Yuan Shikai's dissolution of the National Assembly was not over, so he simply did not stop doing anything, and then took action against the local self-government associations, and stopped running the local self-government associations on February 3, the third year of the Republic of China.

His reason was that the civil affairs chiefs of Gansu, Shandong, Shanxi, Hubei, Henan, Zhili, Anhui, and other provinces sent telegrams to them, "all of them belong to the autonomous associations, the good and the bad are uneven, and they usually control the finances, resist taxes, interfere in lawsuits, and obstruct the administration."

Jiang Gui, the commander of Rehe, telegraphed that the Tougou Township Council in Chengde County "set up a private court, not torture and interrogation."

Tang Qianming, the governor of Hunan, telegraphed that the autonomous institutions at all levels usually "obey fashionable laws and regulations, fish and meat villagers, and do everything."

Tian Wenlie, the head of Shandong's civil affairs, telegraphed that the villagers of Qixia County had "been sued privately, abused their punishments, and gathered grievances to create change" because of the autonomous association.

Qu Yingguang, the head of civil affairs of Zhejiang, said that the Zhejiang Provincial Autonomous Council violated the law. ……

He enumerated the "crimes" of the local self-government associations, and "by decree of the provincial civil governors, the existing autonomous councils at all levels in each province were suspended."

Local autonomy is the basic structure of constitutional democracy and an important symbol of the development of democratic politics. In China, local autonomy in the modern sense emerged in China with the eastward arrival of Western ideological trends and the preparatory constitutional activities of the Qing Dynasty. Local autonomy in the late Qing Dynasty formed a trend at that time, covering the whole country and having an important influence in China's constitutional history.

The idea of local autonomy in modern times was first introduced to China by Western missionaries and a group of intellectuals who were the first to come into contact with the West.

Since the mid-nineteenth century, with the spread of Western constitutional thought, a group of intellectuals and political elites in China have begun to advocate and implement local autonomy. Around the time of the Hundred Days Restoration, the concept of local autonomy began to be introduced in China. Huang Zunxian, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and others believed that only by implementing local autonomy could the foundation of constitutional politics be laid and the country could be saved from peril.

As mentioned earlier, with the deepening of the aggression of the foreign powers, the increasing frequency of the activities of the revolutionary parties at home and abroad, and the appeals of the domestic reform forces, the Qing ** agreed to implement a certain degree of change. As a result, a large number of newspapers and periodicals appeared at home and abroad with the theme of promoting salvation and change. In particular, around 1905, under the influence of the Russo-Japanese War, a trend of advocating constitutionalism and local autonomy emerged in the circles of public opinion.

We have seen that in the midst of the clamor for local autonomy and constitutionalism, some enlightened people at the top of the court also recognized the necessity of practicing constitutionalism and local autonomy. Amid the calls for the implementation of constitutionalism and local autonomy throughout the country, the Qing Dynasty decided to regard local autonomy as an important matter in the preparation for the constitution. In December of the 34th year of Guangxu (1908), the Qing Dynasty promulgated the "Charter of Local Autonomy in Towns and Townships", and immediately issued an edict to promote local autonomy throughout the country. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, local autonomy was divided into two levels, and the autonomy at the urban and township level was the subordinate autonomy, which began to take shape within five years; Prefecture, prefecture, and county-level autonomy is the autonomy of the higher level, and shall be established within seven years. It is stipulated that autonomous experiments should be carried out in urban areas first, and then extended to towns and villages.

However, due to the different situations in different places, there are also those who can handle it flexibly. In order to promote the development of the local autonomy movement, the Qing Dynasty promulgated the "Statute of the Autonomous Research Institute" on March 16, the first year of Xuantong (1909), ordering the establishment of the Autonomous Research Institute in all provinces, provincial capitals, prefectures, prefectures and counties, so as to "study the autonomy charter and cultivate autonomous staff". In addition, it will also "make all kinds of self-government affairs in towns and townships, interpret them in the vernacular, publish and publicize them, and use them for persuasion." This prepares people and minds for local self-government.

In the following year, the Qing Dynasty promulgated the "Jingshi Local Autonomy Charter" and its election charter, the "Prefecture Prefecture and County Local Autonomy Charter" and the "Prefecture Prefecture and County Council Members Election Charter", which further perfected the autonomy policy.

Qing Zheng. The formulation of the local autonomy policy has made local autonomy a government. One of the basic national policies of the government has given a strong impetus to the burgeoning local autonomy movement, resulting in a great tide of local autonomy throughout the country.

The local autonomy movement in the late Qing Dynasty emerged under the influence of democratic constitutional thought. It is the result of the interaction between the state and society, which not only embodies the characteristics of democracy in modern times, but also embodies the strong spirit of democracy.

First, members of the legislature are freely elected by the electorate, and the majority is determined to decide on issues, without losing the spirit of democracy.

Second, the Council and the Board of Directors are both independent and mutually restrictive, reflecting the modern principle of separation of powers. The Council is the decision-making body, the Board of Directors is the executive body, and the latter is elected and supervised by the former.

Third, members of the board of directors are not allowed to concurrently serve as members of the council, so that the administrative work can be effectively supervised by the decision-making organs, and the supervisory function of the council is strengthened. In addition, the stipulation that relatives are not allowed to serve as members of parliament or board of directors at the same time has to a certain extent avoided the occurrence of corruption incidents such as forming parties for personal gain.

Fourth, it stipulates that "those who are currently local officials", "those who are currently serving as military personnel", "those who are currently serving as local patrol policemen", and "those who are currently monks and other religious teachers" may not be elected or elected as autonomous officials, so that local autonomy will be free from interference by administrative, military, and religious forces to a certain extent, and will have a certain degree of independence.

Local autonomy is the result of the interaction of civil forces with ** power. From the perspective of the process of local autonomy, local autonomy in the late Qing Dynasty was first initiated by the people, and then promoted by the people, and gradually advanced from outside the system to within the system.

In some areas that are deeply influenced by the ideology of local autonomy, have developed economies, and have more contacts with the outside world, local autonomy has been particularly well carried out under the advocacy of some gentry and businessmen and the support of some enlightened officials.

Due to the active participation and hard work of the new-style gentry and businessmen with a sense of democracy, the businessmen in some places have gained more and more voice and considerable autonomy. This has further stimulated the enthusiasm of the gentry and businessmen to participate in politics, so that all aspects of society have shown unprecedented vitality.

Due to the Qing ** at all levels of government. As a result of the efforts of government officials and the vast number of gentry and businessmen, by 1911 more than 50 autonomous associations, autonomous research associations, and preparatory associations had been established throughout the country.

Although, in the process of organizing local self-government, there is also a great deal of fraud, scraping the people, extravagance, and misunderstanding, ignorance, and indifference among the people about local self-government affairs. In addition, financial difficulties have made the organization of many local self-government matters mere formalities or greatly reduced, thus limiting the effectiveness of local self-government. However, these are ultimately problems in the process of progress, and we need to constantly improve and strengthen them in the process of practice.

And, as it is often said, the achievements of local self-government are the main ones. This is indeed the case, especially in some commercially developed areas, and the achievements made in the cause of local self-government are even more remarkable.

Qing Zheng. The purpose of the government's implementation of local autonomy was to make up for the shortcomings of official rule and to harmonize official rule with autonomy, thereby consolidating the foundation of Qing rule. But in fact, it created the feudal autocratic gravediggers. The actual relationship between the local councils and the magistrates is quite antagonistic, and the main competition between them is in the control of finances.

Local autonomy plays an important role and influence in China's modernization and political development.

There is no doubt that the local autonomy movement at the end of the Qing Dynasty was conducive to the emergence of a sense of citizenship and a sense of the state. Local self-government is characterized by the participation of local residents in the organization of public welfare affairs, and such activities will inevitably contribute to the emergence of civic consciousness and community concepts. With the encroachment of external forces, the rise of autonomy and the consciousness of the gentry, the national consciousness of the Chinese people has been greatly enhanced.

The local autonomy movement in the late Qing Dynasty also broadened the channels and breadth of political participation. Democratization is reflected in the expansion of political participation and the effective absorption of participating forces by the political system.

Local self-government also provided a means of legitimacy for local gentry and businessmen to participate in politics, and local self-government institutions reflected recognition of their ability and influence.

The participation of the gentry in local self-government was a catalyst for democracy. As a large number of industrialists and businessmen entered the self-governing institutions, the composition of traditional political actors was changed, some fresh blood was injected into the feudal regime, and class forces were provided for the development of democratic politics.

In addition, not only is the formation of local self-government institutions based on the principle of democratic elections, but also the rules governing their operation reflect the spirit of modern democracy, so engaging in local self-government activities helps to cultivate people's ability and habit of democratic participation. For traditional bureaucratic regimes, local self-government actually has the role of democratic enlightenment and political mobilization.

The rise of the power of the gentry and the decline of the central power. Qing Zheng. After advocating and implementing local self-government, the government delegated a large number of powers to the people to manage local public affairs, including taxation, justice, police affairs, municipal administration, and negotiation of foreign-related matters, reflecting the loosening of authoritarian power.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the new-style gentry and merchants grasped some power through local autonomy, and their social influence was greatly enhanced. A strong counterweight to the authority of the government. The spread of local governments on all current affairs issues, freely discussing the decisions of senior officials, and exerting pressure through public meetings and marches also affected the activities of the Advisory Council and the Information Council.

In this way, the local community strengthens its political policy. Supervision and restraint of government decision-making and behavior. Jiang Guidi, Tang Qianming, and Tian Wenlie, who are local officials, hate local autonomy deeply, which just shows that local autonomy there is working hard.

In some towns with developed commodity economies, the local autonomy movement in the late Qing Dynasty helped to foster the development of civil society in China.

Civil society has the following characteristics: independent interests and areas of self-government; Equal and free contractual relationship; The subject's sense of self-awareness, self-government, and responsibility.

According to the investigation, some urban local self-government units with developed commodity economy in the late Qing Dynasty already had the germ of civil society. As the state has relaxed restrictions on certain fields, it has expanded the space for social activities, enabled the role of non-governmental political forces to be brought into play, and mobilized the enthusiasm of the people to participate in public affairs, thus promoting the emergence of the germination of civil society.

In fact, whether it is the constitutional movement or the road protection movement, the local self-government association has played a great role in promoting it. It's a big deal. The reason why Wuchang Shouyi was able to achieve unexpected success and the role played by the local autonomy association in it must not be overlooked.

Yuan Shikai was the advocate and implementer of the Constitutional Movement, that is, the establishment of local self-government, and now he has come to self-denial.

And that's not all, as Yuan Shikai ordered the dissolution of the provincial assemblies on February 28. Soon after, the Law on the Public Security Police was enacted to curb the freedom of speech of the people, that is, everything that was democratic was incompatible with him.

At this time, Yuan Shikai can be described as relaxed and complacent. However, Yuan Shikai was not satisfied, because the centralization of power and the dictatorship of the head of state that he hoped for were far from being achieved.