On The Study Of The Constitution Configuring State Power In The Late Qing Dynasty And Early Republic

Authority has been regarded as something mysterious in thousands of years of feudal society in China.However,there is only practical experience of power strategy and power skill spreading among enforcement by man,and there is no special theoretical research.The model of traditional configuration authority in ancient China is autocracy and despotism,which is based on feudal monarch.Imperial power is the supreme and emperors monopolize state power.Such condition has been continued until First Opium War.After the war,the great power in western world invaded China,which broke the model of traditional authority configuration and revealed that such model is no longer able to meet challenge of new world and situation.At the same time,constitutionalism theory coming from the western world began to be accepted by advanced intellectuals.They were urgent to take advantage of the system if checks and balance to configure state power and to draft constitution.The constitution would be the essential law and ascend to state will which could reform Chinese politics and change the under-developed situation.The paper try to introduce some constitution versions which drafted by potentates from different class in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic.And the paper would reveal three aspects content.First,the political circumstance of constitution configuring authority in horizon at home and abroad.Second,the understanding level of the checks and the balance of some thinkers and revolutionaries,and their effort of applying this theory to constitution. Third,the paper reveals the project of constitution configuring authority in horizon whether accords with the development direction of constitution theory in modern times and the economical and political circumstances.The paper is comprised by four parts besides introduction and conclusion.The first part introduces the general theory of the constitution configuring state power in horizon.By explaining the state power and the configuration of the state power to define the concept about horizonal configuration in state power.Then,the article narrates briefly the main ideas about state power in horizon configuration of the eastern and western countries in modern times.At last,it shows the relationship between constitution and state power in horizon configuration from the perspect of modern constitution.The second part introduces the first attempt of the constitutional activities organized by the government in late Qing Dynasty and early Republic to the transformation of the horizontal configuration of state power.The first practice of constitutionalism in China is the Preliminary Stage of Constitutional Monarchy in the Late Qing Dynasty and its constitutional document Outline of Imperial Constitution,which is a kind of upset in order to save the stormy domination of the Qing Government and try to redistribute the horizontal configuration of state power.However,there is little sincerity in its constitutional text. And then,the“nineteen laws”limitted the imperial power under pressure.Although the imperial power is restricted by constitution,the laws did not put into effection actually for the for the destruction of Qing Dynasty.The third part introduces the activities of establishing the constitution by revoluti onaries which led by Sun Yat-sen, and the activities by Yuan Shikai, after he became President.After the Revolution of 1911, when the Provisional Constitution of the Republ ic of China assigned by revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen distribute the power in a horizontal configuration, it did regarded constitutionalism as the thought guidance, divi ded the state power into legislative power, executive power and judicial power, this th ree kinds of power belong to different state organs that restrain each other, checks an d balances. But the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China was burned in a h urry, just like the the Nanjing Provisional Government, its process formulate was very rush and led to the obscure of state power’s limits, it can’t reach the ideal state of checks and balances between powers, and it also increased the difficulty of the work.The Constitution formulated by Yuan Shikai after he succeed the president can be a reverse of distributing the power in horizontal configuration mode In China. Three authorities is President’s authorities, there is not a shred of principle of separation and restriction of power in the constitutional text.The last part is written for the constitution in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic whichis evaluation and introspection of horizon configuration pattern of state power.It is meaningful that configuration reproceed state power for horizon configuration.It denies imperial power and it is benefit for republiction.But the people of constitution is at the lower surface of understanding of separation of power is short of estimating national conditions,and is inescapable to exist a lot of drawbacks for example.Different makers have different legislation.Though reflection,in modern times, the demecracy constitution replacing feudal monarchy is the basis of state power’s horizon configuration.And state power’s horizon configuration is fit for the development tendency of modern configuration.