Nanjing government (1928 afterwards-1949/9/30)

Sun's Fundamentals of National Reconstruction

from military rule to political tutelage (1928) and to constitutional government (Provisional Constitution (1931))

Political Tutelage (1928)

instilled the concept of democratization into people so that they could prepare themselves for future transition to a constitutional government

5-power separation

Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Control, and Examination Yuan→to supervise government and avoid abuse of power

Autocratic in nature

• KMT followed the principle of ‘running the state throught the political party' and adopted one-party dictatorship;

• Constitution of ROC was drafted in 1936, but not adopted until 1946 due to Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)→halted democratization

Reform of monetary system

issued banknotes as the only legal tender, replacing silver dollars

Issuing economic regulations

Exchange Act 交易所法 and Weights and Measures Act 度量衡法, etc.

Industrial measure

assisting local industries and expand the railway and road network

Agricultural backwardness

same as Late Qing Reform, 1911 revolution, and May Fourth Movement

Big 4 Families monopolizing the economy

Chiang, Song, Kong, Chen

Negative impact of Sino-Japanese War

halted commercial activities in many regions ; huge military expenses and large deficit

New Life Movement (1934)

promoted ‘li, yi, lian, chi'

Stamping out social evils

same as Late Qing Reform, 1911 revolution, and May Fourth Movement

Change in honorifics

koutou was changed to nodding; ‘Da Ren’ and ‘Lao Ye' were changed to ‘Mister' and ‘Gentleman’

Civil Rights Act (1929)

protected basic rights of citizens

Social evils remained prevalent

same as Late Qing Reform, 1911 revolution, and May Fourth Movement

Setting up primary and secondary schools

40000 primary and 2000 secondary schools (1937)

Compulsory Education Law (1932)

provide free basic education

Low educational level

literacy rate of mere 30%

Gender inequality

male enrollment rate was 45.2% while that of women was only 2.2%

Raising Chinn’s international status

recovered British concessions at Hankou, Weihaiwei, Xiamen, and Belgian concession at Tianjin; tariff autonomy retrieved (1930)

Unequal treaties and extraterritoriality not being abolished until WW2

Diplomatic impact