|
Second, the rapid increase of population nearly exhausted the increases in wealth that accompanied it and made it particularly difficult for the government to supervise society. The number of officials in the Qing was more than two times as many as in the late Ming, but the population had increased by several more times, reaching 400 million. This sharp increase not only aggravated the social problems of the late Qing, expanding the tasks the government faced in supervising society but also multiplied social disturbances, since the rural economy remained backward and the number of unemployed vagrants increased. Some pointed out at the time that “the degree of disorder in China is in direct proportion to the size of the population.”52 Although this kind of attitude was one-sided, it is certainly true to say that the increasing population posed a serious threat to the political order of the traditional society, relentlessly challenging the bureaucratic system of the Qing. The Qing government had to face directly the ever-worsening social problems mentioned above. It had to find ways to readjust the relationship between state and society and to strengthen control over local society. The official Qing constitutionalists emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century out of the need to stabilize the rule of the landlord class and the need to protect their own interests. These men advocated the reconstruction of local politics to put local self-government into practice. In 1906 the Qing government promulgated the edict preparing for a constitution, and top officials rushed to memorialize in favor of local self-government as the basis of constitutionalism. Yuan Shikai, governor-general of Zhili, Zhao Erxun, the Shengjing （Liaoning） military commander, and Duanfang, governor-general of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, began to institute local self-government in the areas under their control. The sincere pleadings of its own best officials were added to domestic and international pressures, and the policy makers of the Qing court had to move. As long as they could leave aside the constitutional question of limiting the emperor‘s powers, they tolerated the delegation of some political powers to the localities, which became a major trend. The court formally proclaimed in September 1907: “Let the Bureau of People’s Government （Minzhengbu） appropriately draft self-government regulations, beg approval, and then We will order the governors of all the provinces to choose locations to begin to implement them.”53 In 1908 the Office of Constitutional Publications （Xianzheng bianchaguan） drew up the “List of Preparatory Steps by Year” for a constitution, which created a concrete plan for gradually achieving local self-government.54 These facts explain how local self-government was able to progress so rapidly in the late Qing: not only because of demands from society but also because of the needs of the government. The demands from society certainly reflected the hopes and demands of local interest groups represented by the newly risen bourgeoisie. In terms of the needs of the government, however, it is more that the Qing was selecting measures to maintain its precarious rule and increase its control over society than that the feudal ruling class was retreating before the newly risen bourgeoisie. Qing Local Self-Government Policies The late Qing local self-government movement can be roughly divided into two stages. First, in the period to 1908 certain regions were influenced by the tides of political reform and the popularity of local self-government. This stemmed from the gentry-merchant class either acting on its own or under government supervision. Second, in the period after 1909, local self-government was entirely coordinated by the Qing government as part of its constitutional preparation plans. The accomplishments of the local self-government movement in the first stage were diverse since it lacked central organization. After the Qing formalized its local self-government policies, systems and procedures inevitably became more standardize. As the local self-government movement fell under the government‘s control, however, it became more directed toward benefiting the ruling class. The local Qing government’s attitudes toward self-government can be seen in the regulations of the various local self-government organizations. On January 18, 1909, the Qing formally promulgated “The Local Self-Government Regulations for Cities, Towns, and Townships” and “The Local Self-Government Election Regulations for Cities, Towns, and Townships” as drafted by the Bureau for People‘s Government and approved by the Office of Constitutional Publications.55 On February 3, 1910, the government announced “The Self-Government Regulations for the Capital” and “The Self-Government Election Regulations for the Capital,”56 and on February 6 it promulgated “The Self-Government Regulations for Prefectures, Sub-Prefectures, Departments, and Counties” and “The Regulations for the Election of Assemblymen for Prefectures, Sub-Prefectures, Departments, and Counties.”57 By this time, a pattern was established for the local self-government system. The organizational forms of local self-government were basically modeled on those of Japan with only slight changes. Self-government was divided into two levels: the basic level of cities, towns, and townships, and an upper level of prefectures, sub-prefectures, departments, and counties. The local self-government systems of both levels involved such matters as territory, residents and representatives, the scope of self-government, self-government expenditures, organization, supervision, and so forth. Local self-government systems thus appeared to be modern, but they remained under central government supervision. Self-government became an aid to bureaucratic rule. |