1. The Constitution was prepared at the end of the Qing Dynasty
In 1905, the Qing court established the Inspection Political Hall and sent five ministers abroad to investigate the political systems of Western countries; in 1906, it issued the "Imitation of Constitutionalism" edict, establishing the guiding principle of constitutionalization that "great power is unified in the imperial court, and the government is public opinion", and the Inspection Political Hall was changed into a constitutional compilation and inspection hall, and the preparatory constitution was started. Its most important content is the promulgation of two constitutional laws and the preparation of the Privy Council and the Provincial Consultative Bureau, which is essentially a political deception of the Qing court to save the ruling crisis, but after all, it opens the door to China's modern constitution-
(1) Constitutional documents
1. Outline of the Constitution. Promulgated on August 27, 1908, it was enacted by the Constitutional Compilation and Examination Museum and the Senior Council, and was the first constitutional law in Chinese history. It includes 23 articles in two parts, the main text and the supplementary provisions, the former "kingly power" 14 articles, the latter "subject rights and obligations" 9 articles. Its essence is to maintain the absolute monarchy in the form of the fundamental law of the state, and the result is that the emperor has exclusive power and the people have no power.
2. Article 19 of the Constitution's Major Articles of Faith. Formulated by the Senior Council. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, the southern provinces declared independence one after another, and the constitutionalists and some of the warlords urged the Qing court to immediately promulgate the constitution and convene a parliament. Due to changes in the political balance of power, the Qing court was forced to switch to the British-style "virtual monarchical republic" responsible cabinet system, which restricted imperial power, the imperial succession system, and royal participation in politics, while expanding the power of the Privy Council.
(2) The Consultative Council and the Senior Council
1. Provincial Consultative Bureaus. The Provincial Consultative Councils were elected in 1909 on the basis of the Statutes of the Consultative Councils and the Statutes for the Election of Members of the Consultative Councils promulgated in 1908. The purpose of its activities is to "refer to the benefits of Chentong Province and the preparation of local public security".
2. The Central Seniors' Yuan. The Senior Council was convened and established in 1910 on the basis of the Statute of the Senior Council promulgated in 1909 by Pu Lun and Sun Jianai, presidents of the Senior Council, together with the Minister of Military Aircraft, and consisted of 100 members in two parts: the former being directly designated by the emperor and the latter being elected by the members of the provincial consultative bureaus and must be circled by the governor of the province. In 1910, the first annual meeting was held and more than 20 bills were passed, but they were not taken seriously by the Qing court.
2. The Provisional Government of Nanjing
(1) Organizational Outline of the Provisional Government of the Republic of China
Adopted on December 3, 1911 by the Representative Conference of the Governors' Offices of the Provinces, it consisted of 4 chapters and 21 articles. China's first constitutional law of the nature of a bourgeois democratic republic, adopting the US president system and the state system of separation of powers, affirmed the achievements of the Xinhai Revolution and provided a legal basis for the establishment of the Republic of China.
(2) Provisional Law of the Republic of China
It was passed by the Senate on March 8, 1912, and promulgated by Sun Yat-sen on March 11. China's first constitutional document of the nature of a bourgeois democratic republic was characterized by the change of the presidential system to a responsible cabinet system, the expansion of the power of the Senate, the strict stipulation of special procedures for the revision of the law, and the restriction and prevention of Yuan Shikai.
3. Beiyang Government
(1) 1913 Draft Constitution of the Republic of China (commonly known as "Temple of Heaven Constitution")
On October 31, 1913, the Drafting Committee of the National Assembly Constitution, led by Kuomintang deputies, passed it, and because it was drafted in the Temple of Heaven Prayer Hall, it was commonly known as the "Temple of Heaven Constitution Grass". Its outstanding characteristics are adhering to the spirit of the principles of the Provisional Covenant Law of the Republic of China, continuing to adopt the principle of separation of powers, affirming the democratic republican system, affirming the responsible cabinet system, expanding the power of the National Assembly, limiting the term of office of the president, and preventing Yuan Shikai from monopolizing power.
(2) 1914 Law of the Republic of China (commonly known as the "Yuan Ji Covenant Law")
The fundamental differences between it and the Provisional Law of the Republic of China are: the replacement of the democratic republican system with individual dictatorship; the replacement of the responsible cabinet system with the presidential centralization system; the replacement of the parliamentary system by the nominal Legislative Yuan, which is designated by the President, and the Senate designated by the President to act as the legislative yuan; and the restrictive stipulation of the rights and obligations of the people.
(3) Constitution of the Republic of China of 1923 (commonly known as the "Bribery Constitution" or the "Cao Kun Constitution")
Promulgated on October 10, 1923, China's first official constitution, but not formally implemented. Features are:
1. The content is mixed. It is based on the "Temple of Heaven Constitution" and is a temporary patchwork of reference to other constitutional contents, which lacks overall systematization and logic.
2. Formal democracy. In view of the failure of the two previous restorations of the monarchy and the impact of the bribery scandal, it was forced to stipulate some democratic contents in form, such as adhering to the nature of a "unified democracy" and the principle of "sovereignty in the people", affirming the organizational forms such as the separation of powers, the responsible cabinet system and the parliamentary system, and prohibiting the revision of the state system
3. Decentralization of powers. In order to balance the relationship between the warlords of the central and local factions, the provinces were allowed a certain degree of autonomy.
4. The National Government of Nanjing
In June 1928, the Fengzhi warlord Zhang Zuolin withdrew from Beijing and was killed by the Japanese in Shenyang, and his son Zhang Xueliang announced that he would "change the flag and change the banner", and the Nationalist government in Nanjing achieved formal national unification. In July, chiang kai-shek announced the end of the "military and political period" according to the theory of the "three periods of the founding of the people's republic" and began to shift to the "training period." Since then, in the nearly 20 years since the transition to the "constitutional period", three constitutional laws have been drafted, and their outstanding feature is the continuous strengthening of the political system of the Kuomintang's one-party dictatorship.
(1) "Kuomintang Training Program of the Chinese Kuomintang"
It was adopted by the Standing Committee of the Kuomintang Central Committee on October 3, 1928, with a total of 6 articles. As a programmatic document of the Kuomintang's "training the government" period, its important feature is to establish the status of the supreme trainer of the Kuomintang's one-party dictatorship, including three aspects:
(1) The National Assembly shall not be established during the period of training and administration, and the Kuomintang National Congress shall act as the executive power, and the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee shall act on its behalf during the intersessional period;
2. The Political Conference of the Kuomintang Central Committee directly leads and guides the National Government in exercising its functions and powers;
3. As the "political nanny" of the kuomintang, the Kuomintang trains the people's ability to exercise political power.
(2) Law of the Republic of China during the Training Period
It absorbed the contents of the "Program for Training the Administration" and set up a special chapter on the "Outline for Training the Administration" to confirm the Kuomintang's one-party dictatorship system in the form of a fundamental law; it stipulated that the Kuomintang Central Executive Committee should elect the chairman of the National Government and exercise its functions and powers in a unified manner; and it made restrictive provisions on the rights and obligations of the people.
(3) Draft Constitution of the Republic of China (commonly known as the "Five-Year Constitution Draft")
Promulgated by the National Government on May 5, 1936, 8 chapters and 148 articles. The ensuing all-out war of resistance failed to organize the National Convention to be put to a decision, but it became the blueprint for the official Constitution of 1946. The biggest change was the abolition of the "Outline of Training and Administration" and the addition of the "National Assembly" chapter; the establishment of a president above the five chambers, and the adherence to the Kuomintang's one-party dictatorship system.
(4) Constitution of the Republic of China
Its main features:
(1) The nature of the democratic republic in accordance with the Three People's Principles and the Constitution of the Five Powers stipulates;
(2) Restrictively establish the National Assembly as the supreme organ of power;
3. The presidential system is subject to some restrictions of the Legislative Yuan, the Executive Yuan, and the Control Yuan;
4. Adopt a decentralized system at the central and local provincial and county levels;
5. Stipulates the rights and obligations of the people.
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