The 1909 Chinese parliamentary election was an indirect election to the first imperial
Advisory Council, a preparatory body of the parliament created under the constitutional reform bought by the late
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
. It was seen as the first popular election in
Chinese history
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
.
Originally 100 members, half of the seats in the council were to be elected by the members of the Provincial
Consultative Assemblies, while the other half were appointed by the Emperor. Due to the fact the Provincial Consultative Assembly had not been set up in
Sinkiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC: previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest of the country at the crossroads ...
, the seats were reduced to 98.
Translations with bracketed Chinese text are for reference only.
Electoral system
The candidates were indirectly elected by members of
Consultative Assembly in provinces. The number of candidate each electorate shall vote for was double the delegated seats. Amongst all the supported candidates, half of them would be chosen by the
governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
as elected members. Appointed members included a certain degree of election features as there were considerable size of eligible members.
Constituencies
The new Advisory Council only consisted of 196 members, instead of 200 as planned, as Consultative Assembly was not established in Sinkiang, and the number of appointed members shrank to 98 to achieve the balance.
Elected members are as follows:
Appointed members are as follows:
Result
The
constitutionalists
Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law".
Political organizations are constitutional to ...
, who advocated
constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...
in Qing, secured a majority in the Advisory Council. The
revolutionaries
A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society.
Definition
The term—bot ...
on the other hand, despite banned by the authorities, won a few seats.
The party membership is only estimation as the political party system was immature at the time. Some members resigned during the session and the vacancies were filled according to the precedence list, which is not reflected here.
Detailed results
See also
*
Democracy in China
Ideological debate over democracy in China has existed in Chinese politics since the 19th century. Chinese scholars, thinkers, and policy-makers have debated about democracy, an idea which was first imported by Western colonial powers but which ...
*
Preparative Constitutionalism
Preparative Constitutionalism or Preparatory Constitutionalism (), also known as Preparation of Constitutionalism, refers to attempts by the imperial government of the Qing dynasty of China at implementing top-down constitutional reforms.
The Qi ...
*
1909 Chinese provincial elections
References
{{Qing dynasty topics
1909 in China
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
20th-century elections in China
September 1909
October 1909