“Village Republic”:The Republican Undercurrent before and after the 1911 Revolution

The replacement of “Monarchy” by “Republic” is one of the major changes in modern China.It is believed that the driving force behind this great change is the concept of western republic,while the long-standing “village republic”experience in China is to a large extent ignored.Since the late Qing,the local autonomy reform and the constitutional campaign have tried to integrate it into the modern political system.In the central political chaos in the early Republic of China,it was the creative transformation of the governance experience of the “village republic”that allowed the modern republican system to take root at the Chinese grassroots society.In this sense,“village republic”is another republican version in China around the 1911 Revolution.Compared with the central version,the “village republic”,although acting as an undercurrent,is an important historical foundation for modern China to move towards Republic,and has a profound impact on the direction of Chinese politics.