A Research On The Xiangxiang County Council Of Hunan Province In The Early Republic Of China(1912-1913)

In the late Qing Dynasty, as the domestic strife and foreign aggression became increasingly strained, Chinese people in that age began to learn from the West to save the nation from subjugation and ensure its survival. Thus, the trend of democratic constitutionalism derived from this period. After the Revolution of 1911, the feudal autocracy collapsed as the end of Qing Dynasty. With the establishment of Republic of China, the development of democratic constitutionalism confronted a historical chance which all the China renewed its political system. Throughout the country, almost all the local governments practiced democracy constitutional system and established parliamentary authorities. Therefore, the Council of Xiangxiang County was born.The county council has the legislative authority which can pass resolutions as the reform, tax revenues and government's budget and final account of this county through proposals, and also, it can supervise and impeach a public official according to law. Hence, the county council is an authority in real sense. The senators are elected by people based on law who participate in the administration and discussion of state affairs on behalf of the people and also plead in the name of the people. In this way, the county council must deal well with people and the county governor in the process of normal running and duty execution. On the one side, serving the people is determined by the nature of county council, and furthermore, only in this way, can the council protect the interest of people and get along well with people and further get the support of people. On the other side, the county council and the county governor can supervise and restrict each other. The proposal of county council can only turn into reality with the recognition of the county governor, and the county governor can realize his political aspirations legally through county council. Thus the relationship between county council and county governor is really subtle.After the birth of county council, the senators participated in the administration and discussion of state affairs actively in the hope of benefiting people in their own village town. Through the research of various meeting reports of Xiangxiang County council from 1912 to 1913, we can find that the county council contributes a lot to Xiangxiang County's economic construction, improvement of people's well-being and social custom, and education development. Thus, the county council comprehensively promotes the process of the modernization of Xiangxiang County.The Xiangxiang County Council from the year of 1912 to 1913 is the product of modern China from the fedual to democracy and republican. Through the research, the author explores the real condition of the county council in Hunan Province in the early republican period and its contributions to county modernization. This thesis makes up the weak link in educational circles on the county level council's research in Hunan Province. Those researches on this field have a certain reference significance to the contemporary Chinese political civilization construction.