Twentieth-Century Chinese Constitutionalism (Graduate Textbook)

Author: Zhang Xueren Chen Ningsheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-06-02
Features: This book was compiled as one of the graduate-level course textbooks for the Constitutional Law program at the Wuhan University Graduate School, as requested by the university. At the threshold of the 21st century, it is a highly valuable and meaningful endeavor to review and summarize the hundred-year constitutional history of China in the 20th century with a scientific and realistic attitude, drawing some insights from it. The book broadly divides the development of constitutionalism into three periods following the chronological order of China's modern history: the spread of constitutional thought and the constitutional drafting in the late Qing Dynasty (as a prologue), the constitutionalism during the Republic of China period, and the constitutionalism during the People's Republic of China period (the latter two periods being the "focus"). The book consists of 15 chapters. The constitutionalism during the Republic of China period mainly includes Sun Yat-sen's drafting of the "Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China," the "Tiantan Constitution" drafted by the Beiyang warlord government, Yuan Shikai's "Yuan Constitution," Cao Kung's "Bought Constitution," and the "Duan Constitution," as well as the constitutional drafting during the Nanjing government under the Kuomintang's rule in Guangzhou, Wuhan, and Nanjing. Additionally, it records the constitutional history of the Communist Party of China's New Democratic Revolution. The constitutionalism during the People's Republic of China period includes the "Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference," the "Constitution of the People's Republic of China" (the 1954, 1975, 1978, and 1982 constitutions) and its three amendments. The "One Country, Two Systems" and the "Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" are listed as separate chapters, which is a distinctive feature of this book. Because "One Country, Two Systems" is a fundamental policy for China's reunification and is explicitly stipulated in the constitution. This is a unique case for other countries in the world and a clear example of the socialist constitutionalism with Chinese characteristics. These are derived from the Chinese constitutional system and are local basic laws that originate from the sovereign status and jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China. The basic characteristics of this book are: it conducts a comprehensive historical and legal examination and analysis of each constitution, focusing on its historical and political context, socio-economic foundation, guiding theories, constitutional process, and the democratic constitutional movement's orientation during its implementation.