History and Culture Essay

Too long the country has been deprived of its national pride and independence. By 1911-1912, the foreigners were everywhere. The best way was to use them as sponsors for our changes, and let them call me â€Å"a dictator [corrupt and †¦ brutal] surrounding himself as soon as’ he could with some of the most despicable Chinese agents of the old regime; favoured [†¦] by foreign financiers [in the lust for] money and power and the means of extravagance and debauchery. † This year, the things are really disastrous. China’s foreign debt reaches 900 million taels. The dynasty has gone bankrupt undertaking expensive reforms of the governmental administration, military and educational system. The new regime followed the West in the enchantment with democratic elements of constitution, representative assemblies, separation of governmental powers, and political parties. On my side, I was more interested to pacify gentry and to centralize state power having been dissolved after foreign intrusions and imperialistic affairs. For me as President, therefore, the prior task is to obtain the loan from the Four Group Powers in order to keep a strong and obedient military resource to establish the right type of government. My fame played to the benefit of the task. I do remember how Dr. Morrison, the then political adviser to the Chinese Government, was trading with Mr. Crisp, the head of the firm of C. B. Crisp & Co, about the loan to pay for our administration needs this year, in 1912. We needed it badly in order not to depend so greatly on the Four Power Group, not to speak about Russia and Japan with their greed in regard to concessions. Then, the last persuasion for the â€Å"hard nut† Crisp to lend us ? 10,000,000 was delivered by Morrison in the words about my dictatorial position being the â€Å"benefit† of China. I am afraid, though, that we will have to owe the Four Group Allies ? 500,000,000, at the rate of ? 100,000,000 a year, not to forget about Japan and Russia trying to cut the fattest pieces of our cake in terms of territory, commerce and politics. Now I shall speak about my plans for the future. I really want to establish a â€Å"no-squeeze policy. † I believe that the modern Chinese state and nation should be centralised. The first step to do is to preserve the capital, thus, the centre of administrative authority, in Peking for the whole period of my office of President. Second, as I have never been a republican, I think about establishing a sort of a military dictatorship. I was often called the â€Å"strong man,† â€Å"a reputed reactionary,† and â€Å"arbitrary, tyrannical and self-indulgent† by my contemporaries, and, no doubt, I will be labelled like this by later researchers. My political opponents from the Kuomintang went even further referencing to me as nothing more than â€Å"[t]he fat bewhiskered general†. But even they can not deny that it was I who could build a strong army and placating fighting camps. That is why, in my opinion, there is no need to let those wordy democrats to spend time, effort and money on elections and the qualifications of voters. Let me stay â€Å"the strong dispenser of law and order† identifying the course of state policy by myself. Consequently, I plan to get rid of those tries to establish â€Å"popular sovereignty in the form of political parties and representative assemblies. † I watch them reorganising Sun Yat-sen’s Revolutionary Alliance into the Guomindang, or Nationalist Party, to dominate National Assembly after its election in December, 1912. I know that the trifle show with democratic elections for National/provincial/county assemblies could jeopardise the institute of centralised power I am planning to introduce. Later on, I will force the National Assembly to elect me as president for a long term, better for five years. Then, I will kick the Guomindang from the parliament because they are likely to assume too much political weight. The best solution will be also to dissolve all the assemblies that resemble a boiling pot, so â€Å"risky and messy† they are. Finally, I will do my best to consolidate all the state power in the hands of one person, and that person would be I. The best form to centralise power is monarchy, how ever discredited it has become. How about the British or Japanese constitutional model of the Emperor co-existing with the parliament? Lately, the title of â€Å"Grand Constitutional Emperor† has occurred to my mind as the best definition of the political system I want to achieve. Reanimating Confucianism as a state religion, there would be a chance to resurrect also the ideology of monarchism and to get back to traditional values, seeing also to the better economic and education opportunities to provide the nation with wealth and development. Bibliography Bowman, John S. , ed. Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. Cantlie, James, and C. Sheridan Jones. Sun Yat Sen and the Awakening of China. New York: Fleming H. Revell, 1912. Croly, Herbert. Willard Straight. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1924. Eastman, Lloyd E. â€Å"The May Fourth Movement as a Historical Turning Point: Ecological Exhaustion, Militarization, and Other Causes of China’s Modern Crisis. † In Perspectives on Modern China: Four Anniversaries, edited by Thomas P. Bernstein et al. Armonk, NY: An East Gate Book, 1991, 123-138. Hyndman, H. M. The Awakening of Asia. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1919. Leang-Li, T’Ang. China in Revolt: How a Civilization Became a Nation. London: N. Douglas, 1927.