Yuan Shikai
(1859–1916), first president of the Chinese Republic. Yuan Shikai was born in Xiangcheng, Henan Province, in 1859 and became an adopted son. In 1880 he joined the Qing army and was Chinese commissioner of commerce in Korea from 1885 to 1894. In 1899 he was appointed governor of Shandong Province, where he suppressed the rising tide of Boxers. He was made governor-general of Zhili Province and the high commissioner for the Northern Ocean (Beiyang Dachen) in 1901, in which position he was in charge of foreign and military affairs in North China. From 1901 to 1908 he directed various reform programs, including the establishment of a modern army, the creation of military schools, the organization of the police system, and the inauguration of modern industry.
With the outbreak of the revolution in 1911, Yuan was placed in charge of the imperial troops and negotiations with the revolutionaries. He used his immense military power to promote his own interests by clever manipulation of the negotiations. As a result, he was designated as the president of the first Chinese Republic by both the Qing court and the provisional government of the Chinese Republic in February 1912. He assumed the formal presidency in 1913, and in the next two years he outlawed the Nationalist Party, dissolved parliament, and assumed dictatorial control. Finally, in late 1915, he began preparations to assume the title of emperor. He announced that his imperial title, Hong Xian, would be used beginning 1 January 1916. Rebellion in the southern provinces against this monarchic scheme, however, forced him to revoke plans for his enthronement. He died on 6 June 1916.
Further Reading
Mackinnon, Stephen. (1980) Power and Politics in Late Imperial China: Yuan Shi-kai in Beijing and Tianjin, 1901–1908. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Young, Ernest. (1977) The Presidency of Yuan Shih-k'ai: Liberalism and Dictatorship in Early Republican China. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
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