第七十六章《胡适英文论著：民族危机与公共外交》（1）

  第七十六章《胡适英文论著：民族危机与公共外交》（1）

  A Republic for China
  The Cornell Era
  Jan., 1912. pp. 240-242. Cornell Papers.
  The New Year bells, as Tennyson sang, did "Ring out the old, ring in the new." Amidst their merry chimes there was brought forth, in the ancient land of China, a republic. Liberty rejoices in it. China's sons are rejoicing in it. Yet the world hesitates to join in our voices of rapture and gratification. There are still sneers and laughter at the idea of a republic for China. It is in the defense of this"chosen music" of Liberty for China that I venture to submit to our American friends a justification of that new birth in China.
  The world seems to have the misconception that democracy is entirely a new thing to the Chinese. I call it a misconception because, though China has been under monarchical government for thousands of years, still, behind the monarchs and the aristocrats there has been dominating in China, a quiet, peaceful, oriental form of democracy. The Book of History , the oldest of China's Classics, has the Golden Rule for the rulers:
  "The people should be cherished.
  And should not be downtrodden.
  The people are the root of a nation:
  If the root be firm the nation is safe."
  Mencius, the Montesquieu of the Orient, said: "The people are to be regarded most; the sovereign, the least. He who gains the favor of a feudal prince may become an official; he who gains the favor of an emperor may become a feudal prince; but he who wins the hearts of the people is the son of heaven, that is, the emperor."
  That the people are to be regarded most has been the essence of the laws of China. Most founders of the dynasties were men who won, not conquered, the people. "Neglect of the people" has always been a pretext in every declaration of the numerous revolutions which terminated old dynasties and established new ones.
  The power of the Chinese rulers has always been limited, not so much by constitutionalism as by the ethical teachings of our sages. The sovereigns had to observe that a ruler, as defined by the sages, was "one who shepherds the people."Very few rulers in Chinese history have dared to indulge in such extravagances and brutal cruelty as are described in English and French history. There were ministers and censors to censure, and revolts to dread. Such was the Chinese despotism: such was the democracy or "people's strength" in China.
  So much for the past. Now let us look into the China of today. There are on the Manchu throne the baby Emperor, the Regent, and the Empress Dowager. There are numerous Manchu princes who are born nobles and born officials. But among the Chinese there is no class of nobility. There are no princes, no lords, no dukes. "The officials," to quote from an article written by Dr. Wu Ting-fang, formerly Minister to the United States, and now Foreign Minister of the new Republic, "spring from the people, and to the people they return." With the Manchu throne there will go all the Manchu princes! And there is no recognized royal family to set up in place of the departing royal house. Thus, as Dr. Wu further remarks, "with the Manchu throne removed there is left a made-to-order republic."
  A leading weekly in this country argues that "political history almost universally shows that a monarchy, limited by constitutionalism, must in the development of nations, precede a republic of purely democratic form." I am no student of political history, but so far as I can see, if the purely democratic form of government had never come into existence, or if it had once appeared and been obscured by ages of monarchy and aristocracy, then a limited monarchy might precede a republic. But when men have beheld the example of this great country and of other nations where liberty and equality prevail, and have realized the merits thereof, they will never be satisfied with a monarchy. When the eyes of the people of Eden had once been opened, even the Almighty could not but let them go. This is precisely the situation in China. That the Manchu dynasty must disappear goes without saying. And, as I have said, there is no recognized royal family to set up in place of the departing house. Shall we, after so much struggle and so much bloodshed, be so ridiculous as to offer a crown to some individual, and set him up as a national ornament, merely for the sake of fulfilling a theory of political history?
  And even if China needs a monarchy, who will be the emperor? The world looks upon Yuan Shih-kai, the Imperial Premier, as the fittest man for the throne. But alas! the world has been greatly deceived by its short-sighted newspaper correspondents in China! To the minds of the Chinese Yuan Shih-kai is a mean man, a traitor! It was he who betrayed the late emperor and brought to a disastrous end the Reformation of 1898, which would have succeeded but for the treason of Yuan, and which, if it had succeeded, would have spared the world the Boxers' War and saved the Chinese from the shame and the weighty burden of indemnity which resulted from that war. During the short period of his premiership thousands of lives and millions of property were lost which would have been spared but for the ambitious efforts of Yuan. He is not in the hearts of the people: he has sinned against his country.
  Others may suggest that we offer to some of our own revolutionary leaders, a crown instead of a presidential seal. Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Dr. Wu Ting-fang, or General Huang Hin would be the man. But while these are men who would willingly die for the welfare of their country, they are not fighting for personal ambition. They do not want to be Caesars or Diazes; they want and the people expect them to be only Washingtons or Franklins.
  And even if China has the fit man for the crown, and a monarchy is set up, then, when the Chinamen have come to such a political standard as the Americans of the eighteenth century, what shall we do with the monarchy? The English people have spent a number of years trying in vain to diminish the power of the House of Lords,—not to speak of the Royal House. Why should we pave the way for bloodshed in the future, when it is now in our power to prevent it?
  We have thus far seen the impossibility of the establishment of a monarchical government in China today. For several years China has had her provincial assemblies and her national senate. The Chinese have learned to elect representatives. They now decide to have a republic. Their decision is a wise one, for the world is tending toward democracy. You have all seen the "Young Turks"cast their Sultan into prison; you have all seen Portugal exile her king; and you have all seen Mexico elect her first President of the new Republic. China simply responds to the world's mighty, irresistible call. She has rung the first bell of Liberty in that great continent of Asia. May that sweet sound be prolonged and echoed throughout the whole earth, and
  "Long may our land be bright
  With freedom's holy light!"
  Analysis of the Monarchical Restoration in China
  Columbia Spectator
  Jan. 14, 1916. p. 7.
  "What do the Chinese students think of the present political changes in China?" That I do not know. I can only say what I personally feel about this matter. First of all, I welcome the change from a republic to a monarchy. There are a thousand and one reasons why I should welcome this change, and for brevity's sake, I only mention a few.
  (1) The change is no change at all; it is only calling the present Chinese Government by its proper name. The Republic of China died a premature death two years ago, and the Government has ever since been an absolute monarchy under the name of a republic. This insult to the good name "republic" has now been removed by frankly calling the government what it really is. It is of supreme importance that things should be called what they really are. "If names are not right," said our great sage Confucius, "words are misused. When words are misused, affairs go wrong."
  TRUE CHARACTER OF CHINESE GOVERNMENT REVEALED
  (2) The second reason why I welcome this change is this: it reveals to the world the real character of the Chinese Government. In particular, it shows to the whole world the real character of Mr. Yuan Shih-kai whom the American public has long delighted to call "the strong man" of China and who has of late publicly sworn to Heaven and Earth that he would never forsake the cause of republicanism. "It should be understood," said the Strong Man of China, "that my patriotism is not a whit less than any other man's." Probably not; for Brutus is an honorable man.
  NEW FOREIGN OPINION EFFECTED BY CHANGE
  (3) The third reason is a corollary from the first two. The political changes in China have opened the eyes of the American editors and have brought about a perceptible change in the attitude of American public opinion towards Mr. Yuan Shih-kai and his government. Any one who has followed the editorials of the leading American papers of the last few years cannot fail to notice that change. This change of attitude on the part of American public opinion is of great moral value to Young China. The reactionaries in China have done their best to poison American public opinion; they have succeeded even in inducing Dr. Frank J. Goodnow, formerly of Columbia, now President of Johns Hopkins University, to volunteer to act as the spokesman of Chinese reactionism. The many eulogies that have been piled upon the head of Mr. Yuan by the superficial American observers, have been simply disgusting. One writer, for example, in his enthusiastic praise of Mr. Yuan, pointed out that he had appointed a Board of Censors whose duty it was to criticise the President and his government. This was regarded by one writer as sufficient proof of Mr. Yuan's greatness; for, he asks, what other ruler has ever dared appoint a board to criticise himself? Our Yuanite critic has failed to learn that the Board of Censors is an institution which has existed in China for at least 23 centuries! Examples of this kind can be easily multiplied, but it suffices to say that most of these eulogies have been actuated by good intentions without being supported by profundity of observation and accuracy of facts. It is very encouraging to notice that many an American editor is now willing to "eat his own words" and treat Mr. Yuan as he actually is. What Young China demands of the American public is simply an impartial and unprejudiced judgment based on actual facts. And this is exactly what the present political change has brought about.
  DANGER UNDER NEW REGIME: NEW HEREDITARY CLASS
  What, it may be asked, are the dangers which are likely to result from this change?
  In the first place, it will revive many of the evils which are necessarily attached to the monarchical form of government and which have been swept away by the Revolution of 1911. One of the most obvious evils already brought about by the present change, is the creation of a hereditary class of nobility. It has been authentically reported that this class is to consist of six ranks, namely, prince, duke, marquis, earl, viscount and baron, all to be hereditary as long as the Government lasts. The establishment of a privilege class of nobility in an age when the more advanced nations are questioning the right of inheritance of property, is beyond all doubt a step deserving the just condemnation of the whole world. But, fortunately, this class is to be hereditary only "as long as the Government lasts!"
  REINSTATEMENT OF CORRUPT OFFICIAL CLASS
  In the second place, the monarchy will in all probability reinstate the old and corrupt official class which has been the greatest evil in the history of China. It is no exaggeration to say that the bought-and-sold officialdom in China was a greater evil than opium-smoking or even foot-binding. And if the Revolution of 1911 accomplished nothing more than sending this bought-and-sold official class back to their "cold benches" at home, that alone is sufficient to counterbalance all the condemnation which has of late poured upon the Revolution. But alas! this class is being resurrected from oblivion and placed in positions to govern and rule the Chinese nation, because it has succeeded in getting on the bandwagon of the new dynasty and has helped the making of the emperorship!
  REVOLUTION, AN INEVITABLE RESULT
  In the third place, the monarchical restoration will naturally arouse a series of disturbances and revolutions throughout the country. Already a revolution has been started in the province of Yunnan under the leadership of Gen. Tsai Ao, and it is highly probable that it will spread to the other parts of China. It must be remembered that, when men like Dr. Goodnow advocated a monarchy for China, they urged that it was necessary "in order that all tendencies toward the disintegration of the country might be checked." Unfortunately they failed to see that China could not be united in a monarchy and that a reactionary government with arbitrary powers necessarily breeds disintegration and invites revolution.
  CESSATION OF CONSTRUCTIVE POLICIES
  Lastly, and perhaps this the worst outcome of the whole situation, there will be a complete cessation of all constructive and productive policies in every department of the Government. The Government is at present wasting all its energy in the monarchist propaganda, in suppressing all expression of dissatisfaction on the part of the people and in arming itself against the revolutionists. And the discontented youths of the nation, too, will also be wasting their time and life in political plotting and revolting against the Government, until they can finally overthrow it and re-establish the government which they desire. And all this waste of energy and opportunity is due to the selfish ambitions of some most unscrupulous politicians!
  Manufacturing the Will of the People
  The Journal of Race Development
  1917. Vol. 7. No. 3. pp. 319-328.
  When in December, 1915, I was reading the numerous telegraphic messages from the provinces urging Mr. Yuan Shih-kai to become emperor, my curiosity was aroused by the fact that while the messages differed from one another both in conception and in execution, there were forty odd words which occurred together in all of them. These words were:
  We, representatives of the citizens, by virtue of the will of the people, do hereby reverently nominate the present President Yuan Shih-kai as Emperor of the Chinese Empire, and invest him with all the supreme sovereign rights of the state. May he serve Heaven and lay the foundation to be transmitted to his heirs throughout ten thousand generations!
  To any observant reader it was apparent that some master hand had been behind all those lengthy and flowery memorials; for otherwise it would be utterly inexplicable how the province of Kansuh and the province of Kiangsu (to take the two extremes), could use the same highbrow language of "the will of the people" and "the supreme sovereign rights of the state."
  This surmise was not incorrect. These words, forty-five in all in the original, were secretly telegraphed from the monarchist headquarters in Peking to all the military and civil governors of the provinces on October 23, 1915, with the instruction that they must be inserted in the "memorials of nomination." This and many other secret telegrams sent from the monarchist headquarters in Peking to the various provinces, all of which to be deciphered either with the Hua code or with the code of the executive mansion, have been collected from those provinces later taking part in the third revolution and have since been published in several languages. No better introduction to this most remarkable collection of historic documents is needed than the following passage from the last telegram in this collection dated December 21, 1915:
  Since the promulgation of the law on the formation of the convention of the citizens' representatives, we, who are devoted to the welfare of the state, have desired to see that the decisions of that convention do not run counter to the wishes of the people. We have therefore striven so to apply the law as to meet the real needs and circumstances, adhering to the law whenever possible, and yielding to expediency whenever necessary. In carrying out this policy, there may have been certain letters and telegrams, both official and private, which have transgressed the bounds of the law. They will become absolutely useless when the affair is finished. Moreover, no matter how carefully their secrets are guarded, they will always remain as concrete records which might seriously compromise us; andshould they be handed down as part of the national records, they will stain the opening pages of the history of the new dynasty. The central government, after carefully considering the matter, has concluded that it would be better to sort out and burn the documents in order to remove all unnecessary records and prevent regrettable consequences. For these reasons, you are hereby requested to sift out all telegrams, letters and despatches concerning the change in the form of government (excepting those required by law to be filed on record), and cause the same to be burnt in your presence.
  But this measure of precaution was already too late. It was sent out on the 21st of December, and on that very day troops were mobilized in the province of Yunnan, and two days later the famous Yunnan ultimatum reached Peking, demanding the immediate punishment of the leaders of the monarchist propaganda. The independence of that province was proclaimed on December 25, thus beginning the third revolution which lasted until the death of Yuan Shih-kai on June 6, 1916.
  A complete history of the monarchist movement in China has yet to be written. Only a brief summary of its important steps can be given here. We shall not go back to Yuan Shih-kai's expulsion by force of the opposition members in the national assembly, and the consequent dissolution of that body for lacking a quorum. Nor need we to take up the long story of the revision of the constitution and of the presidential election act which gave the president absolute powers and made his term of office not only permanent but also hereditary. Suffice to say that Yuan Shih-kai and his clique were not satisfied with a virtually permanent and hereditary presidency. They wanted a full-formed monarchy, and they set out to realise that aim with a political skilfulness and dexterity which must surprise many a professional politician of the West.
  The first step in the grand scheme for the overthrow of the republic and for the establishment of a monarchy was to call for "voluntary" petitions from the people urging a change in the form of government. We quote from the code telegram to the governors of the provinces dated August 30, 1915:
  We propose that petitions be sent in the name of the citizens of the respective provinces to the administrative council acting in the capacity of national legislature, so as to demonstrate the wish of the people to have a monarchy The plan suggested is for each province to send in a separate petition, the draft of which will be made here and wired to the respective provinces in due course of time At all events, the change in the form of the state will have to be effected under the color of carrying out the people's will.
  From another code telegram, dated September 10, 1915, we learn that "not fewer than one hundred petitions for a change in the form of the state have been received from people residing in all parts of the country." That was sufficient to prove that "the people were of one mind concerning this matter." By this time the administrative council had passed a law providing for a general convention of the representatives of the people to decide upon the question of a change in the form of government. A national convention bureau was established by the government with the monarchist clique in full control of it. On September 10, the bureau sent telegraphic instructions to the governors, "explaining confidentially, article by article, how to apply the law in order to produce the desired results." We quote the first two sections of the instructions:
  Article I of the law provides that "the petitioning for a change in the form of the state shall be decided by the general convention of the citizens' representatives." The words "shall be decided by the general convention of the citizens' representatives" refer to nothing more than a formal approval of the convention, and are by no means intended to give room for discussion of any kind. Indeed, it was never intended that the citizens should have any choice between a republic and a monarchy. For this reason, at the time of voting all the representatives must be made unanimously to advocate a change of the republic into a monarchy. It behooves you, therefore, prior to the election and voting, privately to search for such persons as are willing to express the people's will in the sense above indicated. You will also make the necessary arrangements beforehand so that there may be no divergence of opinion when the time arrives for putting the question to a vote.
  Article II provides: "The citizens' representatives shall be elected by separate ballot signed by the person voting. The person obtaining the greatest number of votes cast shall be declared elected." Now, the citizens' representatives, though nominally elected by the electors, are in reality appointed beforehand by you acting as Superintendent of Election. The principle of separate signed ballot is adopted in this article with the object of preventing the voters from voting otherwise than as directed, and of awakening in them a sense of responsibility for their votes. Again, since the law says that the person obtaining the greatest number of votes cast shall be declared elected, it is necessary for you to have everything prepared beforehand. You should, prior to the voting, divide the electors into groups, and assign to each group the names of the persons intended to be elected Furthermore, deputies should be appointed to supervise the proceedings, and the voters are to be privately instructed to vote according to the secret list of names. In this way the persons elected will not be such as will get beyond our control.
  But all this red tape, though very ingeniously devised, was still too slow for the impatient would-be founders of the new dynasty. Thus spoke Mr. Sun Yu-chun, the impetuous president of the Chiu-An-Hwei (Society for the Preservation of Peace) in a code telegram dated September 26, 1915:
  Moreover, the situation is critical and the country is in great unrest. How can we wait for the convention of the citizens' representatives which will not meet until several months hence! Thus a new method for obtaining the people's will has to be devised.
  This "new method" consists in this:
  The military and civil governors of the provinces are requested to call an extraordinary meeting of the general convention of citizens, in which each district (hsien) is to be represented by one person to be selected from among the gentry or common people of the district who are residing in the provincial capital. The voting shall take place by signed ballot on which the word "monarchy" or republic is to be written. The military and civil governors and the military commandants, acting as superintendents of election, shall open the ballots then and there. In case a majority of the votes are in favor of a monarchy, the persons so voting shall forthwith name a person who is to be the emperor. The military and civil governors and the military commandants shall then report by telegram to the administrative council the number of votes and the name of the person recommended as emperor; and the general convention of citizens shall simultaneously despatch a telegram to the administrative council, authorizing the latter to announce the number of votes in favor of a monarchy and the name of the person nominated. You are earnestly requested to make immediate preparations therefor
  We may add that though this plan is proposed by us alone, it will differ in no material respect from that which the administrative council will eventually adopt.
  The last sentence which I have put into italics, is worth noting. These are the words of the head of a nominally private organization which was founded for the purpose of "studying the problem of the form of government," and which had the audacity to predict what plans the administrative council acting in the capacity of national legislature, would "eventually adopt"!
  The administrative council, however, did not have the courage to dispense with the formality of a national election. Says a code telegram from the Chiu-An-Hwei dated September 27, 1915:
  In order to clothe the proceedings with an appearance of gravity, the representatives of the districts, though really appointed by the highest authorities of the province, should still be nominally elected by the districts. As soon as the representatives of the districts have been appointed, their names should be communicated to the magistrates of the respective districts, who are to be instructed to draw up the necessary documents formally nominating the persons designated. Such documents, however, should be properly antedated.
  But the administrative council, as predicted, did abandon the plan of holding the general convention of the citizens' representatives (kuoh-ming tai-piao ta hwei), and adopted instead the device of holding a convention of citizens (kung-ming ta hwei) in each provincial capital. There was to be a primary election at which a certain number of electors were to be elected whose duty it was to proceed to the provincial capital where a second election was to be held for the selection of delegates to the convention. On October 10, 1915, the national convention bureau telegraphed these interesting instructions:
  All the superintendents of the primaries (i.e., the district magistrates) are absolutely responsible for having the proper persons elected within their respective districts. They should, before the elections, carefully consider what sort of men are those who are qualified to be elected, and select those who are good-natured and obsequious and of the same mind as ourselves. These are to be considered as the persons who should be elected. The superintendents will then judiciously assign their names to the several voters, and request them to vote as directed. If they find any difficulty in carrying out these instructions, they should not hesitate to use measures that are invisibly coercive, in order to obtain the desired results from the voting
  The method of manipulating the electors after their arrival at the provincial capital is contained in another telegram dated October 11
  When the electors of the districts have reported themselves at the provincial capital, a reception committee should be appointed to meet them and exchange views with them. The superintendents of election should then, under pretext of inviting them to a social gathering or dinner party, request their presence at their official mansion and improve the occasion by explaining to them the fundamental principles of the monarchical movement as well as the general situation of the country, and by making known to them the names of those who are to be elected. No methods should be left untried until our objects are achieved.
  On October 26, the national convention bureau sent out this code telegram:
  After the form of the state has been put to a vote, the nomination of an emperor should be made forthwith without further voting. You should address the delegates and tell them that a monarchy having been decided upon, not a single day should pass without a monarch; that the delegates should now nominate Yuan Shih-kai as the Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire; and that if they are in favor of the proposal, they should signify their assent by a standing vote. This done, the text of the proposed petition of nomination should be handed to the delegates for their signatures. After that, you should again address them to the effect that in all matters concerning the nomination and the petition for immediate enthronement, they may, in the name of the citizens' representatives, invest the administrative council with general powers to act in their behalf and to take the necessary steps until the petition is finally granted. The prepared text of the telegram from the delegates to the acting legislative council should then be shown to the delegates for approval
  As for the exact words to be inserted in the petition of nomination, they have been communicated to you in our telegram of the 23rd inst. These characters, forty-five in all, must on no account be altered. The rest of the text is left to your discretion.
  The rest of the story the world well knows. These secret instructions were carried out to the letter. The citizens' conventions were held at the various provincial capitals. The voting was done by signed ballots in the presence of the military and civil governors and military commandants as superintendents of election, and with armed troops surrounding the convention halls for the protection of the delegates and for the preservation of peace and order. The voting was of course unanimous in favor of changing the republic into a monarchy. Memorials of nomination were then signed by the delegates, "reverently nominating the present President Yuan Shih-kai as the Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire." The administrative council was then authorized by the delegates to act as their national agent, and the votes of the provincial conventions were transmitted to that body for final counting and announcement. The climax of the drama was reached when on November 11, 1915, the administrative council met and announced that out of 2043 votes cast, 1993 voted in favor of changing the republic into a monarchy. Thereupon, the council immediately petitioned President Yuan Shi-kai, urging him to accept the throne so unanimously tendered him by the people. President Yuan of course declined the honor, and it was not until the petition had been presented to him the second time that he reluctantly declared his acceptance and ordered that "all the ministers and departments make the necessary preparations for the enthronement." The last order was entirely unnecessary, for the bureau on preparations for the great ceremony had long been at work with its offices in the presidential palace.
  The will of the people having so unanimously expressed itself, it became necessary to reward the founders of the new dynasty who had so dexterously brought this will into articulate expression. Thus, for example, in two days (December 21 and 23), two hundred and six titles of nobility were awarded by Emperor-elect Yuan Shih-kai, of this number there being 6 dukes, 9 marquises, 13 counts, 10 earls and 36 barons, all of the First Order; 1 duke, 3 earls and 19 barons of the Second Order; 30 barons of the Third Order; 55 Knights of the Light Chariot of the First Order, 19 Knights of the Second Order, and 4 Orders of Merit. These honors did include Messrs. Sun Yu-chun, Yang Tu, Ku Ngao, Liang Sze-yi, Tuan Chi-kwei, et al ., the real founders of the dynasty. It was reported that this delay was caused by the fact that these gentlemen were unable to reach an agreement as to the proper titles they were to receive from the new emperor.
  Before any workable agreement was reached among the emperor-makers themselves, the third revolution had spread over several provinces. The government's well-paid but very poorly disciplined troops proved to be no match for the patriotically inspired soldiers of the punitive expedition. One province after another declared independence, and joined the revolution. But Mr. Yuan still hoped to retain his presidency at the price of his emperorship. So a decree was issued on March 22, 1916, pleading for his "lack of virtue," cancelling his acceptance of the imperial throne, and ordering that all the petitions for a change in the form of the state and for his enthronement be returned through the administrative council to the original petitioners to be burnt and destroyed.
  But this act of virtue and repentance had no longer any effect on the rebellious provinces which continued to secede from the central government, until finally even Governor Chen Yi of Sze-chuen and Governor Tong Shiang-ming of Hu-nan, both of whom had long been regarded by Mr. Yuan as his most loyal supporters, were compelled by the popular uprising to proclaim the independence of their respective provinces. That came like a death blow to the ex-emperor who, according to reports, fell ill five days after the secession of Hu-nan, and died on June 6, 1916, after an illness of one week.
  After Yuan Shih-kai's death, the vice-president, General Li Yuen-hung, who had defied the many threats of the monarchists and had persistently refused all the honors which the new dynasty insisted upon giving him, automatically became president of the republic. On June 29, the first constitution of the republic proclaimed on March 11, 1912, was restored. And on July 14, the military congress which had been the central authority of all the rebelling provinces, was dissolved and the third revolution was declared to be at an end.
  Here ends our story. It has not been a pleasant duty for me, a Chinese, to tell it to the world. Although I have greatly rejoiced that a false god which the world had created through its own credulity, has at last been shattered to dust, I have, however, no present interest in once more disclosing Yuan Shih-kai's "lack of virtue." Mr. Yuan has written his own epitaph with his own deeds, and it is no courage to slay the slain. What has really inspired me to write this account, is my belief that the whole episode may furnish the world with a fresh proof of China's sincerity in her democratic aspirations and in her strife for an upright and enlightened government. An American writer has well said: "I do not believe that the Chinese Revolution has failed, for I do not believe that it is finished." The first Chinese republic of 1912 has not failed, for it has never been given a fair trial. It died an abortive death, but its spirit has persisted and grown despite the skill and the organized strength of the reactionary forces under the leadership of Yuan Shih-kai and his clique. The internal political struggle in China during the last several years has been a struggle of New China, the child of the intellectual revolution of the last quarter of a century, against Chinese officialdom which has been corrupting and weakening the nation for centuries. The dramatic episode of the monarchical restoration which I have documentarily sketched above, sufficiently illustrates the personnel, the spirit and the method of official China. It achieved its consummate success on the day when the administrative council announced to the world that out of 2043 representatives of the people, 1993 voted for the immediate enthronement of Yuan Shih-kai. But official China miscalculated its own strength and misunderstood the spirit of the nation. It failed to see that when it had to put up at least the appearance of "going to the people" for approval and sanction of its actions, its death knell was already tolled and its final downfall assured. Its last efforts of political engineering and downright corruption only helped to consolidate new China and to drive the moderates and even the conservatives into the camp of the revolutionists. The third revolution was not undertaken by the ultra-radicals of the type of Dr. Sun Yat-sen. It was led largely by such moderate leaders as Tsai Ao and Liang Chi-chao, and supported by the radicals. Against this consolidated new China, Chinese officialdom was impotent. And great was the fall of it.
  It is true that official China has not yet entirely given up the fight, and that the Chinese revolution is not yet finished. But the monarchist movement has helped to bring its main issue into prominent relief: it is a fight between New China and Chinese officialdom. May what has been said above serve to convince the world that young China is earnest in her struggle for democracy and enlightenment!
  Reconstruction in China
  Asia Magazine
  Nov., 1936. Vol. 36. No. 11. pp. 737-740.
  My British friend Mr. G. E. Hubbard has elsewhere defined Chinese reconstruction as "the evolutionary process which is taking place in economic, social and cultural spheres of China." The Chinese term for this movement simply means "construction," or building up. It is reconstruction in the sense that what is being built up is actually remaking and reshaping the surface of an old country and the life of an ancient people.
  Broadly speaking, Chinese reconstruction has three phases—first, the building up of a physical basis of national unity; second, the improvement of the physical well-being of the people; and, third, the remolding of our cultural life for a better adjustment in the new world.
  All progress in the field of transportation—the railways, the highways and the air lines—comes under the first category of providing the nation with a physical basis for political unity. The sense of national unity, which now extends from Manchouli to Yunnanfu, from Kalgan to Canton, from Shanghai to Tibet, is largely one of racial, cultural and historical unity. There has been lacking a material or physical basis to strengthen this historical-cultural unity and bind the various distant parts of the country more closely together. Chinese leaders early recognized the urgent need of modern means of transportation and communication; but unfortunately, ever since the outbreak of the World War in 1914 when foreign capital ceased to come to China on any large scale, China has made very little progress in railway building. It is only within the past few years that the government has taken up the railway projects with new vigor and has succeeded in extending old lines and constructing new ones. The Lunghai Railway is now extended beyond Sian; the Shanghai-Hangchow-Ningpo Railway is being connected by the construction of the bridge across the Chientang River; and the Canton-Hankow Railway is completed and is now open to through traffic. Of the newly planned lines, the Hangchow-Nanchang Railway which connects the Yangtze delta with the capital of Kiangsi and the Hwai-nan Railway which connects the Hwai River with the Yangtze are the most important ones that have already been completed. For the first time, we are having trunk lines running from Canton to Peiping and thence to the Northwest, and from the eastern coast westward into the heart of interior China.
  In the development of provincial and interprovincial highways, even greater progress has been made. The first modern roads were started in 1920-1921 as a relief measure during the famine of those years. After the establishment of the Nanking government in 1927, road-building was undertaken with nationwide enthusiasm. From the 1,185 kilometers of modern roads in 1921, the total length had increased to over 100,000 kilometers in 1935. In some of the provinces, notably Kiangsi and Kwangsi, the provincial trunk roads reach every hsien with local roads connecting all the important towns within the province. For the first time we are now able to motor from Shanghai to Nanchang and Changsha and thence to Canton.
  Commercial aviation has helped to connect the more distant centers which have not yet been linked up by transport on land. One can now fly from Shanghai to Chengtu, a distance of about thirteen hundred miles, in seven hours; and from Peiping to Chengtu, via Chengchow in Honan and Sian in Shensi, in ten hours. Beginning with last July, one could breakfast in Peiping, fly to Shanghai to keep a luncheon engagement and return to the old capital for supper at home—a distance which usually takes eighty hours to complete the round trip if one travels by railway.
  All this improvement in transportation is building up a new physical basis for a modern national state. When the Hwai-nan Railway was being built early last year, there was a great famine in northern Anhwei and there was no means for transporting food stuffs from the more plenteous regions. The starving population requested the railway engineers to make temporary provision for grain transportation before it was ready for passenger traffic. The request was complied with, and the population was saved from starvation. It was the improvement in roads which greatly aided the government troops in their final campaign against the Red army in Kiangsi in 1934. And it was also the modernized roads which enabled the government to suppress the armed rebellion in Fukien in less than two months. The railways and highways are accelerating the process of economic and political unification.
  Under the second main category—the betterment of the livelihood of the people—may be grouped all those processes of rural rehabilitation, water control, formation of co?peratives, reform in taxation and improvement of public health. The task of rural economic reconstruction in a vast country like China is a gigantic one, and the recent achievements in its various phases can hardly be said to be more than a mere humble beginning. Irrigation schemes in Shensi and the Northwest are now watering millions of mou of farming fields, and the repairing of dikes and dredging of rivers along the Yangtze Valley are lessening the danger of possible recurrence of catastrophic floods such as those of 1931. But these and other similar works barely scratch the surface of the gigantic problem of water control and famine prevention in a country which has the reputation of a "land of famines" and which has to face the tremendous task of irrigating a vast hinterland where annual rainfall is often below twenty inches.
  It is true that we now have made some progress in crop improvement, agricultural research and education, and the co?perative movement. But the progress already achieved appears so infinitesimally small when compared to the magnitude of the problems involved. What, for instance, is two million members in thirty-eight thousand co?peratives in a population of four hundred and fifty millions?
  It is also true that, in the realm of reforms in taxation, the provincial and municipal governments have in the past two years abolished fifty-two hundred items of exorbitant and unjust taxes and surcharges. But these are merely insignificant relief measures compared with the untouched fundamental problem of land tenure in a country where eighty-five per cent of the population is congested on about seventeen per cent of the land, and where the boldest stretch of imagination has so far failed to find a formula for an equitable distribution of land which will give the agricultural population a minimum level of decent living.