Gems of Chinese Literature/Yüan Shih-k‘ai-A Broken Oath

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Gems of Chinese Literature (1922)
translated by Herbert Allen Giles
A Broken Oath by Yüan Shih-k‘ai
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YÜAN SHIH-K‘AI.

1860-1916.

[A statesman with a singular record. He rose to the highest positions under the Manchu dynasty. His attitude towards the Boxers in 1900 was one which foreigners, saved thereby from what would probably have been a terrible massacre, must always remember with gratitude. He subsequently became a great favourite with the Empress Dowager; but in 1909, after attending a meeting of the Grand Council, he received an Edict which informed him that he “was unexpectedly suffering from an affection of the foot” and called upon him to resign. He obeyed at once, the explanation being that he had quarrelled with the Regent; and he remained in retirement until 1911, when he was recalled to deal with the revolutionaries. In 1912 he was elected President of the Republic, taking the oath given below. By 1915 he had engineered a movement in favour of himself as Emperor, which was disclosed and defeated principally by Liang Ch‘i-ch‘ao (q.v.); and after pretending to refuse, he actually fixed the date of his coronation for 9th February, 1916, and chose the style of his reign. But public opinion was too strong against him―the Chinese will forgive anything sooner than disloyalty―and the project was abandoned. He survived the disgrace only a few months.]

Yüan Shih-k‘ai1524322Gems of Chinese Literature — A Broken Oath1922Herbert Allen Giles
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[From a Photograph.]

IHEREBY make oath and say:

With reference to the establishment of government by the people and the various administrative measures to be drawn up, I am most anxious to exert my utmost strength in spreading and supporting the republican spirit; to scour out the flaws and filth of autocratic rule; to observe the constitutional laws in accordance with the will of the people; and to associate our State with peaceable and powerful countries, so that the five great members[1] of our nation may one and all derive happiness and profit therefrom. All these aims I swear to follow up without change; and so soon as the National Assembly has been called together and a President[2] has been duly elected for the first term of this office, I will resign my position and will reverently adhere with all sincerity to the oath which I now swear to my countrymen.

(Signed) YUAN SHIH-K‘AI.

  1. ↑ Chinese, Manchus, Mongols, Mussulmans, and Tibetans.
  2. ↑ He himself was elected, with the consent of Sun Yat-sen, Provisional President in the south.
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