins have also been reproduced in various newspapers and compilations.
Issuing revolutionary proclamations in the name of Sun Yat-sen played an important role in the Hubei revolutionary regime's efforts to win the neutrality of the great powers. According to Tian Tong, after the Wuchang Uprising, the consuls in Hankou were initially quite hostile to the revolutionary regime, and regarded it as a "Boxer", and the German consul even advocated firing at the Wuchang People's Army, which was blocked by the French consul Ulysse-Raphael Reau. Because of Luo Shi's acquaintance with Sun Yat-sen, "Liu Zhongwencao made a proclamation in the name of The Provisional Grand President Sun Wen", and Luo Shi claimed at the meeting that "Wuchang Proclamation, the Provisional Grand President is Sun Wen." Sun Wen, my old friend also. What does it say that the advocates of a republican form of government are so large that they can be regarded as the Boxers? "The consular missions of various countries in Hankou have strictly observed neutrality and issued a neutrality proclamation.
Due to the poor transmission of information in various places, the internal situation of Sun Yat-sen, the military governments of the provinces, and the revolution grasped by all parties naturally has many untruths, and in the choice of political power form and the struggle for power, they also focus on their own political interests.
On November 1, Japan's "Central Public Commentary" No. 11 published an article by Mizuno Meixiao, a Chinese evangelist at Nishi Hongan-ji Temple, entitled "The Prestige of Sun Yat-sen in the Yangtze River Area," saying that in the past three years, when traveling through the three provinces of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi, a new army officer who graduated from the Japanese Army Non-Commissioned Officer School said: "In the Yangtze River area, nationalist ideas are surging up, and they all admire Sun Yat-sen and are willing to fight for the independence of the Han nation under him. The Shaozhuang politicians in Hubei's political circles who are keen on local autonomy believe that "the only one who can really save the Country and seek happiness for the Han people is Sun Yat-sen and his people" and "The political circles in Hubei respect Sun Yat-sen almost as a god." In conclusion, he concluded: "I traveled around the Yangtze River and discovered that the academic, military, and political circles, as for the peddlers and pawns, all had revolutionary ideas, and it is a fact that I respected Sun Yat-sen like a god like a savior. Since I don't know Sun Yat-sen, I dare not discuss his character, but I believe that Sun Yat-sen's prestige and respect do not come from strategy, but from Sun Yat-sen's Heavenly Lord and Heavenly Throne. Such remarks are clearly used by revolutionary colleagues to promote Sun Yat-sen's political influence in the Yangtze River area.
On November 17, the day after Cai Tinggan revealed the revolutionary situation to Mo Lixun, Hubei's "Zhongxi Daily" actually published a volunteer letter from the Hubei Communist Progressive Association's Hubei Gongbu General Association, saying: "I sincerely pray that Song Jiaoren, chief of staff of the Hubei Association, will guarantee it, and Liu Gong, premier of the Association, will admit that Tan Renfeng, the commissioner of the Ministry, has declared the registration of Sun Yat-sen, the president of the military government. Some scholars pointed out that this should be the volunteer book of the Hubei people who fabricated the previous Gongjin Association at that time. This statement should be correct, but it should be noted that the Hubei revolutionary circles who published this volunteer letter recognized Sun Yat-sen as the "grand president of the military government." Therefore, the term "revolutionary trumpeter" is difficult to show sun Yat-sen's actual political form in the Hubei revolutionary movement.
On the same day, someone commented in the "Declaration" to evaluate the figures related to the revolution, which called Li Yuanhong "a warrior who never talks about revolution", but in this uprising, he was able to "take yuru measures and stay in Wuhan for more than half a month, thinking that it is the foundation of the revolutionary army", and the "achievements of the revolution are really not fresh". As for Sun Yat-sen, he said:
Sun Wen has devoted himself to the Chinese revolution for decades. In the beginning, everyone did not have this concept, and the other was the only one who followed. After many servants, everyone has no such perseverance, but is unyielding to the other. Now, too, no one expected this great result, and he went overseas, thinking that the future of the country was the future. Do not rush to return to The Country, in order to be shallow and close to the honor. In revolutionary terms, he has the great merit of his own initiative.
The great achievement of the first revolution continued the previous idea that Zhang Shizhao called Sun Yat-sen the "first ancestor of the revolution" when he compiled the book "Sun Yat-sen". As early as October 23, the "Declaration" was an early newspaper that turned to the revolutionary side during the Xinhai Revolution, and published its speech on "nationalism" and "republicanism" at the 1905 welcome meeting for Chinese students in Tokyo under the title of "The Words of Sun Yat-sen", actively promoting Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary ideas.
In addition to the use of his name and the old literature and new periodicals, Sun Yat-sen, after learning of the Wuchang Uprising, also actively sought support from foreign countries to publicize the principles of the Chinese revolution and the plans for future governance. Before he left the United States for Europe, he issued a "declaration on the outside world," which was later mailed to the representatives of the great powers in China through revolutionaries in San Francisco. In his name, Sun Yat-sen assured them that the revolutionary government would recognize the foreign debt established in the previous treaty, hoping that they would inform the people in China that "the revolutionary government will take all measures to protect their lives and property, and those who violate the order will be punished by military tribunals", and also called on all countries to support the Chinese revolution and "give all kinds of preferential treatment and honor to the countries that really support the Republic of China."
As far as the posterverts can see, the effectiveness of Sun Yat-sen's trip to Europe after the Wuchang Uprising to lobby and engage can naturally be objectively assessed using various records. Needless to say, the trip did not achieve any substantive diplomatic results. However, at a time when the situation of the Chinese revolution and the future political trend are uncertain, the cards played by politicians do not necessarily only play real cards, and the use of bluff to retain the mystery of the bottom card is also an important rule of political operation. In terms of the civil army, the political capital that Sun Yat-sen's return to China may bring is a huge encouraging force, and on Yuan Shikai's side, it can become a force to exert pressure on the Qing imperial family, and the actual activities of Sun Yat-sen overseas may be easy to ignore by the political forces at that time.
3. Revolutionary leaders and presidential candidates
In the final analysis, the establishment of the new political organization after the Xinhai Revolution is how to establish a republican system based on civil rights after the overthrow of the imperial system. However, in the initial stages of the republic, unlike the great changes in the system and concept from the imperial system to the republic, the struggle for power became the norm for the new regime: in the provinces it took the form of the military governor and the personnel arrangements of the departments, and in the "central government" of the civil army's planning and organization, it was the competition for the presidency.
"President" was translated as Bo Li Xi Tiande (transliteration) and Grand Commander (Japanese translation) in the late Qing Dynasty. Regarding the concept and selection of the "president", it was also an important issue in Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary career at the end of the Qing Dynasty. For example, in 1900, Sun Yat-sen sent a letter to Liu Xueqian, hoping that Pingshan Zhou would entrust Liu Xueyuan to preside over the overall situation of the domestic revolution, "First establish a temporary government, and use power to manage government affairs." The format of the government is first sufficient for five people: one person in charge, or president, or emperor, and the brother is determined to be worthy of it." The matter of recommending Liu Xuexuan may be a stopgap measure. Because Pingshan Zhou was ordered to return to China, he was unable to go to Shanghai to deliver this letter to Liu Xuexuan, and the matter was not resolved.
After the establishment of the China League, Sun Yat-sen, in the name of "The President", issued chinese revolutionary government army bonds with a face value of 100 yuan, printed "President Sun Wen of January 1, 1906", and the next white coat of arms, two sides of which are English and French, with the same semantic meaning. At that time, the official Qing Dynasty's exploration report translated the signature as "Bo Li Xi Tiande Sun Wen". This should be an example of Sun Yat-sen's explicit self-proclaimed "president" before xinhai.
However, when The French Minister to China, Pasteur, assessed the political situation in China in June 1907, he was not optimistic about Sun Yat-sen's position in the future revolutionary regime. Bassid judged: "Even if the Manchu Qing Dynasty fell, he would not be invited to be the leader of China." The reason is that Sun Yat-sen did not engage in revolutionary actions in the country for many years, avoiding risks. Unexpectedly, four years later, Sun Yat-sen's political prestige at home rose instead of decreasing, and he became one of the important candidates for discussion and The President of the Republic of China by all parties after the Wuchang Uprising.
On October 29, 1911, John Newell Jordan, the British minister in China, sent a telegram to the Foreign Office, arguing that it seemed impossible for the Qing rulers to compromise and that "no leader of the uprising was seen as a representative of the entire revolutionary party" on the nationalist side. In other words, the People's Army is leaderless and lacks a revolutionary leader with a banner.
Coincidentally, on October 30, the day after Zhu Erdian believed that the leaders of the Wuchang uprising lacked representation of the revolutionary party, the Hubei military government published the "Communiqué of the Republic of China", naming Sun Yat-sen as The President of the Republic of China and issuing revolutionary proclamations in this name. This may also be the reason why when Cai Tinggan went to Wuhan, he wanted to understand Sun Yat-sen's relationship with this revolutionary movement.
Sun Yat-sen later said that after hearing the news of the Wuchang Revolution, "when passing through the city of St. Louis, when he bought the newspaper and read it, there was 'The Wuchang Revolutionary Army was raised on the orders of Sun Yat-sen and proposed to build a republic, and its first president should be Sun Yat-sen'." Such self-statements may easily be interpreted as boastful words. In fact, although Sun Yat-sen was not in China at that time, he became an unavoidable political figure at home and abroad to analyze the development of the Chinese revolutionary situation and the trend of China's political situation.
Combing through the public opinion of all sides during the Xinhai Revolution, it can be seen that Sun Yat-sen, as the leader of the Chinese revolution, has indeed received a certain degree of recognition. Shortly after the Wuchang uprising, the "Shishi Xinbao" museum, which represented the Shanghai constitutionalists, began to absorb public opinion from all sides and edited and published the "Record of the Chinese Revolution", which was later published in 30 volumes. The first volume, published in September of Xinhai, introduces "Sun Wen" and his person in the "Biography" column, not only publishes Sun Yat-sen's photographs, but also comments on Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary resume, especially highlighting his earliest achievements in advocating revolution, and the formation of a "Chinese Revolutionary Large Group" (that is, the Chinese League Association) with Huang Xing and other students in Japan to conspire to overthrow the Qing government, and finally concluded: "Today the revolutionary army has sprung up, within a few decades, the world has responded, and the republican system will soon be established, then Sun Wen's merits will be solid. In the "Wenmu" column of the same volume, it also reprints the two articles on the "Republic of China Gazette" entitled "The President of the Chinese Revolutionary Army Announces the Heavens" and "The Governor of the Ejun Commandery of the Republic of China, Li Tan, Tells the Heavens", but instead of directly revealing the name of Sun Yat-sen as in the "Republic of China Gazette", it is replaced by "□". This may also mean to be vacant.
On October 29, Li Yuanhong said in a letter to Yuan Shikai: "Now billions of trillions of people are united in their efforts to conspire for the blessings of the 'republican constitution', and they are autonomous and even corporals, who are brave enough to move forward, all have the determination to sacrifice everything, but they are determined to seek the public's happiness and profit, and no one has a despicable and self-righteous view, borrows the blood of the masses, and glorifies the false name of the minority and seeks the interests of the minority." "Sincerely, if our country has the dangerous fortune of a lifetime of death, and if the republic is not successful, it will lead to division", if we can "help the great righteousness with our disciples, we will see four hundred trillion people, all of whom will convert to the public, and in the future when the president of the Republic of China is elected, the first president of the Republic of China will not be difficult to hunt down calmly." This seems to be the first time that Yuan Shikai has been proposed as the president.
With the development of the revolutionary situation in the provinces, the establishment of military governments and the selection of the candidates for governorship have indeed been independent. Two questions arise from this: (1) how to form a "central government" ;(2) how to elect a leader. These two issues also constitute the key to the power competition of the military governments in various provinces, especially in Hubei, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. According to the "History of China's Restoration" compiled by the Shanghai "Declaration" Museum, on November 7, Li Yuanhong, the governor of the Hubei Army, sent a telegram to the provinces, considering the diplomatic involvement and recognition of various countries as belligerent groups, believing that it was not appropriate for the provinces to "separate the establishment of governments" and advocating that "the provinces that have revolted jointly organize a government." Accordingly, the Hubei military government, with Li Yuanhong as the governor, initiated the organization of independent provincial governments. Due to the inconvenience of communication at that time, coupled with the interruption of the telegraph between Hubei and Shanghai, the time and response of other provinces to learn of the electricity were relatively lagging behind. Coincidentally, on November 11, Zhao Fengchang and others in Shanghai also brewed to promote the formation of a "provisional government" as a unified organ of independent provinces.
In addition, on November 11, Sun Baoqi, the governor of Shandong, once declared the independence of Shandong, and sent a note to the British minister in Weihaiwei saying that "Shandong Province has been built into a provisional government", signed himself the title of "president", and used the yellow emperor's year, but also stamped the note with the "Inspector of Shandong" to guard against it. At the same time, in the name of "president", he also sent a telegram to the Yantai Military and Political Branch to maintain public order. This is quite suspicious to the British side.
The formation of an interim government and the election of an interim president are two sides of the same coin, which are closely linked to each other and have a certain degree of independence. In response to the proposal to form a provisional government in various places (on the plan and differences in the formation of a provisional government, another article is discussed in detail), on November 14, Cheng Dequan, the governor of Jiangsu Province, sent a telegram to the governors of the provinces, advocating that Sun Yat-sen be invited to return to China to organize a provisional government, saying that "Mr. Zhongshan is the person who initiated the revolution, and the Chinese and foreign people are deeply believed in organizing a provisional government. Cheng Dequan's promotion of Sun Yat-sen's initiative may be both intended to weaken the Hubei side and threaten Sun's self-esteem.
On November 15, the "Declaration" commented that "in recent days, there have been more and more provinces in Guangfu Province, and various places have declared independence, if we do not organize unified organs, we will not only be prone to internal conflicts, but also fear that we will have no mastery externally. Later, when the situation of the Jiangxi People's Army was discovered, it was said: "Now that the overall situation has been decided, it is appropriate to receive a call from Governor Li Du of Wuchang, and there is a discussion of the organized government, and the meeting is immediately held, and it is planned to take Wuhan as Washington, that is, to organize a provisional government in its place first, and to promote Li Yuanhong as the provisional president. This seems to be the first public proposal for Li Yuanhong as president.
During the discussion of the presidential candidate, Sun Yat-sen called the Shanghai Minli Bao from overseas to express his attitude toward the presidential candidate of the Republic of China. He said: "It is gratifying to hear that there is already an organization of the Shanghai Parliament. The president assumed that Li Jun was presumed. Wen Li has asked Yuan Zhi to say, it is appropriate and good. In short, it is appropriate to presume, but seek early Gong Guoji. In the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the struggle for power and snobbery will be long-term weary. Since then, society should take industrial and commercial industry as the competitive point and open up a new situation for new China. As for the regime, it is all about service as its essence. The content of the cable undoubtedly puts on a political posture of "the world is just", and also shows an attitude of "success does not have to be in me".
On 16 November, the "Declaration" commented that "the organization of a provisional government is not properly anticipated by anyone who has nothing to do with the operation of the previous revolution and who has not made great efforts this time." If it is foretelled, it will not be of any benefit to the future of the republic. And the harm is also. "The spearhead of public opinion obviously refers to something, and it can also be interpreted as a period.
After comprehensive weighing, some of the junta's candidates for organizing a provisional government were more inclined to Sun Yat-sen, while paying attention to balancing the weight of Hubei. On November 17, the Federation of Representatives of the Governors' Offices of the Provinces was held in Shanghai to discuss the organization of the government, and the organization of this conference gradually gained the approval of all aspects of the Civil Army, and in essence became the legislature for the organization of the Provisional Government. On the same day, Cheng Dequan once again telegraphed various places and said: "The day before yesterday, we sent a telegram to ask Mr. Zhongshan to return to China to organize a provisional government. However, the opportunity was urgent and could not be long-lived. Before Zhongshan returned, it was proposed to recognize Wuchang Li Dudu as a provisional government", and at the same time advocated that Li Yuanhong lead the main draft to call the Qing Cabinet. Cheng Dequan's move provided a stopgap solution for unifying and balancing all parties in the civil army, which caused a positive response from the provinces.
Soon, the provincial military governments were sending telegrams to express their political views. The Governor of Jiangbei replied with a telegram saying, "Qindian respectfully learned that the telegram asked Mr. Yixian to return to China to organize a provisional government, and before returning, he intended to recognize Li Dudu as the deputy government, and we expressed great sympathy." However, the e-commerce Qing court sent Yuan to Hubei, the timing is urgent, and it is impossible to stay, just as the provinces urgently invite representatives to the Shanghai conference, publicly raise the general command, and quickly maintain the overall situation. Li Liejun, the governor of Anhui Province, had similar opinions, and replied: "I ask Dr. Sun Yat-sen to return to China to organize a provisional government. This is the first thing to do at the moment, and we are extremely sympathetic. At present, the province of Ninh is a kok, and it is advisable for the federation to promote the practice and achieve the republican purpose, and the overall situation is very fortunate. Anhui also immediately sent representatives to the meeting to participate in the discussion.
Some military juntas not only electrified in favor of organizing a provisional government, but also directly elected Sun Yat-sen as president. When Chen Qimei, the governor of the Shanghai Army, quoted "the governor of Jiangbei Province sent a telegram, he specifically stressed that Sun Yat-sen should be named president, saying that "the independence of the provinces is half complete, and if there is no unified organ, there is a fear of interference from outsiders, and it is urgent to send representatives to Shanghai to organize a provisional government and have a seat as the commander-in-chief, and there is no one but Sun Yat-sen." The Privy Council of the Guizhou Military Government held that "the organization of a provisional government cannot be without a representative." Push President Sun Yat-sen, we approve. However, the seat of the central government must also be taken into account, and as far as the current situation is concerned, it is always appropriate to take Guangdong as the best, and it is not based on the South China Sea, and the northward direction is to determine the Central Plains." As for the Guangdong side, the telegram opinion only holds the view that "the post of the great president is proposed to be cited by Dr. Sun Yat-sen.".
In terms of the internal opinions of the People's Army, with regard to the selection of the president, "the majority of the provincial deputies intend to appoint Sun Wen as the grand president, and the second is Li Yuanhong." Sun Yat-sen's high reputation is certainly related to his position as the leader of the revolution, but there is also a new prestige that has been continuously enhanced with the development of the revolutionary momentum. Later, the "Declaration" published public opinion, commenting on Shanghai's important position at that time, in addition to the north-south peace talks, "in a day or two, the revolutionary leader Sun Wen will also come to Shanghai." All those who have a heart for the revolutionary party and those who have relations with it come to Shanghai to admire the appearance of the revolutionary celebrities and to receive their speeches." This also reflected Sun Yat-sen's prestige in the southern political circles at that time.
In the face of the increasingly inclined public opinion in Shanghai and other places to the side of the people's army, the political trends on Yuan Shikai's side have gradually become clear. On November 19, Zhu Erdian said that Tang Shaoyi told him that the policies of Yuan Shikai's cabinet were regarded as hopeless in the current public opinion, so he had declined to cooperate with Yuan's cabinet. The final solution that Tang expected was the establishment of the Republic of China, with Yuan Shikai as president, who was currently working on this, and the majority of the members of the Senior Council and the returned students were in favor of establishing the Republic of China, which was consistent with Tang's goal and "may also be tacitly approved by Yuan himself." Obviously, at this time, Yuan Shikai's side had already more openly planned for the position of president.
There is a saying that the Nationalist side also fought for Yuan Shikai legally. On December 2, the Federation of Representatives of the Governors' Offices of the Provinces held a meeting in Wuhan and decided to "first stipulate the outline of the provisional government organization", drafted by Lei Fen, Ma Junwu, and Wang Zhengting, and also decided that "if Yuan Shikai is anyway, he should be elected as the provisional president." However, Liu Xingnan's record does not contain anything about the federation's discussion of the selection of Yuan Shikai as president. The existence of this matter has yet to be further verified.
It can be seen that Sun Yat-sen, Li Yuanhong and Yuan Shikai were the candidates for the future president of China discussed by all parties during the Xinhai Revolution. It is only the presidential candidates elected by all parties that can certainly reflect the political trends and public opinion tendencies of the Xinhai Revolution, and more importantly, how to build a law-abiding bill for the election of the president.
Before Sun Yat-sen's return to China, on December 3, the Federation of Provincial Governors' Representatives drew up the Outline of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China, which stipulated that "the Provisional President shall be elected by the representatives of the Provincial Governors' Offices, and shall be elected by more than two-thirds of the total number of votes cast." The right of deputies to vote, limited to one vote per province". This is also the legal basis for Sun Yat-sen's election as interim president after his return to China.
On December 29, on the same day that the Federation of Representatives of the Governors' Offices of all provinces in Nanjing voted for the election of the President of the Provisional Government, Zhang Zhunan published a statement in the "Communiqué of the Republic of China", saying that the revolutionary situation was initiated by Hubei and the whole country responded, and the speed of destroying the old system was unprecedented. The great president is a man, a reasonable government, an orderly person, and a person who lives in today's China, who can shoulder such a heavy responsibility and has such complete qualifications." On the whole, Sun Yat-sen's appointment as interim president is beneficial to China: first, political settlement; Second, the prestige solution; (c) the settlement of rights; Fourth, the solution of remuneration. Finally, he said that with Sun Yat-sen as the president, "although it is an ideal solution, there are also those who have to do it in fact", "I cannot but worship Sun Yat-sen, and I cannot but hope for the first great president of the new Republic of China". The final election result was to elect Sun Yat-sen as the interim president.
After more than ten years of struggle, Sun Yat-sen took office as interim president in Nanjing on January 1, 1912, proclaiming the founding of the Republic of China. Sun Yat-sen later also said that "to give thirty years of one day to restore China and establish the Aspirations of the Republic of China, Yu Si cheng" was achieved." Sun Yat-sen's political influence and prestige at home have reached an unprecedented height. The revolutionary ideas and revolutionary systems he has advocated for many years have become the primary options for China's political future, pushing China's thousands of years of political system to usher in a huge turning point. As scholars have commented: This not only marks the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, but also marks the arrival of an unprecedented new era in Chinese history.
IV. Conclusion
The cross-temporal and spatial influence of historical figures is the norm in history, but historical research is often limited to the specific trajectory of the characters. This is undoubtedly like a peeping leopard in the tube, although it can be seen, as to whether it can see the whole picture, it can only be seen whether this spot has the same properties as other parts. However, the cross-temporal and spatial influence of historical figures is often a process of alienation, especially politicians will show a variety of faces due to different political needs, and cannot simply infer the whole picture from one thing.
Taking Sun Yat-sen's political influence in China after the Wuchang Uprising as an example, this article reveals the gradual acceptance (although still heterogeneous) of Sun Yat-sen's institutional design and political ideas in the process of the rise of the revolutionary situation, and is intended to show how a leader who was not on the scene of the revolution influenced the domestic revolutionary movement. This political influence and the form it took was undoubtedly due to the general trend of the Xinhai Revolution. If we draw our research back to before the Wuchang Uprising, Sun Yat-sen's political influence at home is bound to be more diverse, which needs to be discussed in detail.
About author, Anton Qiang, is a professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of History of Sun Yat-sen University and the Research Center for Historical Anthropology of Sun Yat-sen University
Original source, Macao Polytechnic Journal (Humanities and Social Sciences Edition), No. 2, 2021