Yuan Shikai

Author: Fu Ke
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-07-01
Features: From a young age, he was fond of traveling and practicing martial arts without tire. At the age of 22, he abandoned his pen for military service and followed the army, advancing into officialdom through military merit. Li Hongzhang praised him as "bloodthirsty loyalty, outstanding talent and insight, firmly holding the overall situation, uniquely extraordinary and difficult." During the Xiaozhan military training, he established a modernized Chinese army. During the Hundred Days' Reform, he betrayed the reformers. As the Governor of Zhili and the Northern Commissioner, he established modern schools and pioneered China's modern public, procuratorial, and judicial systems. He vigorously promoted "constitutional monarchy" in the New Policies, being regarded as the "foremost constitutional figure in the country." After the Wuchang Uprising, he forced the Qing court to abdicate and took over as the President. During his tenure, he sold national sovereignty, restored the imperial system, and ended his life in disgrace. Morrison evaluated him as: "Yuan Shikai's frantic ambition to wear the dragon robe ruined his own future and severely burdened his country."