Abstract
Prior to his death, Yuan Shih-k’ai willed that Vice President Li Yüan-hung be the Acting President in accordance with Article 29 of the Constitutional Compact. The succession of Li to the Presidency had been advocated by the anti-Yüan forces, but they insisted that such a step should be based on the Provisional Constitution.1 It will be seen that Dr. Sun and his followers had persistently upheld the validity of the Provisional Constitution of 1912 throughout the period of internal dissensions between the North and the South. On the other hand, Premier Tuan Ch’i-jui maintained that since the Provisional Constitution had long been abrogated, it could not be legally restored simply by a government decree.2 After much discussion, the views of the South finally prevailed. On June 29, 1917, President Li proclaimed the formal restoration of the Provisional Constitution, the Presidential Election Law of 1913 and the first Parliament, which should be reconvened beginning with August 1, 1917. Satisfied with Li’s measures, the Military Council in the South dissolved itself on July 14 and the nation was thus reunited.
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References
Art. 42.
For details, see Government Bulletin, June 24, 1916.
Arts 51 and 53 of the “Temple of Heaven” Draft.
For various opinions on the provincial system, see Wu Tsung-chih, Constitutional History of the Republic of China, Vol. I, pp. 279–281, 297–299, 301–303.
The Presidential order of the dissolution was published in the Government Gazette, June 13, 1917. When Parliament was dissolved for the second time, part of the Draft had not yet gone through the procedure of second reading.
For details, see Tung-fang Magazine, Vol. 14, No. 8, “Major Events in China.”
Arts. 3 and 5.
On that day, 593 members of Parliament signed their names on the attendance sheet. Out of the 590 votes cast, Ts’ao K’un got 480, more than the required number of three-fourths of the total votes cast. According to the provisions of the Presidential Election Law of 1913, Ts’ao was thus elected as President.
For the English text of the 1923 Constitution, see Appendix E. For an evaluation of the Parliament, see Ku Tun-jou, The Legislative History of China, Ch. XV.
Ch. V.
Ch. XII.
For details, see Ch. VIII.
Arts. 60–63.
This Conference proclaimed the Rules of the Joint Conference of the Constitution-Protecting Provinces of the Republic of China. See Tung-fang Magazine, Vol. 15, No. 2.
See Yang Yu-chiung, Legislative History of Modem China, pp. 260–262.
For details, see William L. Tung, The Government of China, Vol. I, p. 387.
For example, Wu Ting-fang was concurrently foreign minister and finance minister, and Ch’en Ch’iung-ming was concurrently minister of the army and minister of the interior.
Dr. Sun’s Declaration of the Second Constitution-Protecting Movement (The Collected Works of Sun Yat-sen, Vol. IV, “Political Declaration Through the Years,” pp. 21–26.
See Tsou Lu, The Manuscript of the History of the Nationalist Party of China, Vol. II, p. 1077; and also Ch’ien Tuan-sheng, et al., History of the Political Institutions under the Chinese Republic, Vol. I, p. 166.
For their texts, see Government Bulletin, May 25, 1925.
For the organization of the Military Government in Peking, see Government Bulletin, June 19 and July 13, 1927.
His train was blown up by a mine on June 4 and he was fatally wounded. After his death, the Manchurian army was commanded by his son, Chang Hsueh-liang, generally known as the Young Marshal. On December 31, 1928, the Young Marshal changed his allegiance to the Nationalist government. Thus the nation was united again.
On September 9, 1921, the provincial government of Chekiang promulgated the Chekiang
See Arts. 125–127 of the Constitution of 1923.
See Ch’ien Tuan-sheng, et al., op. cit., Vol. II, pp. 660–664.
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© 1964 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Tung, W.L. (1964). Split Between the North and the South: Political Institutions During the Period of Internal Dissensions. In: The Political Institutions of Modern China. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1011-0_4
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