Changes in the traditional form of government in China--an autocracy
based on parental rule--were initiated in 1905 when a commission was
appointed to study the forms of government in other countries.[26] On
the 1st of September 1906 an imperial edict was issued in which the
establishment of parliamentary institutions in China was foreshadowed.
In 1907 an advisory council--as a sort of stepping-stone to
representative government--was established by another edict. On the
27th of August 1908 an edict announced the convocation of a parliament
in the ninth year from that date. An edict of the 3rd of December 1908
reaffirmed that of the 27th of August. An edict of the 31st of October
1909 fixed the classes from which an Imperial Assembly (or Senate) was
to be selected, and an edict of the 9th of May 1910 gave the names of
the senators, all of whom had been nominated by the throne. The assembly
as thus constituted consisted of 200 members drawn from eight classes:
(1) princes and nobles of the imperial house--16 members; (2) Manchu and
Chinese nobles--12 members; (3) princes and nobles of dependencies--14
members; (4) imperial clansmen other than those mentioned--6 members;
(5) Peking officials--32 members; (6) eminent scholars--10 members; (7)
exceptional property owners--10 members; (8) representatives of
provincial assemblies--100 members. The national assembly, which was
opened by the regent on the 3rd of October 1910, thus contained the
elements of a two-chambered parliament. The edict summoning the assembly
contained the following exhortations:--
The members should understand that this assemblage of the senate is an
unprecedented undertaking in China and will be the forerunner of the
creation of a parliament. They are earnestly desired to devote to it
their patriotism and sincerity, to observe proper order, and to fulfil
their duties in representing public opinion. Thus it is hoped that our
sincere wish to effect constitutional reforms in their proper order
and to aim at success may be duly satisfied.
Concurrently with these steps towards a fundamental alteration in the
method of government, changes were made in many departments of the
state, and an elective element was introduced into the provincial
administrations. The old conception of government with such
modifications as had been made up to 1910 are set forth below.
The Chinese conception of government.
The laws of the state prescribe the government of the country to be
based on the government of the family.[27] The emperor is the sole and
supreme head of the state, his will being absolute alike in the
highest affairs and in the humblest details of private life. The
highest form of legislation was an imperial decree, whether
promulgated in general terms or to meet a special case. In either form
it was the law of the land, and no privilege or prescriptive right
could be pleaded against it. All officers of state, all judges and
magistrates, hold their offices entirely at the imperial pleasure.
They can be dismissed, degraded, punished, without reason assigned and
without form of trial--even without knowing by whom or of what they
are accused. The monarch has an advisory council, but he is not bound
by its advice, nor need he pretend that he is acting by and with its
advice and concurrence. This condition of affairs dates back to a
primitive state of society, which probably existed among the Chinese
who first developed a civilized form of government. That this system
should have been maintained in China through many centuries is a fact
into the causes of which it is worth while to inquire. We find it
pictured in the records which make up the _Book of History_, and we
find it enforced in the writings of the great apostle of patriarchal
institutions, Confucius, and in all the other works which go to make
up the Confucian Canon. The reverence with which these scriptures are
viewed was the principal means of perpetuating the primitive form of
Chinese imperialism. The contents of their pages formed the study of
every schoolboy, and supplied the themes at the competitive
examinations through which every one had to pass who sought an
official career. Thus the mind of the nation was constantly and almost
exclusively turned towards them, and their dogmas became part and
parcel of the national training. The whole theory of government is the
embodiment of parental love and filial piety. As the people are the
children of the emperor, so is he the _T'ien-tsze_ or the Son of
Heaven.
The emperor.
In practice the arbitrary power of the emperor is tempered in several
ways. Firstly, although the constitution conferred this absolute and
unchecked power on the emperor, it was not for his gratification but
that he might exercise it for the good of his people. He rules by
divine authority, and as the vicegerent of heaven upon earth. If he
rules corruptly or unjustly, heaven will send disasters and calamity
on the people as a reproof; if the rule becomes tyrannical, heaven may
withdraw its favour entirely, and then rebellion may be justified. The
Manchu dynasty came to the throne as foreign conquerors, nevertheless
they base their right to rule, not on the power of the sword, but on
divine approval. On this moral ground they claim the obedience of
their subjects, and submit themselves to the corresponding
obligations. The emperor, unless he has gained the throne by conquest,
is selected by his predecessor or by the imperial family in conclave.
He is usually a son (but seldom the eldest son) of his predecessor,
and need not be the child of the empress-consort,[28] though (other
things being equal) a son of the empress is preferred. Failing a son
another prince of the imperial house is chosen, the choice being
properly among the princes of a generation below that of the preceding
emperor, so that the new emperor may be adopted as the son of his
predecessor, and perform for him the due ceremonies at the ancestral
tablets. Apart from this ancestor-worship the emperor worships only at
the Altar of Heaven, leaving Buddhism, Taoism, and any other form of
worship to his subjects. The emperor's sacrifices and prayers to
heaven are conducted with great parade and ceremony. The chief of
these state observances is the sacrifice at the winter solstice, which
is performed before sunrise on the morning of the 21st of December at
the Temple of Heaven. The form of the altar is peculiar.
"It consists of a triple circular terrace, 210 ft. wide at the base,
150 in the middle, and 90 at the top.... The emperor, with his
immediate suite, kneels in front of the tablet of Shang-ti (The
Supreme Being, or Heaven), and faces the north. The platform is laid
with marble stones, forming nine concentric circles; the inner circle
consists of nine stones, cut so as to fit with close edges round the
central stone, which is a perfect circle. Here the emperor kneels, and
is surrounded first by the circles of the terraces and their enclosing
walls, and then by the circle of the horizon. He then seems to himself
and to his court to be in the centre of the universe, and turning to
the north, assuming the attitude of a subject, he acknowledges in
prayer and by his position that he is inferior to heaven, and to
heaven alone. Round him on the pavement are the nine circles of as
many heavens, consisting of nine stones, then eighteen, then
twenty-seven, and so on in successive multiples of nine till the
square of nine, the favourite number of Chinese philosophy, is reached
in the outermost circle of eighty-one stones."
On this occasion, also, a bullock of two years old, and without
blemish, is offered as a whole burnt-offering in a green porcelain
furnace which stands close beside the altar. The emperor's life is
largely occupied with ceremonial observances, and custom ordains that
except on state occasions he should not leave the walls of the palace.
For his knowledge of public affairs the emperor is thus largely
dependent upon such information as courtiers and high officers of
state permit to reach him.[29] The palace eunuchs have often exercised
great power, though their influence has been less under the Manchus
than was the case during previous dynasties. Though in theory the
throne commands the services and money of all its subjects yet the
crown as such has no revenues peculiarly its own. It is dependent on
contributions levied through the high officials on the several
provinces, subject always to the will of the people, and without their
concurrence and co-operation nothing can be done.[30] The power of the
purse and the power of the sword are thus exercised mediately, and the
autocratic power is in practice transferred to the general body of
high functionaries, or to that clique which for the time being has
the ear of the emperor, and is united enough and powerful enough to
impose its will on the others.
China governed by its civil service.
The functionaries who thus really wield the supreme power are almost
without exception civil officials. Naturally the court has shown an
inclination to choose Manchu rather than Chinese, but of late years
this preference has become less marked, and in the imperial
appointments to provincial administrations the proportion of Manchus
chosen was at the beginning of the 20th century not more than
one-fifth of the whole number. The real reason for this change is the
marked superiority of the Chinese, in whose hands the administration
is stated to be safer for the Manchu dynasty. Practically all the high
Chinese officials have risen through the junior ranks of the civil
service, and obtained their high position as the reward--so it must be
presumed--of long and distinguished public service.
Functions of the central government.
Through the weakness of some of the emperors the functions of the
central government gradually came to be to check the action of the
provincial governments rather than assume a direct initiative in the
conduct of affairs. "The central government may be said to criticize
rather than to control the action of the provincial administrations,
wielding, however, at all times the power of immediate removal from
his post of any official whose conduct may be found irregular or
considered dangerous to the stability of the state."[31] This was
written in 1877, and since then the pressure of foreign nations has
compelled the central government to assume greater responsibilities,
and the empire is now ruled from Peking in a much more effective
manner than was the case when Lord Napier in 1834 could find no
representative of the central government with whom to transact
business.
If the central authorities take the initiative, and issue orders to
the provincial authorities, it, however, does not follow that they
will be carried out. The orders, if unwelcome, are not directly
disobeyed, but rather ignored, or specious pleas are put forward,
showing the difficulty or impossibility of carrying them out at that
particular juncture. The central government always wields the power of
removing or degrading a recalcitrant governor, and no case has been
known where such an order was not promptly obeyed. But the central
government, being composed of officials, stand by their order, and are
extremely reluctant to issue such a command, especially at the bidding
of a foreign power. Generally the opinion of the governors and
viceroys has great weight with the central government.
Departments of the central administration.
Under the Ming dynasty the _Nuiko_ or Grand Secretariat formed the
supreme council of the empire. It is now of more honorific than actual
importance. Active membership is limited to six persons, namely, four
grand secretaries and two assistant grand secretaries, half of whom,
according to a general rule formerly applicable to nearly all the high
offices in Peking, must be Manchu and half Chinese. It constitutes the
imperial chancery or court of archives, and admission to its ranks
confers the highest distinction attainable by Chinese officials,
though with functions that are almost purely nominal. Members of the
grand secretariat are distinguished by the honorary title of
_Chung-t'ang._ The most distinguished viceroys are usually advanced to
the dignity of grand secretary while continuing to occupy their posts
in the provinces. The best known of recent grand secretaries was Li
Hung-chang.
Under the Manchu dynasty the Grand Council (_Chuen Chi Ch'u_) became
the actual privy council of the sovereign, in whose presence its
members daily transacted the business of the state. This council is
composed of a small knot of men holding various high offices in the
government boards at Peking. The literal meaning of Chuen Chi Ch'u is
"place of plans for the army," and the institution derives its name
from the practice established by the early emperors of the Manchu
dynasty of treating public affairs on the footing of a military
council. The usual time of transacting business is from 4 to 6 a.m. In
addition to the grand council and the grand secretariat there were
boards to supervise particular departments. By a decree of the 6th of
November 1906 the central administration was remodelled, subsequent
decrees making other changes. The administration in 1910 was carried
on by the following agencies:--
A. _Councils._--(1)The grand council. Its title was modified in 1906
and it is now known as the Grand Council of State Affairs or Privy
Council. It has no special function, but deals with all matters of
general administration and is presided over by the emperor (or
regent). (2) The Grand Secretariat. This body gained no increase of
power in 1906. (3) The advisory council or senate (_Tu Cheng Yuen_)
created in 1907 and containing representatives of each province. It
includes all members of the grand council and the grand secretariat
and the heads of all the executive departments.[32] The members of
these three bodies form advisory cabinets to the emperor.
B. _Boards._--Besides boards concerned with the affairs of the court
there were, before the pressure of foreign nations and the movement
for reform caused changes to be made, six boards charged with the
conduct of public affairs. They were: (1) _Li Pu_, the Board of Civil
Appointments, controlling all appointments in the civil service from
the rank of district magistrate upwards. (2) _Hu Pu_, the Board of
Revenue, dealing with all revenues which reached the central
government. (3) _Li Pu_, the Board of Ceremonies. (4) _Ping Pu_, the
Board of War. It controlled the provincial forces. The Manchu forces
were an independent organization attached to the palace. (5) _Hsing
Pu_, the Board of Punishments. It dealt with the criminal law only,
especially the punishment of officials guilty of malpractices. (6)
_Kung Pu_, the Board of Works. Its work was limited to the control of
the construction and repair of official residences.
As rearranged and enlarged there are now the following boards, given
in order of precedence:--
1. _Wai-wu Pu_.--This was established in 1901 in succession to the
_Tsung-li Yamen_,[33] which was created in 1861 after the
Anglo-Chinese War in 1860 as a board for foreign affairs. Previous to
that war, which established the right of foreign powers to have their
representatives in Peking, all business with Western nations was
transacted by provincial authorities, chiefly the viceroy at Canton.
The only department at Peking which dealt specially with foreign
affairs was the _Li Fan Yuen_, or board of control for the
dependencies, which regulated the affairs of Mongolia, Tibet and the
tributary states generally. With the advent of formally accredited
ambassadors from the European powers something more than this was
required, and a special board was appointed to discuss all questions
with the foreign envoys. The number was originally four, with Prince
Kung, a brother of the emperor Hien Feng, at their head. It was
subsequently raised to ten, another prince of the blood, Prince Ching,
becoming president. The members were spoken of collectively as the
prince and ministers. For a long time the board had no real power, and
was looked on rather as a buffer between the foreign envoys and the
real government. The importance of foreign affairs, however,
especially since the Japanese War, identified the _Yamen_ more with
the grand council, several of the most prominent men being members of
both. At the same time that the _Tsung-li Yamen_ was created, two
important offices were established in the provinces for dealing with
foreign commercial questions, viz. the superintendencies of trade for
the northern and southern ports. The negotiations connected with the
Boxer outbreak proved so conclusively that the machinery to the
_Tsung-li Yamen_ was of too antiquated a nature to serve the new
requirements, that it was determined to abolish the _Yamen_ and to
substitute for it a board (_Pu_) to be styled the _Wai-wu Pu_, or
"board of foreign affairs."