1909 Chinese provincial elections
Following a lengthy period of political turmoil and the failure of the 1898 Hundred Days' Reform, the constitutionalist movement gained approval from the imperial court and Empress Dowager Cixi in the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion.
Seeing local self-governance as a valuable initial step towards constitutionalism, the Qing Government approved the creation of provincial assemblies in 1907.
The assemblies agitated for a variety of economic and political reforms, which brought them into conflict with the provincial governors, who held veto power over the bodies.
Despite the repression of the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898, the constitutionalist movement continued to advocate for the creation of a constitutional monarchy in lieu of Qing absolutism.
[2][3][4] In June 1905, prominent imperial officials Yuan Shikai, Zhang Zhidong, and Zhou Fu jointly submitted a call for the creation of a constitutional monarchy.
[5] The de facto head of state Empress Dowager Cixi, previously opposed to the reform movement, had begun to grow sympathetic in the wake of China's humiliation in the Boxer Rebellion and the upset victory of the constitutionalist Empire of Japan during the Russo-Japanese War.
The government initially attended to replace the imperial examinations with a new form of civil service exam; however, little progress was made in the creation of such a system.
In the first few years of the 1900s, reformist and revolutionary thinkers such as Sun Yat-sen, Ho Kai, and Kang Youwei began to advocate for the creation of such assemblies, citing both western systems of local governance and the traditional principle of fengjian.
[2][11] Under the supervision of Yuan Shikai, the Tianjin County Council held the first western-style elections in Chinese history in August 1907.
[13][14][15] Following this, various provinces (including Jiangsu, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fengtian) created unelected provincial assemblies with appointees from the local gentry.
The "Regulations for Provincial Assembly Elections" was a 115-clause document which established qualifications for candidates and set in place the electoral processes.
Criminals, opium users, police officers, students, priests, and those with family members in disreputable careers were barred from voting or standing as candidates.
[22][23] Officials were often forced to give concessions — in the form of leadership positions within the preparatory offices — to local gentry in order to guarantee coöperation.
Within the first year of their operation, they passed a large volume of bills, proposals, and petitions, generally relating to economic development.
[47] Before another set of provincial elections could be held, the Wuchang Uprising led to an anti-Qing revolutionary movement spreading across much of China.
The imperial government responded with the Shijiu xintiao, a further series of political reforms with some inspiration from the British constitutional system; this did little to curb unrest, and even many constitutionalists joined the revolutionaries.
Yuan Shikai, the leader of the Qing armies, began to collaborate with the revolutionaries; the Republic of China was declared on 1 January 1912, and the emperor was soon forced to abdicate.
