Federalism in China - Nationalist-era Proposals

Nationalist-era Proposals

The Revive China Society, founded in November 1894 by Sun Yat-Sen, was among the first to suggest that a future Chinese government should be established on federal lines—a feeling expressed in the organisation's oath, "Expel the northern barbarians, revive Zhonghua, and establish a unified (hézhòng) government" (驅逐韃虜，恢復中華，建立合眾政府). The term hézhòng (合眾), literally meaning "many unified as one", refers to a federal structure such as the United States of America.

During the Xinhai Revolution, fourteen provinces proclaimed independence from the Qing dynasty and reunited as the Republic of China (中華民國 / 中华民国 /Zhōnghuá Mínguó). But when the Guizhou Provincial Consultative Council (貴州省諮議局 / 贵州省咨议局/Gùizhōushěng Zīyìjú) proclaimed independence, they asked to build the Great Han Federal Democratic Republic (大漢聯邦民主共和國 / 大汉联邦民主共和国 /Dàhàn Liánbāng Mínzhǔ Gònghéguó). Prior to January 1912, one semi-official translation of the country's new name used by revolutional Shanghai Military Government (滬軍都督府 / 沪军都督府 / Hùjān Dūdūfǔ) was the United Provinces of China. Sun Yat-sen's title in 1912 was "President of the Provisional Government of the United Provinces of China". Chinese federalists from this period often used "United Provinces" (聯省 / Lián Shěng) instead of "Federation" (聯邦 / Lían bang) or "United States" (合眾國 / Hézhòng Gúo) because "states" suggested a more independent arrangement than "provinces." In other words, they wished to avoid the impression that federalism implied separatism.

Proposals for a federal Chinese state were first advanced in the 1920s, but these proved unpopular. These often used the phrase United Autonomous Provinces (聯省自治 / Liánshĕng Zìzhì) as the name of the intended system. Hunan was the center of this movement. The young Mao Zedong even advocated the formation of a "Republic of Hunan" during that period. But many intellectuals, including Sun Yat-sen, argued that these proposals would limit the ability of China to fight off external invasion and would legitimize the rule of warlords.