THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW ORDER 2I3 their accrued privileges,including command over provincial armies,the retention of tax revenues,and the selection of local and provincial officials. At the same time,local assemblies below the provincial level swelled greatly in incidence and assertiveness.To the minds of the provincial- ists,the two demands of unity and self-government could be wedded in federal structures.The early republic was at first a de facto confederation of provinces.But the continuing foreign pressure on Chinese sovereignty put a great strain on such a loose arrangement. THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW ORDER The new political order had the task of establishing itself amidst these unresolved tensions.A brief description of its structure in the spring of I9Iz is a necessary preliminary to tracing the main events. As agreed in the negotiations concluding the revolution,Yuan Shih- k'ai was president.He swore to a republican oath composed,like the Provisional Constitution(Lin-shih yueh-fa)of 1912,by the revolutionary leadership.But the president was endowed by the new constitution with considerable executive power.Impeachment was not made easy;he was theoretically commander-in-chief of all China's army and navy;and, again theoretically,he possessed broad powers of appointment.He was to share responsibilities with a prime minister and cabinet,whom he appointed with the concurrence of the parliament or national assembly. The first prime minister was Tang Shao-i,an old associate of Yuan's, whose sympathy for the revolutionary side unexpectedly persisted after the revolution. The first provisional parliament of the republic consisted of represen- tatives from the provinces,five delegates each.The parliament lacked any significant royalist group,but adherents of the main revolutionary party,the T'ung-meng hui,held less than one-third of the seats.This reflected the Tung-meng hui's failure to dominate more than a minority of the governments even of those provinces that had joined the revolu- tion.The other major parties represented either factions that had pre- viously split from the T'ung-meng hui,or the reformist constitutional movement of officials and gentry that had adopted republicanism only during-and in some cases,after-the revolution.One principal achieve- ment of this parliament was the legislation guiding the election of a more permanent,bicameral parliament and of new provincial assemblies. (The new assemblies actually were constituted in the first half of 1913.) Another achievement was the rejection of Yuan's efforts to establish administrative machinery for subordinating the provinces. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press,2008THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW ORDER 213 their accrued privileges, including command over provincial armies, the retention of tax revenues, and the selection of local and provincial officials. At the same time, local assemblies below the provincial level swelled greatly in incidence and assertiveness. To the minds of the provincial￾ists, the two demands of unity and self-government could be wedded in federal structures. The early republic was at first a de facto confederation of provinces. But the continuing foreign pressure on Chinese sovereignty put a great strain on such a loose arrangement. THE STRUCTURE OF THE NEW ORDER The new political order had the task of establishing itself amidst these unresolved tensions. A brief description of its structure in the spring of 1912 is a necessary preliminary to tracing the main events. As agreed in the negotiations concluding the revolution, Yuan Shih￾k'ai was president. He swore to a republican oath composed, like the Provisional Constitution (Lin-shih yueh-fa) of 1912, by the revolutionary leadership. But the president was endowed by the new constitution with considerable executive power. Impeachment was not made easy; he was theoretically commander-in-chief of all China's army and navy; and, again theoretically, he possessed broad powers of appointment. He was to share responsibilities with a prime minister and cabinet, whom he appointed with the concurrence of the parliament or national assembly. The first prime minister was T'ang Shao-i, an old associate of Yuan's, whose sympathy for the revolutionary side unexpectedly persisted after the revolution. The first provisional parliament of the republic consisted of represen￾tatives from the provinces, five delegates each. The parliament lacked any significant royalist group, but adherents of the main revolutionary party, the T'ung-meng hui, held less than one-third of the seats. This reflected the T'ung-meng hui's failure to dominate more than a minority of the governments even of those provinces that had joined the revolu￾tion. The other major parties represented either factions that had pre￾viously split from the T'ung-meng hui, or the reformist constitutional movement of officials and gentry that had adopted republicanism only during - and in some cases, after - the revolution. One principal achieve￾ment of this parliament was the legislation guiding the election of a more permanent, bicameral parliament and of new provincial assemblies. (The new assemblies actually were constituted in the first half of 1913.) Another achievement was the rejection of Yuan's efforts to establish administrative machinery for subordinating the provinces. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008