Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet

The Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet was a position created on 8 May 1911 during the late Qing dynasty, as part of the imperial government's unsuccessful attempts at creating a constitutional monarchy in China.

Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet
大清內閣總理大臣
Flag of the Qing dynasty
Yuan Shikai Last in office (nominally) 2 November 1911 — 10 March 1912
Appointer	Emperor of China
Inaugural holder	Prince Qing
Formation	8 May 1911 (1911-05-08) 1 July 1917 (1917-07-01) (Manchu Restoration)
Final holder	Yuan Shikai Zhang Xun (Manchu Restoration)
Abolished	10 March 1912 (1912-03-10) 12 July 1917 (1917-07-12) (Manchu Restoration)

Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet
Traditional Chinese	內閣總理大臣
Simplified Chinese	内阁总理大臣
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Nèigé Zónglǐ Dàchén

History

Main article: New Policies

In the early 1900s, the Qing government began implementing constitutional reform in China in order to prevent a revolution. The reforms included the Outline of the Imperial Constitution passed in 1908, which ordered that elections for provincial assemblies must be held within a year. In May 1911, the government replaced the Grand Council with a thirteen-member cabinet, led by Prince Qing, who was appointed Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet. However, the cabinet included nine Manchus, seven of whom were members of the imperial clan. This "Princes' Cabinet" was unpopular among the people and was viewed as a reactionary measure, being described at one point as "the old Grand Council under the name of a cabinet, autocracy under the name of constitutionalism."

When the Wuchang Uprising broke out in November 1911, the imperial court summoned the general Yuan Shikai to command the Beiyang Army and put down the revolution. He was named prime minister on 2 November 1911, shortly after Prince Qing stepped down. He remained in that office until March 1912, when he negotiated with Empress Dowager Longyu the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor.

The post was briefly revived in July 1917 during Zhang Xun's attempt to restore the Qing monarchy, but he only held it for several days before Beijing was retaken by Republican forces.

List of prime ministers

No.	Portrait	Name (born–died)	Term of office			Political party		Cabinet	Emperor (Reign)	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Yikuang, Prince Qing (1838–1917)	8 May 1911	1 November 1911	177 days		Independent (Imperial Family)	Yikuang	Xuantong (Puyi) (1908–1912)
2		Yuan Shikai (1859–1916)	2 November 1911	10 March 1912	129 days		Beiyang Clique	Yuan
Abolished (1912–1917)
3		Zhang Xun (1854–1923)	1 July 1917	12 July 1917	11 days		Independent (Warlord)	Zhang	Puyi (unrecognized)

See also

• Chancellor of the Tang dynasty
• Grand chancellor (China)
• List of premiers of China

Further reading

• Esherick, Joseph (2013). China: How the Empire Fell. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0415831017.