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45-466: In response to Japan's " Twenty-One Demands ", China signed the "Treaty Concerning Southern Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia" and the "Treaty Concerning Shandong" after more than three months of negotiations. In June 1915, the treaty texts were exchanged. Later, there was a sudden rumor in Japanese newspapers that Yuan Shikai intended to proclaim himself emperor. Although Yuan Shikai strongly denied it,

90-468: A "royal marriage" of Yuan's daughter to the former Qing Emperor Puyi . The year 1916 was to be "Hongxian Year 1" ( 洪憲元年 ) rather than " Republic Year 5" ( 民國五年 ), but the Hongxian Emperor was opposed by not only the revolutionaries, but far more importantly by his subordinate military commanders, who believed that Yuan's assumption of the monarchy would allow him to rule without depending on

135-615: A change in the state system. There are also some voices of opposition. For example, Liang Qichao, leader of the Progressive Party and former justice minister, published "The So-Called Issues with the State System" in the monthly "Greater China" magazine, insisting on his consistent opposition to the change of the state system. However, the Preparatory Committee published a large number of articles supporting

180-569: A decisive voice in finance, policing, and government affairs. The last part would make China in effect a protectorate of Japan, and thereby reduce Western influence. Japan was in a strong position, as the Western powers were in a stalemate world war with Germany. Britain and Japan had a military alliance since 1902 , and in 1914 London had asked Tokyo to enter the war. Beijing published the secret demands and appealed to Washington and London. They were sympathetic and forced Tokyo to drop section 5 in

225-415: A low level of education, and it is difficult for a republic to establish a constitution. Only a monarch can establish a constitution. Rather than a republic and a true autocracy, it is better to establish a constitutional monarch in a legitimate manner. Second, unrest is prone to occur when a republic elects a president. He said: "Unless the disadvantages of competing for the head of state are eliminated first,

270-663: A period of warlordism. The Government Revenue of the Empire of China was around 1 million dollars per month. Although the name of the country in Chinese was changed to the "Empire of China", or "Hongxian" for state matters, the country continued to be officially referred to as the "Republic of China" in English. The Emperor set up the Ritual Regulations Office ( 禮制館 ), which issued the new official anthem for

315-534: A second petition, and Liang Shiyi and others even established the "National Petition Federation" on the 19th to encourage the organization of a petition group and submit a third petition to the Senate, demanding a national meeting. At the conference, representatives from the whole country are elected to decide on state issues. On 6 October, the Senate acting as the Legislative Yuan passed the "Organic Law of

360-407: A war to protect the country against Yuan Shikai. The persuasion document reads: ... Zhigui and others have truly seen China's national conditions. Unless they resolutely abandon democracy and use the monarch, it will not be enough to establish long-term public security. Therefore, they use joint words to persuade the head of state, pay attention to public opinion, and support correct opinions, so that

405-461: Is not extinguished immediately, or it may be tamed to the point of destroying China's independence... If China uses a monarchy, it is more suitable than a republic, and there is almost no doubt about this." On 19 August 1915, Yang Du joined forces with Sun Yujun, Li Xiehe, Hu Ying, Liu Shipei and Yan Fu to establish a preparatory committee, stating that "Republicanism does not apply to China." More and more "petition groups" wrote petitions demanding

450-615: The genrō and Emperor Taishō , and approved by the Diet . Ambassador Hioki Eki delivered the list to President Yuan Shikai of the Beiyang government in a private audience on 18 January 1915, with warnings of dire consequences if China were to reject them. The Twenty One Demands were divided into five groups: Knowing the negative reaction "Group 5" would cause, Japan initially tried to keep its contents secret. The Chinese government attempted to stall for as long as possible and leaked

495-873: The First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War , and had thus joined the ranks of the European imperialist powers in their scramble to establish political and economic domination over Imperial China under the Qing dynasty . With the overthrow of the Qing dynasty in the Xinhai Revolution , and the subsequent establishment of the new Republic of China, Japan saw an opportunity to further expand its position in China. The German Empire

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540-525: The Universe , Extends to the Eight Corners, The glorious descendants from Kunlun Peak . The rivers turn greatly, the mountains continuous. Shanrang open up the era of Yao , For millions of myriads of years. Yao was a legendary Chinese ruler. The era of Yao and Shun ( 堯天舜日 ) is a four-character idiom which means times of peace and prosperity. The national flag was changed from

585-488: The "Japanese Imperial Model": On December 21, 22 and 23, Yuan Shikai conferred five-level knighthoods on provincial generals, patrol envoys, military envoys, garrison envoys, division commanders and those with military power (details below). On the 31st, it was announced that the following year would be changed to the first year of Hongxian, taking the meaning of "carrying forward the Constitution", and planned to change

630-565: The Chinese delegation to sign the treaty). This, in turn, provoked ill-will from the United States government, as well as widespread hostility within China; a large-scale boycott against Japanese goods was just one effect. In 1922, the U.S. brokered a solution: China was awarded nominal sovereignty over all of Shandong, while in practice Japan's economic dominance continued. Zhao Ti Zhao Ti ( Chinese : 赵倜 ) (1871–1933)

675-652: The Demands. American Minister Paul Reinsch reported to the US State Department that the Chinese were surprised at the leniency of the ultimatum, as it demanded much less than they had already committed themselves to concede. The results of the revised final (Thirteen Demands) version of the Twenty-One Demands were far more negative for Japan than positive. Without "Group 5", the new treaty gave Japan little more than it already had in China. On

720-475: The Hongxian Emperor and recognised both sides of the conflict to be "in a state of war" and allowed Japanese citizens to help the Republicans. Faced with universal opposition, the emperor repeatedly delayed the accession rites to appease his foes. Funding for the ceremony was cut on 1 March. Yuan deliberated abandoning the monarchy with Liang Shiyi on 17 March and abandoned it on 22 March. The "Hongxian" year

765-575: The Hongxian Emperor, delayed the accession rites until 1 January 1916. He had Manchu clothes removed from culture and had Han clothes revived but had put some changes to it. He wore new Han clothes to attend a dress rehearsal, but it was sabotaged by his Korean concubine. The Aisin Gioro family of the Qing dynasty , then living in the Forbidden City , were officially reported as "approving" of Yuan's accession as emperor, and even as proposing

810-538: The National Assembly petitioned again that day. On 12 December, Yuan, supported by his son Yuan Keding , declared the Empire of China with himself as the "Great Emperor of the Chinese Empire" ( Chinese : 中華帝國大皇帝 ; pinyin : Zhōnghuá Dìguó Dà Huángdì ), taking the era name Hongxian ( Chinese : 洪憲 ; pinyin : Hóngxiàn , "Promote the constitution"). However, Yuan, now known as

855-500: The National Congress", which was promulgated and implemented by Yuan Shikai two days later. Then, 1,993 national representatives were elected nationwide. At 9 a.m. on 11 December, the national representatives voted on the change of state system. As a result, the National Congress unanimously approved the constitutional monarchy. At about 11 o'clock in the morning, the representatives of the provinces requested Yuan Shikai to be

900-833: The Republic of China, "China heroically stands in the Universe" in June 1915. Its lyrics were written by Yin Chang ( 廕昌 ) and music by Wang Lu ( 王露 ). The lyrics were slightly modified in December 1915, with "Five Races Under One Union" ( 共和五族 ) replaced with 勳華揖讓 (Shanrang, the ancient system of Chinese emperor relinquishing seats to others in Yao and Shun's era) to be used during the Hongxian Emperor's reign. 中華雄立宇宙間， 廓八埏， 華冑來從崑崙巔， 江河浩盪山綿連， 勳華揖讓開堯天， 億萬年。 China heroically stands in

945-524: The Senate Acting Legislative Yuan to read out his opinion: "As the president sees it, reforming the state system, there are many longitudes and latitudes, so we should be cautious; if we do it in a hurry, we may be hindered. The president has the responsibility to maintain the overall situation and thinks it is inappropriate." The trend seemed to subside slightly, but on the 14th, Shen Yunpei, Wu Zesheng, Zhao Ti and others made

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990-532: The United States) forced Japan to drop the fifth set of demands that would have given Japan a large measure of control over the entire Chinese economy and ended the Open Door Policy . Japan and China reached a series of agreements which ratified the first four sets of goals on 25 May 1915. Japan had gained a large sphere of influence in northern China and Manchuria through its victories in

1035-450: The country will never have peace. The only plan is to have President Yi as the monarch and establish the head of a country in an absolutely uncontestable position. A common man can hardly stop the chaos." In addition, Yuan Shikai received the "National Protector Envoy Encouraging Jin to Proclaim Emperor", which was signed by governors of all provinces in the country, including Yunnan representatives Cai E and Tang Jiyao , who later launched

1080-459: The country's name to the Chinese Empire, and the presidential palace to be changed to Xinhua Palace (today's Zhongnanhai ). After Yuan Shikai was installed as the second Provisional Great President of the Republic of China established by Sun Yat-sen , he took various steps to consolidate his power and remove opposition leaders from office. Both Sun and Yuan were "modernizers", but Sun

1125-429: The country's system can be fundamentally solved and the country's foundation can be solved as soon as possible. Determine the fundamental status... The "Preparatory Committee" established on 23 August convened provincial civil and military officials and chambers of commerce to Beijing to discuss state affairs. Except for a few of the civil and military officials who expressed support for the republic, most of them expressed

1170-536: The emperor of the Chinese Empire for the first time. Yuan declined, citing his lack of virtue and incompetence. At 6 o'clock in the afternoon, the representatives asked Yuan to be the emperor again. On 12 December, Yuan accepted the second recommendation from the representatives, but said hypocritically: Secondly, the establishment of Hongji is a heavy matter. It should not be carried out in a hurry, which will cause waste. All ministries and departments should be ordered to make detailed preparations for their own affairs. Once

1215-554: The final 1916 settlement. Japan gained a little in China, but lost a great deal of prestige and trust in Britain and the U.S. The Chinese public responded with a spontaneous nationwide boycott of Japanese goods; Japan's exports to China fell drastically. Britain was affronted and no longer trusted Japan as an ally. With the First World War underway, Japan's position was strong and Britain's was weak; nevertheless, Britain (and

1260-399: The following days, petition groups supporting the monarchy submitted petitions to the Senate, setting off a wave of petitions for the implementation of a constitutional monarchy. Faced with the increasing number of public opinion groups (i.e., petition groups) claiming to represent public opinion and supporting Yuan Shikai's ascension to the throne, on 6 September, Yuan Shikai sent Yang Shiqi to

1305-466: The former president of Harvard University who was familiar with Chinese affairs, published "The Republic and the Prince", stating: "...most The people's intelligence is not very noble...The change from autocracy to a republic is such a sudden move that it is difficult to expect good results...The issue of presidential succession has not been resolved...someday or This kind of problem leads to disasters, if it

1350-488: The full contents of the Twenty-One Demands to European powers in the hope that due to a perceived threat to their own political and economic spheres of interest, they would help contain Japan. After China rejected Japan's revised proposal on 26 April 1915, the genrō intervened and deleted ‘Group 5’ from the document, as these had proved to be the most objectionable to the Chinese government. A reduced set of "Thirteen Demands"

1395-579: The imperial government, did not put up an aggressive campaign against the National Protection Army and the Beiyang Army suffered numerous defeats despite being better trained and equipped than the National Protection Army. Seeing the Hongxian Emperor's weakness and unpopularity, foreign powers withdrew their support (but did not choose sides in the war). The Empire of Japan first threatened to invade, then committed to overthrowing

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1440-420: The implementation of a constitutional monarchy. Yang Du believed that the country must be "fixed as one" (under unified leadership) in order to be stable. He argued that only in a stable environment can the country establish a constitution and gradually become stronger and stronger. He put forward two arguments to prove that only the implementation of constitutional monarchy can save China: First, Chinese people had

1485-483: The need to change the state system. On 25 August, Cai E led the soldiers to petition for imperialism. Yuan Shikai's son Yuan Keding also forged the " Shuntian Times " to create an atmosphere in which the Japanese Empire supported Yuan Shikai 's claim to the throne. On 1 September 1915, the Senate held an opening ceremony. Shen Yunpei, Zhou Jiayan, Yang Zanxu and others petitioned to change the state system. In

1530-705: The original five-stripe flag to one where the red stripe is a centered cross; however, a flag with the former red stripe as a saltire was the version commonly used. The national emblem remained as the national emblem of the Republic of China (1913–1928), National emblem of Twelve Symbols of Sovereignty . The Hongxian Emperor handed out titles of peerage to his closest relatives and friends, as well as those whom he thought he could buy with titles. Twenty-One Demands The Twenty-One Demands ( Japanese : 対華21ヶ条要求 , romanized :  Taika Nijūikkajō Yōkyū ; simplified Chinese : 二十一条/廿一条 ; traditional Chinese : 二十一條/廿一條 ; pinyin : Èrshíyī tiáo )

1575-555: The other hand, the United States expressed strongly negative reactions to Japan's rejection of the Open Door Policy . In the Bryan Note issued by Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan on 13 March 1915, the U.S., while affirming Japan's "special interests" in Manchuria, Mongolia and Shandong, expressed concern over further encroachments to Chinese sovereignty. Great Britain, Japan's closest ally , expressed concern over what

1620-525: The overall political impact of Japan's actions was highly negative, creating a considerable amount of public ill-will towards Japan , contributing to the May Fourth Movement , and a significant upsurge in nationalism . Japan continued to push for outright control over Shandong Province and won European diplomatic recognition for their claim at the Treaty of Versailles (despite the refusal of

1665-492: The preparations are completed, the petition will be implemented. Yuan did not immediately ascend the throne, but had already secretly established a ceremony preparation office on 29 November to prepare for the enthronement and select a date to ascend the throne. Zhu Qiqian also supervised the construction of various palaces in the Forbidden City. Yuan's legal advisor, Ariga Nagao , drafted the "New Imperial Code" based on

1710-600: The statement that "republicanism is not suitable for China's national conditions" gradually spread in society. On July 6, Yuan Shikai appointed 10 people including Yang Du and Liang Qichao as members of the Constitution Drafting Committee to draft a new constitution again, which is expected to be completed in November of that year. On 3 August, Professor Goodnow , an American constitutional consultant arranged for Yuan Shikai by Charles Eliot ,

1755-548: The support of the military. Province after province rebelled after his inauguration, starting with Yunnan , led by the emperor's governor Cai E and general Tang Jiyao and Jiangxi, led by governor Li Liejun . The rebels formed the National Protection Army ( 護國軍 ) and thus began the National Protection War . This was followed by other provinces declaring independence from the Empire. The emperor's Beiyang generals, whose soldiers had not received pay once from

1800-690: Was a set of demands made during the First World War by the Empire of Japan under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu to the government of the Republic of China on 18 January 1915. The secret demands would greatly extend Japanese control of China. Japan would keep the former German areas it had conquered at the start of World War I in 1914. Japan would be strong in Manchuria and South Mongolia . And, Japan would have an expanded role in railways. The most extreme demands (in section 5) would give Japan

1845-500: Was abolished on 23 March and the Republic of China was restored. Yuan reigned a total of 83 days. After Yuan's death on 6 June, Vice President Li Yuanhong assumed the presidency, and appointed Beiyang general Duan Qirui as his Premier and restored the National Assembly and the provisional Constitution. However, the central authority of the Beijing government was significantly weakened and the demise of Yuan's Empire plunged China into

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1890-414: Was considered a "radical revolutionary", while Yuan a "conservative reformer". To secure his own power he collaborated with various European powers as well as Japan . Around August 1915, he instructed Yang Du et al. to canvass support for a return of the monarchy . On 11 December 1915, an assembly unanimously elected him as Emperor. Yuan ceremonially declined, but "relented" and immediately agreed when

1935-627: Was in control of Shandong province as part of the Kiautschou Bay concession since 1898. With the onset of the First World War, Japan declared war against Germany on 23 August 1914. Japanese and British forces quickly seized all German holdings in the Far East, after the Siege of Tsingtao . Japan, under Prime Minister Ōkuma Shigenobu and Foreign Minister Katō Takaaki , drafted the initial list of Twenty-One Demands, which were reviewed by

1980-651: Was perceived as Japan's overbearing, bullying approach to diplomacy, and the British Foreign Office in particular was unhappy with Japanese attempts to establish what would effectively be a Japanese protectorate over all of China. Afterwards, Japan and the United States looked for a compromise; as a result, the Lansing–Ishii Agreement was concluded in 1917. It was approved by the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. In China,

2025-415: Was transmitted on May 7 in the form of an ultimatum, with a two-day deadline for response. Yuan Shikai was not in a position to risk war with Japan, and accepted appeasement , a tactic followed by his successors. The final form of the treaty was signed by both parties on May 25, 1915. Katō Takaaki publicly admitted that the ultimatum was invited by Yuan to save face with the Chinese people in conceding to

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