97 8 CHINA 



possession of immovable property of the value of $500, graduation from an elementary or 

 higher school, or education equivalent to the latter. 



Army. A revised programme of army reorganisation promulgated in 1907 provided for 

 the formation of 36 divisions of the Luchun or National Army by 1912. On August 31, 1911 

 the actual strength of the Chinese military forces (officers and men) was returned (China 

 Year Book, 1912) as follows: National Army: 12 divisions (complete or almost complete) 

 140,899; 4 divisions (incomplete) 25,101; 17 mixed brigades 74,815; total 240,815; Provin- 

 cial Troops 276,981; grand total 5i7i7?- 



During the revolution the Republicans enlisted a large number of irregular troops, and it 

 was estimated that there were 800,000 men under arms in China when peace was restored. 



On August 31, 1912, the strength of the army including the Luchun and Provincial Troops 

 was given (China Year Book, 1913) at 428,485 officers and men. 



A fresh scheme of army reorganisation was still in preparation. Meanwhile service was 

 voluntary, soldiers remaining three years with the colours, then passing into the First 

 Reserve for three years and being finally drafted into the Second Reserve. 



Navy. -The Chinese Navy in 1912 consisted of two squadrons: the Cruising Squadron 

 of five cruisers, one destroyer, one gunboat and eight torpedo boats; and the Yangtze Squad- 

 ron of twelve gunboats for river purposes. A third squadron, the Training Squadron, to 

 consist of two cruisers, then under construction, and ten gunboats, was in process of forma- 

 tion, and a scheme of naval reorganisation was occupying attention. 



Public Justice. New civil, criminal and commercial codes have been compiled with 

 Japanese assistance but had not yet been promulgated in 1912. In the meantime the old 

 laws, except in so far as they were specially abrogated, remained in force. The new judicial 

 system provides for officials with purely judicial powers, with four kinds of courts: (i) the 

 High Court of Justice (Ta Li Yuan) at Peking, which is the Supreme Court of Appeal; (2) a 

 Provincial High Court (Kao Teng Shen Pan Ting) in each provincial capital; (3) Metropoli- 

 tan Courts in each principal town (Fu); (4) Courts of First Instance in small towns. Trial 

 by jury was inaugurated at Shanghai during the period of the revolution, but the system 

 will not be adopted for the present. In 1912 the Minister of Justice was Hsu Shih-ying, 

 the Vice-Minister Wang Shou-chen, and the Chief Justice Chang Tsung-hsiang. 



Education. During the revolution the system of education introduced by the Imperial 

 Government under the reform scheme of 1905 was in abeyance, as all the universities and 

 colleges and most of the schools were closed. A National Educational Conference was 

 convened by the Ministry of Education in July 1912 and submitted a variety of recommen- 

 dations as the basis of the future educational system in China. ^ 



History, 1910-12. The revolution and the establishment of a republican form of 

 government dominates entirely the history of 191 1 and 1912, and the events immediate- 

 ly preceding the revolution may first be dealt with. In accordance with the nine years' 

 programme of constitutional reform laid down in 1908 the Provincial Assemblies met in 

 October 1909. The most noticeable result of their inauguration was the impetus given 

 to the demand for an earlier grant of representative government. A*t the close of the 

 first session more than fifty delegates from various assemblies met in Shanghai and 

 resolved to petition the Throne to grant a parliament within two years. Their request, 

 proffered in Peking in January IQIO, was rejected, and until the autumn of that year 

 the Government continued to oppose all recommendations for expediting constitutional 

 reform. On October 2, 1910 the National Assembly met in Peking, and within a week 

 had approached the question of the earlier opening of Parliament. This time the 

 Government gave way. An edict dated November 4 provided that the date fixed 

 for the establishment of Parliament should be changed from 1916 to 1913. In spite of 

 various appeals and memorials the Throne would not make any further concession on 

 this point. It championed the Grand Council against the attacks of the National 

 Assembly, but finally agreed to order the Commission of Constitutional Reform to frame 

 a constitution for a Cabinet responsible to the representatives of the people. 



The Assembly adjourned on January it, 1911 to meet again in October. The early 

 months of the year, however, found the Chinese empire distracted by diplomatic and 

 financial troubles. On the borders of Yunnan a British force had occupied Pienma, 

 which both the British and the Chinese Government claimed as being within their 

 respective territories, and the presence of foreign troops in the district under dispute was 

 at once magnified into a menace to the integrity of the empire. In Mongolia Russia 

 was seeking to establish consulates at various towns, while the Chinese mind can never 

 for long be free from anxiety in regard to the fate of Manchuria. Although the dread 

 of foreign aggression led to the formation of patriotic associations, including the Citizen 



