On February 12, 1912, the last emperor in Chinese history, Ai Xinjueluo Puyi, issued an abdication edict, thus ending the 2133-year imperial system in China since Qin Shi Huang. Puyi was thus frozen in history as the last emperor of China, but Puyi, who was only 6 years old at this time, obviously could not make such a major decision as abdication alone, in fact, Puyi at this time may not even know what abdication means to him. Although the abdication edict was issued in the name of Puyi, the abdication matter had little to do with Puyi.com.
In 1908, the Guangxu Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi died successively. Since Guangxu was unable to leave any heirs during his lifetime, Empress Dowager Cixi arranged for Guangxu's nephew Puyi to join the throne. At this time, Puyi, who was three years old, was obviously unable to shoulder the burden of governing the country, so Empress Longyu of Guangxu obeyed Cixi's edict and obeyed the government, while Puyi's biological father Zaifeng actually took charge of the government as the regent of the state. It was precisely because the Qing court at that time was ruled by the Empress Dowager Longyu, so the abdication edict mentioned at the beginning that "Shu Qin bought the will of Empress Dowager Longyu".
In fact, the decision to issue an edict of abdication came from Empress Longyu, and this edict declaring Puyi to become the last emperor in Chinese history also declared that Empress Longyu became the last empress dowager in Chinese history. Longyu, the last empress dowager in Chinese history, was in stark contrast to her predecessor Cixi: Cixi was known to be a powerful person, and she also had a fairly clever and sleek political skill. However, Cixi's desire for power and power skills could not be found in Longyu.
Empress Longyu, whose real name was Yehenara Jingfen, was the niece of Empress Dowager Cixi, and she also became empress dowager of Guangxu through this relationship. Longyu does not know that his tragic fate has begun: Longyu presents a hunchbacked and gray-skinned image in the book "The Late Qing Court in the Eyes of an American". In short, Longyu's appearance does not dare to be complimented, and this can also be confirmed in the photos left by Longyu. Guangxu actually did not like Longyu at all when choosing concubines, but was forced by Cixi's majesty to establish Longyu as empress against his will.
On the wedding night, Guangxu cried at Longyu and said, "You will always be my respected sister, but now how difficult it is for me." The reason why Cixi wanted to make Longyu an empress was that although she meant to take care of her niece, it was more important to want Longyu to help her monitor Guangxu's every move. This doomed Longyu to become a splint-tempered daughter-in-law: in Guangxu's eyes, she was an undercover agent sent by Cixi to spy on her, but Longyu, as empress of Guangxu, was not the same as Cixi. Longyu and Guangxu's marriage was doomed to be a tragedy from the beginning.
Although Longyu was an empress, Guangxu was favored by Concubine Zhen. Over time, even the handmaiden eunuchs did not pay much attention to the unfavored empress, and Longyu turned a blind eye to these people on the principle that more is better than less. Although Longyu served Cixi wholeheartedly, he did not want to get involved in the whirlpool of contradictions between Guangxu and Cixi, and the dull Longyu did not know how to speak cleverly, so Cixi, who was angry, did not like this too honest niece. Longyu, who was not flattered in front of Guangxu and Cixi, did not have much prestige to meet with the princesses of the various orders on weekdays.
In 1908, Guangxu and Cixi died successively. Since Guangxu was unable to leave any heirs during his lifetime, Empress Dowager Cixi arranged for Guangxu's nephew Puyi to join the throne. At this time, Puyi was three years old and obviously unable to shoulder the burden of governing the country, so Longyu obeyed Cixi's edict and listened to the government, while Puyi's biological father Zaifeng actually took charge of the government as the regent of the state. Empress Dowager Longyu and the regent Zaifeng began to jointly take charge of the stormy Qing Dynasty. Cixi's death allowed her to finally breathe a sigh of relief, and at the same time she was able to inherit the tens of millions of taels of private money that Cixi had left behind.
However, at this time, both Longyu and Zaifeng lacked the clever and sleek political skills of Cixi, and the Qing Dynasty's Jiangshan was already in a precarious state at this time. Longyu, who had lived in the harem for 20 years, had no understanding of the outside world, nor did she have the political means to co-opt courtiers. Although Cixi's edict was to put Longyu and Zaifeng in charge of the government together, Zaifeng knew that it was almost impossible for him to separate power from Zaifeng. Once Zaifeng asked Longyu about nominating Na Tong as the minister of military aircraft, but did not want Longyu to recommend Yuan Shikai's brother Xu Shichang as the minister of military aircraft.
Although Zaifeng promised to let the two become military ministers at the same time, he still reminded Longyu without warning: "Only major events in the imperial court need to be discussed by the empress, and these specific administrative affairs do not have to be bothered." After this incident, Longyu, who had no real power, rarely directly intervened in Zaifeng. Longyu could only fulfill his mother's responsibilities to the young emperor Puyi, while he did not ask anything about the country's military and political affairs from then on. After the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution in 1911, Zaifeng resigned as regent, and since then, all the self-defense fortresses of the Qing court have been dismantled on their own, leaving only an orphan and a widow.
Longyu, who had always been indifferent to the government's politics, had to reluctantly ask about the government in this situation. LongYu made Yuan Shikai the prime minister and said to Yuan Shikai: "Yu everything cannot be deeply understood, and he will be full-time in Yu'er in the future." Longyu's move was actually equivalent to handing over all power to Yuan Shikai. Longyu hoped that Yuan Shikai could take practical and effective measures to turn the tide of the tide and fall, so that the Qing Dynasty in the midst of turmoil could continue its lifeline. However, yuan shikai negotiated terms with the revolutionary party after gaining power, and eventually Yuan Shikai received a promise to elect him as president of the Republic of China as long as he could make the emperor abdicate.
Yuan Shikai, after receiving a promise from the revolutionary party, turned back to persuade Empress Longyu to issue a peaceful abdication. Under heavy oppression, Longyu convened the Imperial Council to determine the fate of the Qing Dynasty. At the meeting, some of the ministers of the clan were strongly opposed to the republic, and repeatedly demanded that Longyu take money to treat the army and let them fight the revolutionary army to the end. These ministers were not aware of the importance of chai rice, but Longyu was well aware of the emptiness of the national treasury and the ruin of armaments. Longyu knew that peaceful abdication had actually become the only way out for the Qing imperial family. The Edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor was promulgated in this context.
The promulgation of the Edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor marked the end of the imperial autocracy in China that has been unified by The First Emperor of Qin for more than two thousand years. Since then, the country is no longer a family and a surname, but a public instrument belonging to the people. Since then, the idea of democracy and republicanism has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the two restoration farces of Yuan Shikai and Zhang Xun have ended without a problem, which shows that China can no longer return to the era of imperial dictatorship. The "Edict of abdication of the Qing Emperor" reads: "In the general period, the people are blocked, and the sea is safe, and the five ethnic groups of Manchuria, Han, Mongolia, Hui, and Tibet are still completely territorial into a great Republic of China."
This sentence fully proves that Northeast China, Xinjiang, Tibet and other places are china's sacred and inalienable territories, thus directly establishing the legal basis for China's sovereignty over these regions. There is a saying on the Internet that the greatest contribution of the Qing Dynasty to Chinese history was to bring the northeast region as its "dowry". In fact, the greatest contribution of the Qing Dynasty to Chinese history was not in its territory, but in the establishment of a complete and complete system of unification. If it is said that the northeast is the "dowry" brought by the Qing Dynasty's entry into the customs, then what is the slave gandusi set up by the Ming Dynasty in the northeast?
The northeast is not the "dowry" brought by the Qing Dynasty, and Xinjiang, Tibet and other places are also not: as early as the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were administrative jurisdictions such as the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, the Anxi Capital Protectorate, the Beiting Capital Protectorate, and the Anbei Capital Protectorate in the Western Regions and the Mobei Region. Today, China's 9.6 million square kilometers of land are obviously not formed in a day, but China's territorial expansion is very different from that of Western countries: China's expansion is naturally achieved through inter-ethnic exchanges and integration, rather than direct military conquest as Western countries treat Indians.
In history, the expansion of the Central Plains Dynasty also took military measures: in the heyday of the Han and Tang Dynasties, great martial arts such as Feng wolf Juxu and Yanran Legong were created, but this military conquest method would rebound strongly with the weakening of the Central Plains Dynasty. Therefore, the expansion of the Central Plains Dynasty in history was more achieved through political attacks, economic revolutions, and cultural exchanges. Zhuge Liang's strategy of attacking the hearts of ethnic minority leaders such as Meng Yu is a typical example: through the means of attacking the heart, these ethnic minority leaders voluntarily submit to the Central Plains Dynasty.
This model of expansion is to form a community of solidarity and interests through exchanges and integration between ethnic groups. This is a subtle model compared to the expansion of the West with naked force. This subtle model is actually more powerful than military expansion: white, black, Indian, and Asian ethnic groups in the United States are still clearly divided, but the chinese peoples can achieve great unity. This is because our peoples have historically been naturally integrated, and the ethnic groups of the United States have been forcibly bound together in less than two hundred years.
It is true that subtlety is more powerful than the expansion of force, but it takes a long process for the subtle effect to take effect. It took thousands of years for China to shape its map to what it is today. In contrast, the Western powers in modern times can shape a colonial power in a short period of time by means of military expansion, but most of these colonial powers have fallen apart after World War II because they failed to straighten out their internal relations. China's naturally integrated expansion not only requires a long process to bear fruit, but it can also be repeated in the process.
For example, when the Central Plains Dynasty was strong in the Han and Tang Dynasties, there were administrative jurisdictions such as the Anbei Capital Protectorate and the Western Regions Capital Protectorate in Mobei and Western Regions. In the two Song Dynasties, it is not to be said that the Han and Tang Dynasties were imitated to open up the desert north and the western region, even if even the Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures inherent in the tradition of the Central Plains Dynasty were lost. During the heyday of the Han and Tang Dynasties, the territory of the Central Plains Dynasty once advanced north to Lake Baikal and west to the Aral Sea, but with the weakening of the Central Plains Dynasty, it had to abandon these areas. Until the northern part of the Central Plains Dynasty of the Ming Dynasty retreated to the Yin Mountain line of the Great Wall.
It can be seen that the ancient Central Plains Dynasty and the northern peoples were actually in a state of continuous tug-of-war. This state of tug-of-war eventually changed during the Qing Dynasty: the Qing Dynasty itself was a fishing and hunting people that rose up in the forests of northeast China. Fishing and hunting peoples like the Manchus were themselves inextricably linked to nomadic peoples like the Mongols, so the Qing Dynasty was finally able to completely solve the Problem of Mongolia's border problems that the Ming Dynasty could not solve for more than 200 years. Before the Qing Dynasty, the territory of successive Dynasties in China was constantly changing.
The Qing Dynasty not only completely achieved control over the northeast, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and other places, but more importantly, the Qing Dynasty achieved all-round unification of the above-mentioned regions in the political, economic, military, and cultural aspects, so the Qing Dynasty's control over these frontier territories was far stronger than that of the previous dynasties. The Qing Dynasty directly stationed bureaucrats and troops in the northeast, Taiwan, Xinjiang, Tibet and other frontier areas, and at the same time, the economic and cultural exchanges between these areas and the central plains and even the flow of population were also unprecedentedly strengthened.
In fact, the Qing emperor ruled over various parts of the empire in different capacities: in the Central Plains Han Dynasty he was the Heavenly Son of Heaven; in Manchuria he was the tribal chief and patriarch; in Mongolia he was the Great Khan; in Tibetan he was the incarnation of Manjushri Bodhisattva. In the eyes of the Mongol princes, Tibetan living Buddhas, and Muslim religious leaders of the Huibu at that time, they were subordinate to the Manchu Ai Xinjueluo family. In Dr. Sun Yat-sen's early conception, the sixteen-character program of the League Association, "Expelling the Tartars and Restoring China", was to drive the Manchu Qing Dynasty out of Shanhaiguan and restore the eighteen provinces of the Han Dynasty at the end of the Ming Dynasty.
However, the final result of the peace talks between the Southern Revolutionary Party and the Qing government was that after the abdication of the Qing Emperor, the manchu, Han, Mongolian, Hui, and Tibetan ethnic groups were still completely territorialized into a major Republic of China. This legally clarifies that the frontier areas such as Northeast China, Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet are inseparable parts of China's territory, and since then these areas have changed from the private property of the Manchu Qing imperial family to the sacred territory of the big family of the Chinese nation. Although this question of jurisprudence may appear to be false on the surface, it is entirely possible that it would become real in the environment surrounded by great powers at that time.
Looking at the revolutions of the nations of the world: the Dutch War of Independence, the British Bourgeois Revolution, the North American War of Independence, the French Revolution, and the revolutionary movements in Latin America have all experienced long wars. When the guns of the Wuchang uprising broke out, the revolutionary party was ready to fight a long civil war. Although this is an anti-imperialist and anti-feudal patriotic revolutionary movement, it is always the common people who will be hurt in the end of any civil war. Especially considering that the great powers and countries were looking at each other at that time, if the civil war expanded, no one could predict what moves would be taken by Japan, Russia, and other parliaments that had already plotted against China.
But the imaginary civil war did not break out in the end. From the outbreak of the Wuchang Uprising on October 10, 1911 to the abdication of the Qing Emperor on February 12, 1912, it was only four months, during which time there was indeed a confrontation between the Qing army and the revolutionary army, but it did not turn into a large-scale civil war like the British and French revolutions. The Qing Emperor's abdication edict peacefully announced the end of the dynasty that ruled China for more than two hundred years and the imperial autocracy that ruled China for more than two thousand years. We might as well assume what would have happened if the Qing dynasty royal family had not abdicated at that time?
Of course, in the state where Yuan Shikai's gun was placed there, Empress Longyu was definitely going to hand over power, and Puyi was definitely going to abdicate. But there are two ways to surrender power and abdicate: one is peaceful and the other is violent. In the end, the Qing government chose the way of peaceful abdication, but what if the Qing government at that time chose to break the fish dead net and stubbornly resist? Of course, the result of this is likely to lead to the destruction of the Aisin Kyora family, but at the same time it is bound to lead to the expansion of the civil war.
The final result is nothing more than a fight between the royalist forces supporting the Manchu Qing royal family and the forces opposing the Manchu royal family, and the most damaged will undoubtedly be the innocent people who are passively involved in this political turmoil. At the same time, the infighting between the great powers against Chinese is happy to see it, because they can completely profit in the name of supporting one side. Peaceful dynastic changes such as the abdication of the Qing Emperor are rare in Chinese history. The change of dynasties in China's history has almost always been accompanied by brutal wars.
The wars and plagues at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty caused the Yellow River Valley to become a no-man's land with "no chickens singing for a thousand miles"; the Rebellion of the Eight Kings and the Five Hu Chaos during the alternating period of the Two Jin Dynasties led to the deaths of tens of millions of people; the turmoil in the last years of the Sui Dynasty led to the vast expanse of thousands of miles east of the Yi and Luo Rivers; the Anshi Rebellion and the Huangchao Uprising in the Tang Dynasty also caused tens of millions of deaths; the wars in the last years of the Ming Dynasty caused China to lose nearly two-thirds of its population; the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement caused the deaths of nearly 200 million people... In fact, examples of peaceful transitions such as the abdication of the Qing Emperor are rare in the history of modern and contemporary revolutions in the world.
The revolutions of Britain, France, the United States, Russia, and other countries all experienced long and bloody wars, and only the Meiji Restoration of Japan achieved the bloodless opening of Edo when it overthrew the Tokugawa shogunate. The last shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate, Tokugawa Keiki, made the same choice at a turning point in history as the Chinese Imperial Family: such a choice was made to avoid plunging the country into the whirlpool of civil war, and to avoid causing his family to fall into the flames of war. The famous Japanese entrepreneur Konosuke Matsushita therefore spoke highly of Tokugawa Keiki.
Matsushita Konosuke believes that the greatness of Tokugawa Keiki is that he can take into account the future of the whole people and the development of the country, and calmly retire from the supreme position of power to a country, so that the Tokugawa family and the commoners are on the same footing and return to nothingness. It's easy to hold the grip of power tightly, but it's not easy to loosen it. In history, how many tyrants and heroes have died in the struggle for power. Politicians need extraordinary courage when they step onto the stage of history, but a good politician must also see the situation of historical development and know that he should withdraw from the stage of history at the right time and in an appropriate way.
In fact, resolutely retreating at a turning point in history also requires extraordinary courage. In the late Qing Dynasty, the situation of internal and external troubles used the form of peaceful handover to enable China to complete the transition from an imperial autocracy to a republican form of government. Longyu Neng's resolute decision to abdicate was in stark contrast to her predecessor Cixi: Cixi could sacrifice everything for her own power, so Cixi could be brazen enough to say such a humiliating remark as "measuring the material strength of China and marrying the happiness of the country".
Longyu lacked the clever and sleek political skills of Cixi, but she did not put personal power above the national righteousness like Cixi did. Cixi's scheming and tricks were something she would never learn, but when she resolutely decided to abdicate, her determination was more resolute than Cixi's iron fist. Although Longyu is just a little woman who has lived in the deep palace for a long time and does not care about the world, she does not lack the courage to bear everything at the turning point of history. Longyu lacked an understanding of the affairs of the outside world, and she did not have the same control over the government as Cixi did.
Although Longyu may only know a little about what a republican system is, she made the decision to abdicate clearly: "I am not talking about my family's affairs, as long as the world is safe." It was all my idea, and even if I later prove it wrong, I will never resent anyone else." This in itself is a responsible attitude towards the country's history. The abdication of the Qing Emperor avoided a bloody civil war and eliminated the possibility of great powers interfering in China by taking advantage of civil strife, thus preserving a trace of vitality for China's future development.
Although Longyu's abdication decision was objectively meritorious to the country and the nation, peaceful abdication became a foolish move to bury the Qing Dynasty in the eyes of the old and the young. In fact, the overthrow of any dynasty is bound to be the result of the accumulation of inherent contradictions in its political and economic system. As bystanders, we today's people can see more clearly that the Qing Dynasty at that time was actually hopeless. Peaceful abdication not only saved the country from a civil war, but also saved the lives of the bereaved and the young.
However, these people did not have the slightest sense of gratitude because they were able to save their lives. After the abdication of the Qing Emperor, Empress Longyu became a sinner in the eyes of the old and the young: they constantly excluded the former empress dowager who had abdicated. In order to hide from Qingjing, Long Yu took Puyi to live behind closed doors in the Forbidden City. Life after his abdication was not as good as before: Longyu cut down a number of eunuchs and palace women in order to save money, which caused the eunuchs and palace women to be indignant. In the past, eunuchs and palace women were no longer dissatisfied and did not dare to openly confront their masters.
But now everyone knows that Longyu is just a powerful former empress. The concubines of Tongzhi and Guangxu did not take the former empress dowager seriously, so these people joined forces to encourage Puyi and Longyu to fight against each other. As the relationship between Puyi and Longyu deteriorated, Longyu handed Over Puyi to the eunuchs to raise. In the past, the forbidden city came and went on new year's occasions, and the wives of the imperial court came and went, but in the new year after the abdication, the Forbidden City was silent, because no one came to worship anymore.
Immediately after Longyu's birthday arrived, none of the princes and nobles of the former Qing Dynasty came to visit, but Yuan Shikai, who was already the president of the Republic of China, sent a birthday gift to his secretary. Longyu felt not only the blank eyes and cold reception from others, in fact, she herself regarded herself as a sinner who buried the foundation of the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years. After abdicating, Longyu fell into a deep self-blame and could not extricate himself. On February 22, 1913, just one year after her abdication, the 46-year-old Longyu finally completed her tragic life.
Longyu's marriage was a victim of the political struggle of the court. She was not liked by her husband or by her mother-in-law. She took the initiative to abdicate, thus avoiding a civil war, but was not understood by those around her. Longyu, who was never understood by those around him during his lifetime, won the sympathy and respect of his countrymen after his death. After Longyu's death, Yuan Shikai, president of the Republic of China, ordered the flag to be lowered at half-mast for 3 days, and government officials wore filial piety clothes to mourn for 27 days. In addition to lowering the flag at half-mast, the Senate deliberately adjourned its session for one day on February 26. Yuan Shikai personally wore a black veil on his arm to attend Longyu's funeral.
Memorial services were also held across the country and representatives were sent to Beijing to attend Longyu's funeral. As many as 50,000 people attended Longyu's funeral, and some foreign embassies in China also lowered their flags to half-mast to mourn Longyu. Longyu, who had never received the slightest praise during his lifetime, was called "Female Middle Yao Shun" after his death, and was also exaggerated as "the appearance of the general trend, the internal examination of public opinion, with the heart of the grand duke without self, into the ancient republican situation." The reason why Longyu, who had a difficult fate before her death, mourned after her death was because of her peaceful abdication, and the Qing Dynasty's widows and widows resented her precisely because of this.
Longyu's peaceful abdication rendered a civil war invisible, allowing for a peaceful transition from the north-south confrontation to a situation of reunification. Longyu did not put the interests of her family and surname above the national righteousness, so she could resolutely abdicate for the sake of the peace of the world. Ascending to the throne undoubtedly requires great ability and courage, but abdicating is also not a decision that can be easily made. Perhaps Longyu never wanted to become a "female Yao Shun", but the choice she made more than a hundred years ago tells us that the unity of the country and the people's livelihood are far more important than the power of individual politicians.