220 THE ERA OF YUAN SHIH-K'AI,1912-16 (Much revolutionary force was,in any case,not responsive primarily to the revolutionary party leaders.)Power seemed increasingly to slip from revolutionary hands as authority was reconstituted.Not until the winter elections of 1912-13 did the tide turn.Even then,some of the revolution- aries appeared sceptical about the electoral route to power and the dilution of revolutionary commitment that this entailed.+But when we view the year through other eyes,the Tung-meng hui appears more formidable. In the early months of the republic,some of the leading non-T'ung- meng hui parties attempted to amalgamate,without much success.One of them was the Min she,or Association of the People,organized around Li Yuan-hung,military governor of Hupei and national vice-president in the new republican order.This party,which emerged in January 1912, represented the alienation of the Hupei leadership from the T'ung-meng hui.It was important because of Li's prestige as chief of the first revolu- tionary government and his strength as commander of a sizeable atmy. Another significant group was the Tung-i tang,or Unity Party.Its dominant personality was the scholar Chang Ping-lin,who had been a republican for a decade and was once a leading member of the Tung- meng hui.He broke with that organization in 191o and was joined by some of his comrades from the Shanghai revolutionary organization, the Kuang-fu hui,or Restoration Society.After the revolution he was also joined by men prominent in Kiangsu and Chekiang affairs,who, though bureaucratic or 'monarchist'in background,had supported the revolution as it progressed.These included Chang Chien,the scholar- reformer who was a minister in Sun Yat-sen's Nanking cabinet,and Ch'eng Te-ch'uian,imperial governor and then republican military gov- ernor of Kiangsu.The Unity Party served as a vehicle for former officials and important gentry who hoped to make the transition to the new order with the help of Chang Ping-lin.'Its programme,like its name,stressed unity and spoke of the administrative reorganization of the country's regions in order to unify the national territory.It did not,in contrast to the Tung-meng hui and KMT,specify the importance of local self- government. Many who had played a prominent role in organizing for representative government under the monarchy,through provincial and national as- semblies,formed another party that responded to Liang Ch'i-ch'ao's 4 Sun Yat-sen was one,at least retrospectively.Li Shou-k'ung,Min-ch's chih ewo-hui (National assemblies in the early republic),61-2.A major T'ung-meng hui contingent in Kwangtung held back from the new party for a time because of their critical view. 5 Ting Wen-chiang,et al.eds.Liang Jen-kung hsien-sheng nien-p'u ch'ang-pien ch'u-kao (Extended annals of Mr Liang Ch'i-ch'ao,First draft),398,400.Takeuchi Katsumi and Kashiwada Tenzan,Shina seito eessha shi(A history of political parties and societics in China),1.94. Cambridge Histories Online Cambridge University Press,200822O THE ERA OF YUAN SHIH-K'AI, I 9 I 2-1 6 (Much revolutionary force was, in any case, not responsive primarily to the revolutionary party leaders.) Power seemed increasingly to slip from revolutionary hands as authority was reconstituted. Not until the winter elections of 1912-13 did the tide turn. Even then, some of the revolution￾aries appeared sceptical about the electoral route to power and the dilution of revolutionary commitment that this entailed.4 But when we view the year through other eyes, the T'ung-meng hui appears more formidable. In the early months of the republic, some of the leading non-T'ung￾meng hui parties attempted to amalgamate, without much success. One of them was the Min she, or Association of the People, organized around Li Yuan-hung, military governor of Hupei and national vice-president in the new republican order. This party, which emerged in January 1912, represented the alienation of the Hupei leadership from the T'ung-meng hui. It was important because of Li's prestige as chief of the first revolu￾tionary government and his strength as commander of a sizeable army. Another significant group was the T'ung-i tang, or Unity Party. Its dominant personality was the scholar Chang Ping-lin, who had been a republican for a decade and was once a leading member of the T'ung￾meng hui. He broke with that organization in 1910 and was joined by some of his comrades from the Shanghai revolutionary organization, the Kuang-fu hui, or Restoration Society. After the revolution he was also joined by men prominent in Kiangsu and Chekiang affairs, who, though bureaucratic or 'monarchist' in background, had supported the revolution as it progressed. These included Chang Chien, the scholar￾reformer who was a minister in Sun Yat-sen's Nanking cabinet, and Ch'eng Te-ch'iian, imperial governor and then republican military gov￾ernor of Kiangsu. The Unity Party served as a vehicle for former officials and important gentry who hoped to make the transition to the new order with the help of Chang Ping-lin.' Its programme, like its name, stressed unity and spoke of the administrative reorganization of the country's regions in order to unify the national territory. It did not, in contrast to the T'ung-meng hui and KMT, specify the importance of local self￾government. Many who had played a prominent role in organizing for representative government under the monarchy, through provincial and national as￾semblies, formed another party that responded to Liang Ch'i-ch'ao's 4 Sun Yat-sen was one, at least retrospectively. Li Shou-k'ung, Min-ch'u chih kuo-hui (National assemblies in the early republic), 61-2. A major T'ung-meng hui contingent in Kwangtung held back from the new party for a time because of their critical view. 5 Ting Wen-chiang, tt al. eds. Liang Jen-kung hsien-sheng nien-p'u ch'ang-pien ch'u-kao (Extended annals of Mr Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, First draft), 398, 400. Takeuchi Katsumi and Kashiwada Tenzan, Shina seito kessha shi (A history of political parties and societies in China), 1.94. Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008