Instalment 33 (1905/06)

Scene 1: On an artillery range; military training of the revolutionary troops

On an artillery range, revolutionary troops are preparing for attacks on Manchu officials under the command of Huang Xing. Huang introduces his close battle companion, Song Jiaoren, to Sun Yatsen.

Scene 2: Tokyo; in the headquarters of the Japanese “Black dragon Society”

In 1905, the „Xingzhonghui“ (Association for the Renovation of China) which is headed by Sun Yatsen, and Huang Xing’s „Huaxinghui“ (Association for the Resurrection of China) unite to form the „Zhongguo Tongmenghui“ (Chinese Revolutionary Alliance).

Scene 3: In a hospital in Beijing

Revolutionaries have attempted to assassinate the five delegation members who were to be been sent abroad by the Manchu government. The delegation was designed to examine foreign constitutional systems in order to prepare a possible future institution of a Chinese constitution. The Empress Dowager visits the wounded in the hospital. They all emphasise that they remain devoted to the monarchy despite their injuries and that none of them intends to cancel their scheduled travels.

The Qing delegation is visiting twenty-six states and more than one houndred cities. In the USA, they are welcomed by the American President Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt explains the purpose of the US constitution: he says that the crucial point lies in the division of powers into the legislative, judicative and the executive. In order to explain the US governmental system vividly, he compares the Republic with a limited cooperation. The President, as general manager of the state, has to serve both nation and people. Moreover, Roosevelt illustrates the relation between government and people through citing a famous quotation made by Lincoln: “[…] by the people, of the people and for the people”. Ironically, the Chinese translation of this quotation used by the interpreter is the one coined by the revolutionary Sun Yatsen!
The Qing delegation thereupon demands that the American President should have Sun Yatsen, who is stationed in the States, extradited to China since the Qing Court is searching for him. Roosevelt, however, dismisses the request. At the end of the visit, Roosevelt offers the so-called “Washington Chair”, a replica of the chair of the first President of the United States of America, as a present to the delegation. On the chair’s backrest, one sees an engraved pattern with a half sun. In the beginning, Roosevelt explains, the American citizens could hardly tell whether the sun was rising or setting. With this symbolic half sun, Roosevelt narrates the hazy and problematic initial period after the promulgation of the constitution. Since gains and losses of different groups had to be weighed against each other, it took sixteen months until the American constitution could finally be promulgated. But once the constitution was in place, the American citizens finally came to understand that the sun was in fact – rising!

The Qing delegation arrives in Japan and meets with the Japanese Prime Minister Itô Hirobumi. Itô and the delegation discuss whether Japan’s victory in the 1894/95 Sino-Japanese War was a coincidence. Itô thinks that it was unavoidable that Japan, a country which had formerly paid tribute to China, would be able to win over China following such fundamental restructuring as the Meiji reforms. Itô then introduces the book “Biography of Li Hongzhang” written by exiled Liang Qichao! Liang Qichao compared Li Hong-zhang to Itô himself, stating that if both were to be judged by their respective successes or failures, then Itô would have to be considered more successful. But on the other hand, Li’s abilities surpassed Itô’s. However, it was Li’s misfortune that he was serving a dictatorial state in which all elites are suppressed by the autocracy. Under such a societal system, the entire population must lead a servant’s life! Fortunately, Itô serves a state with a constitutional monarchy. Under such a system, Itô had the chance to bring his entire abilities to bear. Itô’s country, Liang concluded, is therefore a country in which talented people can distinguish themselves in great numbers. (Implicitely, that meant also that “capable men” as Liang himself had to live a life of an exile!)

In the USA, Sun is explaining the “Three People’s Principles” to the Overseas Chinese community: nationalism, democracy and social welfare. He also explains how they differ from Lincoln’s ideas and ridicules the idea of a constitutional monarchy under Manchu rule. Sun believes that the promulgation of a Chinese constitution at this point, in which Chinese society is dominated by dictatorship and feudalism, would be nothing more than filling old wine into new glasses. He thus claims that such a constitution will not help China nor the Chinese population. Therefore, in the name of the future republic, Sun issues bonds to the Overseas Chinese in order to collect money for the revolution.

Yang Du, the expert on constitutionalism, returns to China filled with hopes for the “new politics” now advocated by the Qing Court. Yuan Shikai commissions him to set up a research institute for constitutionalism, and Cixi also supports this plan.

Cixi asks Yuan Shikai to explain the difference between the system of a republic and a constitutional monarchy. Yuan illustrates the differences by means of a metaphor: namely, whether a family has parents. He explains that a constitutional monarchy either has a “father”, such as the Japanese Tennô, or a “mother”, such as the Queen of England. A republic does not have a parent. Cixi, who has become very anxious about her future power following the promulgation of a constitution, asks Yuan which role he believes she should play. Yuan advises her to take the role of the “father” since the Tennô emperor has more power than the English Queen. The role of the “father” reminds Cixi of the Guangxu emperor whom she had put under custody at Yingtai. She replies that nobody can know whether China shall have a “mother” or a “father” in future.
Then she and Yuan go to pay a visit to the disempowered emperor at Yingtai. When they enter, the emperor is gloomily repairing clocks to pass time. Cixi tells the emperor that she would like to have him give her a clock as a present. The emperor, who is hiding a jeering smile, nods in consent since he interprets the phrase “to give a clock as a present” in a double sense. (In Chinese, the expression “to give a clock as a present” [song zhong 送钟] is homophonous with the expression “to accompany a person in the last hours of his/her life” [送终]. Giving Cixi a clock as a present indirectly would denote that he will be present at her death bed and that he will then finally be able to take over power.) When the clock chimes, Cixi suddenly realises the ambiguity of “to give a clock as a present”. She smashes the clock onto the ground and leaves Yingtai greatly angered.

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