First, the subjective motivation and objective effect of the "New Deal in the Late Qing Dynasty" deviated from each other.

The Qing government carried out educational reform, the subjective purpose of which was to cultivate people who respected Confucianism and loved Qing Dynasty. However, the emergence of more than 1.6 million freshmen and the elimination of many stereotyped writing classes have directly and indirectly affected the whole society.

The new intellectuals trained by new education emancipated their minds and had a deeper understanding of the essence of the Qing court. They are unwilling to be bound by the autocratic imperial power, and their anti-Manchu sentiment is even stronger. They either advocated constitutionalism or took part in the revolution and became grave diggers in the Qing Dynasty.

The army is an important part of the state machine and one of the pillars of maintaining rule in the Qing Dynasty. At the beginning of the 20th century, in order to suppress the rebellion and maintain the crumbling ruling order, the Qing government expanded the new army in various provinces.

However, contrary to expectations, it provided revolutionaries with the opportunity to develop power in the provinces. The propaganda of revolutionaries in the new army exposed the new army to new ideas, was encouraged by the revolution, and eventually became the rebel side of the Qing Dynasty.

In order to get rid of the serious financial crisis, the Qing government rewarded industry. Objectively speaking, the incentive industry has promoted the development of national industry and commerce, and made the national bourgeoisie and its intellectuals grow stronger and stronger.

The national bourgeoisie and its intellectuals are increasingly demanding the corresponding political system and rights, and the conflict with the autocratic system is also greater. They demanded constitutional monarchy, improved their political status, participated in the management of state power, and set off a constitutional petition movement.

Second, the fact that the Qing Dynasty centralized power in the name of "constitutionalism" did not change its traitorous nature.

By 1905, the reform of the Qing government in financial, military and economic details could not meet the needs of the political development in the late Qing Dynasty.

As a force supporting constitutional monarchy in the late Qing Dynasty, the Constitutionalists have great advantages in social, economic and cultural fields, representing advanced forces, continuing the reformists' proposition of constitutional reform, and claiming that constitutionalism is the only way to revitalize China. Especially after the Russo-Japanese War, people from all walks of life in China generally believe that the Japanese constitutional monarchy has defeated the Russian autocratic monarchy, and the voice of the whole country demanding constitutionalism is getting higher and higher.

On September 1 day of the following year, the Qing court finally issued the imperial edict of "imitating constitutionalism" and announced that it had entered the stage of preparing for constitutionalism. 1907, the Qing court issued a decree to set up an advisory council in the capital. In this regard, students, citizens and business applicants in China at that time welcomed assemblies, processions and speeches.

The Qing court did not cherish the public opinion that was extremely important to it at this time. 1908 In August, the Qing government promulgated the Outline of the King James Constitution, which was modeled after the Japanese Constitution and consisted of 23 articles. Among them, article 14 stipulates that "the monarch has great power", the Qing Empire is the eternal life department, and the preparatory constitutional period is set at 9 years. Its monopoly on power surpassed Japan's Meiji Constitution.

In this regard, both revolutionaries and constitutionalists expressed their opposition, believing that it was "biased towards the command power", "the remnants of autocracy still exist" and "it is the most false to decorate its autocracy with literature", and warned that if the Qing court tried to "use its cunning and insidious means to seal the name of the Constitution and send dozens of empty articles to fool our people", it would "shake the foundation of the country and hurt the feelings of the people".

In the process of "preparing for constitutionalism", the Qing court delayed again and again because of imperfect conditions, which finally made the constitutionalists realize that "the government should strive for an inch of empty paper instead of an inch of empty paper with the people" and began to appeal that "those who strive for it should strive for facts instead of empty paper".

Starting from 1907, the constitutionalists launched a peaceful petition, demanding the establishment of a national assembly. On the other hand, local aristocrats and business leaders demand more from Congress. 19 10, the National Congress Petition Committee launched three large-scale national congress petition movements in Beijing, demanding that the national congress be convened as soon as possible, which was rejected by the Qing government. Constitutionalists all over the country have launched signatures, rallies and demonstrations, and put forward the slogan "If the National Assembly is not established, the people will not recognize the new tax".

1908 After the death of Emperor Guangxu and Empress Dowager Cixi, three-year-old Puyi succeeded to the throne and changed to Xuan Tong, resulting in a power vacuum in the highest ruling class. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the political situation fell into chaos again, and various political forces began to stir and wait for opportunities to seize power.

On the one hand, the nobles who hold the highest power are afraid of losing their power and desperately want to promote centralization in the name of "preparing for constitutionalism", crowding out Han bureaucrats and cutting off some positions and powers of Han bureaucrats; On the other hand, local governors (the powerful faction of Han bureaucrats) tried their best to cultivate their own forces and various social relations to confront them, demanding "dividing the administrative authority of the central and local governments" and implementing the responsibility cabinet system to weaken the power of the emperor and governors.

After deposing Yuan Shikai, Regent Zai Feng, in order to consolidate his rule and win over his relatives, demoted many important Han officials and replaced them with Manchu nobles, trying to use the power of the royal family to crowd out Han officials. Therefore, on May 8, 19 1 1, the Qing court established the so-called "responsible cabinet". Of the 65,438+03 cabinet members appointed by the government, 9 are Manchu.

Of the nine Manchu people, seven are members of the royal family, and the prime minister is Yi Kuang, the prince of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, people call it the "Royal Cabinet". Zai Feng's "main purpose is how to concentrate power in his own hands" and "all efforts are just trying to resist or postpone the country's bankruptcy and political revolution". Zai Feng's policy of monopolizing power by the royal family deepened the contradiction between Manchu and Han bureaucrats.

His practice is only "formal reinforcement", and it can't make him strong ... and this practice can only arouse the satiety of the Han people. " At this time, the antipathy to race deepened ... people realized that in order to preserve the country, the regime could not be handed over to such a selfish Manchu court.

The Han bureaucrats gradually became completely disappointed with the Qing government, which aggravated the centrifugal tendency of the Han landlord bureaucrats. At the same time, the Constitutionalists were extremely indignant at the "royal cabinet" organized by the Qing Dynasty, and the provincial advisory bureaus jointly wrote to Duchayuan, stating that "the monarch is irresponsible and the royal family does not form a cabinet, which is the only principle of constitutional monarchy".

However, the Qing court rebuked the Constitutionalists for interfering in state affairs and "talking about getting arrogant". The constitutionalists were even more disappointed with the Qing court, and publicly issued a declaration to clarify that the so-called cabinet composed of princes and relatives of the Qing court was completely "called the cabinet, but it was actually a military aircraft; Called constitutionalism, it is actually authoritarian. "

The establishment of the "royal cabinet" is tantamount to showing the world that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty did not really want to develop constitutionalism, but only wanted to strengthen the rule of the Manchu nobles and strengthen centralization in the name of "constitutional monarchy". The so-called "constitutionalism" of the Qing court is just a cover, and it doesn't want to give up real power at all.

To sum up, the general compromise and surrender of foreign aggression in the Qing Dynasty delayed the precious opportunity for China to gain strength for a long time, which was the main internal cause for China to become a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. At the beginning of the 20th century, the "New Deal" and "Preparatory Constitutionalism" promoted by the Qing Dynasty were passive measures after the ruling power was greatly weakened.

Although it gradually followed the trend of the times in some aspects, it never changed the essence of its feudal autocracy, nor did it stop compromising with the outside world. Therefore, the reform in the late Qing Dynasty could not save the fate of the Qing Dynasty as the political representative of the feudal ruling class.

Extended data

Comparison between "New Deal" and "Preparatory Constitutionalism" in the Late Qing Dynasty

① The subjective purpose is reactionary: its purpose is to please the great powers, contain the revolutionary situation and eliminate the ruling crisis. ?

(2) Feudal backwardness of the essence of activities: it has not yet exceeded the category of "Chinese style and western use". ?

③ Progressiveness of objective influence: These concessions made by the Qing government are in line with the trend of social development and the aspirations of the bourgeoisie, and are conducive to the modernization of China. ?

(4) Deviation from the actual effect: The efforts of the Qing government backfired. From the direct impact, it caused the people's resistance and the alienation between Manchu and Han areas and bourgeois constitutionalists, which not only weakened their own rule, but also promoted the upsurge of the revolutionary situation; From a fundamental perspective, overseas students have become disseminators of anti-Qing democratic revolutionary ideas.

The trained new army became the main force of Wuchang uprising; Incentive industry promoted the development of national capitalism, which not only laid the economic and class foundation for the Revolution of 1911, but also fundamentally disintegrated the foundation of feudal economy. ?

⑤ Understanding: Both the New Deal and Constitutionalism are top-down reforms adopted by the Qing government to consolidate its rule, and they are the products of the impact of the world capitalist trend. But the results all failed, and the fundamental reason was the essential backwardness.

Note: From the perspective of modernization, the preparatory constitutional government of the Qing Dynasty is not complete, but it is different from the feudal monarchy and has the nature of transition to the bourgeois regime.

Part of its achievements became the political basis for bourgeois revolutionaries to promote democracy and harmony. It can be said that "preparatory constitutionalism" is a political and modern reform, which passively and actively conforms to the trend of the times.