Yuan Shikai
A Reappraisal
This first major comprehensive study of Yuan Shikai in more than half a century explores the controversial life of one of the most important figures in China’s transition from empire to republic.
Description
Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) has been hailed as China’s George Washington for his role in the country’s transition from empire to republic. Yet Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal sheds new light on the equally controversial history of this talented administrator and modernizer who endeavoured to establish a new dynasty while serving as the first president of the republic. Since his death during the civil war his actions provoked, he has been condemned as a counterrevolutionary. Drawing on untapped primary sources and recent scholarship, Patrick Fuliang Shan offers a lucid, comprehensive, and critical new interpretation of Yuan’s part in shaping modern China.