Chapter 16: Reassessing Xu Shichang: The Qing Failed to Elevate Him, Chose Yuan Shikai Instead, and Lost the Realm

Xu Shichang and Yuan Shikai were sworn brothers. Xu was four years older than Yuan. Yuan was a “capable minister,” while Xu was both a “capable minister” and a “pure minister,” accomplished in both civil and military affairs and incapable of staging a palace coup. Had Xu Shichang been elevated, the Qing dynasty would not have lost its realm.

Xu Shichang (1855–1939) was elected in 1918 as the second President of the Republic of China after Yuan Shikai. Xu was a jinshi of the Qing dynasty and a Grand Councilor. In his early years, he became sworn brothers with Yuan Shikai and consistently served as Yuan’s chief strategist. He went along with Yuan in forcing the Qing emperor to abdicate so that Yuan could become president, but Xu himself left Beijing and did not serve under Yuan. When Yuan attempted to proclaim himself emperor, Xu opposed it and distanced himself. During his presidency, Xu sought reconciliation between North and South and opposed civil war. In 1922, under pressure from Cao Kun of the Zhili clique, he resigned from the presidency and retired to Tianjin. He devoted himself to writing and scholarship, immersing himself in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and withdrew entirely from politics. He became known as the “Poet President” and the “Civil-Governance President.”

I. Sworn Brothers with Yuan Shikai, Assisting in Military Training, Accomplished in Both Civil and Military Affairs

Xu Shichang was born in 1855 in Weihui Prefecture, Henan. His ancestors had all been officials. He lost his father at a young age and was strictly educated by his mother, who carefully investigated the character of every friend he made. At sixteen, Xu was already teaching while studying; at eighteen, he handled official correspondence and accounting for a prefect; at twenty-four, he met Yuan Shikai, who was then twenty. The two became close and swore brotherhood. Yuan funded Xu’s examination attempts, and Xu passed the provincial examination. At thirty-one, Xu passed the metropolitan examination and became a jinshi, entering the Hanlin Academy, where he served as an editor for nine years.

By 1897, Yuan Shikai petitioned for Xu to be appointed Director of Military Affairs of the Newly Established Army (equivalent to Chief of Staff and Secretary-General). Xu was widely respected by the officers of the New Army and was addressed as “Teacher.” Xu taught himself military science and English and compiled thirteen volumes of military training works, including Collected Notes on Army Strategy and Detailed Illustrated Explanations of Drills. He formulated military systems, regulations, legal codes, and strategic doctrines integrating Chinese and Western methods. He advanced through merit and military achievement, and within the Beiyang Army his status was second only to Yuan Shikai.

During the Reform Movement of 1898, Yuan Shikai followed Xu Shichang’s advice: “Rather than aiding the emperor and bringing disaster, it is better to side with the Empress Dowager and gain merit.” Yuan thus chose to rely on Cixi and avoided the calamity associated with Kang Youwei. In the following years, Xu became deeply involved in court administration, finance, military affairs, and education. In 1904, he served as chief examiner for the final imperial examination. In 1905, he entered the Grand Council and was appointed Grand Councilor.

II. Imperial Commissioner Implementing New Policies: Two Years Transforming the Northeast

In 1906, Xu was appointed Imperial Commissioner and Governor-General of the Three Northeastern Provinces, holding combined civil and military authority. He was a first-rank official, ranked even ahead of Yuan Shikai, then Governor-General of Zhili. Over the previous decade, the Northeast had suffered three major devastations by Russia and Japan, leaving it scarred and impoverished. Upon taking office, Xu spent over two months traveling thousands of miles to inspect conditions and submitted a memorial of over 100,000 characters, Comprehensive Planning for the Overall Situation of the Three Northeastern Provinces. He punished corruption, reformed official administration, established efficient decision-making and operational institutions, vigorously recruited talent, and promoted returned overseas students.

Within months, he investigated dozens of cases, severely punished corrupt officials, and used exemplary executions as deterrence. During his two-year administration, the Northeast was transformed: cityscapes took on a European appearance, and contemporaries universally praised the “Xu Shichang New Policies,” marking the beginning of reform and development in the region.

III. Supporting Yuan Shikai in Toppling the Qing, Then Retreating to Qingdao

In 1908, Xu returned to Beijing as a Grand Councilor. After the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor, the Prince Regent Zaifeng dismissed Yuan Shikai and sent him back to his hometown. Xu was also demoted to Minister of Posts and Communications. In May 1911, the Qing court established the Cabinet under Prince Qing, and Xu was appointed Associate Minister (Deputy Prime Minister). When the Xinhai Revolution broke out in October, Xu strongly advocated recalling Yuan Shikai. In November, Yuan became Prime Minister, and Xu was appointed Minister of Military Affairs.

Xu went along with Yuan in forcing the Qing emperor to abdicate, enabling Yuan to become president. However, Xu himself withdrew to Qingdao and lived in seclusion, refusing office.

In May 1914, Xu accepted Yuan Shikai’s invitation to serve as Secretary of State. In 1915, when Yuan sought to proclaim himself emperor, Xu judged that monarchy lacked popular support and was impossible. He remained silent, resigned as Secretary of State, and opposed Yuan’s acceptance of the Twenty-One Demands from Japan.

After Yuan’s death in 1916, Li Yuanhong became president and Duan Qirui premier. The two soon clashed in the “Presidency–Cabinet Dispute.” Xu Shichang, as a senior statesman, was invited to Beijing to mediate, and later also mediated conflicts between Feng Guozhang and Duan Qirui.

In 1918, Xu was elected president, making reconciliation between North and South his first priority. In February 1919, the “North–South Peace Conference” was held in Shanghai but yielded no results. During the May Fourth Movement of 1919, under public pressure, Xu dismissed Cao Rulin and two others from office. In October 1919, he appointed Xu Shuzheng to lead troops into Outer Mongolia, using force to compel the region to formally cancel autonomy and return to China. In 1922, when the Zhili clique seized control of Beijing and Cao Kun sought the presidency, Xu was forced to resign and retired to Tianjin.

IV. Seeking Immortals Weakens the State, Seeking Sages Governs the State, Seeking Emperorship Brings Chaos

In 1937, Japan attempted to persuade Xu Shichang to return to politics, proposing that he sign a friendship treaty with Japan and serve as leader of North China. Xu firmly refused. Throughout his life, Xu was indifferent to fame and gain. His famous saying was: “There are three kinds of people in the world: those who aspire to immortals and Buddhas, those who aspire to sages, and those who aspire to emperorship. Aspiring to immortals weakens the state; aspiring to sages governs the state; aspiring to emperorship brings chaos to the state.”

Looking back at 1911, Xu Shichang possessed high moral character and a temperament like licorice—harmonizing all. The Qing court trusted Xu even more than Yuan Shikai. Cixi once told Ronglu that Xu Shichang, after Li Hongzhang, enjoyed great prestige among the Beiyang generals. Had the Qing court appointed Xu to command troops and deal with the southern provinces, it was highly likely that the revolution could have been peacefully suppressed and the Qing preserved. Given Xu’s loyalty to the Qing and his indifference to personal power, he would not have forced the emperor to abdicate and install himself as president.

V. The Qing Failed to Elevate Xu Shichang and Lost the Realm

Had the Qing court promoted Xu Shichang to Prime Minister, constitutional reform could have continued. As a senior statesman of the nation, widely respected and politically astute, flexible yet principled, Xu might well have succeeded in transforming China into a constitutional monarchy. The Qing court mistakenly elevated Yuan Shikai—and lost the realm.

VI. Without Lust for Power, Broad in Learning, Prolific in Scholarship

After stepping down as president, Xu Shichang continued to care deeply about the nation’s fate but no longer engaged in active politics. He devoted his vast learning entirely to Confucian scholarship, writing, poetry, painting, and calligraphy. In Beijing, he established the Xu Donghai Editorial Office, compiling Cases of Qing Confucian Scholars in 194 volumes, documenting 179 scholars. His personal library contained 80,000 volumes. He compiled Catalogue of the Shusui Pavilion Library in nine volumes, recording over 7,000 titles, and additionally cataloged 2,700 collections of Qing-era writings.

Xu composed poetry throughout his life without interruption. In 1933, he published Selected Pearls, comprising eight collections in seventy-six volumes. His poetry is elegant, serene, concise, and pure, expressing temperament and broad vision, free from worldly burdens, spanning a long time frame with expansive themes.

Xu began studying painting at age six, excelling in landscapes, pines, and bamboo. Every painting was accompanied by poetry, refined in taste and imbued with spiritual resonance. His calligraphy—especially running and cursive scripts—was highly esteemed, often appearing as couplets and scrolls. Four volumes of his calligraphic works were published.

Xu Shichang valued art and classical studies. During his presidency, he founded the Beijing National Art School (the predecessor of today’s Central Academy of Fine Arts), supported the movement to “Honor Confucius and Read the Classics,” and funded the establishment of the Chinese Institute in France, sending large numbers of young students abroad to study.

VII. Over Ten Years of Upright Retirement Contributed More Than Four Years as President

After withdrawing from politics, Xu authored over twenty works on politics and literature, including China After the European War, Political Strategies of the Three Northeastern Provinces, Political Writings from the Tuigengtang, National Music Scores, Models of Classical Prose, and Selected Pearls. Public opinion widely held that Xu Shichang’s contributions during more than a decade of retirement surpassed those of his four-year presidency, making him worthy of being regarded as the foremost president of the Republic of China.

Xu Shichang revered Daoism and cultivated moral self-discipline, believing the Dao to be the primordial source of heaven and earth and all things. The Great Dao gives birth to heaven and earth, coming and going alone. A gentleman worries about the Dao, not about poverty. When the Dao is free of desire, heaven and earth are rightly ordered. Xu practiced quiet sitting, calming the mind, clearing desires, maintaining purity and stillness, ceasing distracting thoughts, harmonizing with the sun and moon, and abiding with heaven and earth.

Xu Shichang lived to the age of eighty-four. He had no sons; his two daughters died young. The Xu family ancestral hall, located in Weihui City, Henan Province, is now a protected cultural heritage site.