被迫下台

Yuan Shi-kai, chief of the northern warlords, usurped (侵佔) the fruits of the 1911 revolution. On 13 February 1912, Sun Yat-sen was forced to resign and on 1 March 1912, officially relieved his short-lived office as provisional President.

Yuan Shi-kai, the military 'strong man' in whose favor Sun relinquished (放棄) presidency of the Chinese Republic. Yuan reneged (食言) on his promise to uphold the constitution and quickly betrayed (背叛) the revolutionaries.

For all the pride and adulation (奉承), Sun was not unaware of the fact that the fledgling (無經驗的組織) republic was still a fragile one. Inevitably the new government urgently needed financing, which he had failed to secure from Western Powers. The threat of a civil war by foreign intervention was real. Accepting the inevitability of securing Yuan Shi-kai's cooperation, Sun offered to resign in his favor on condition that the military leader guaranteed the abdication (退位) of the Manchus, publicly declared his support of the republic, and pledged to honor the yet-to-be drafted constitution.

Behind the facade (表面) of reformer and modernizer, Yuan was an old-school militarist, aspiring to install himself at the head of a new imperial dynasty. After dissolving parliament in 1915, Yuan performed sacrificial rituals at the Altar of Heaven that were the emperor's prerogative (君權) alone. His subordinates did not go along with the idea of another monarchy (君主政體) and revolted against his authority in 1916.

Sun defined the five branches of government as legislature, executive and judiciary as they existed in western democracies along with two traditional Chinese institutions - the civil service examination and a censorate (檢查機關).

Dong, S. (2004) Sun Yat-sen: The Man Who Changed China. Hong Kong, HK: FormAsia