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1909 Chinese parliamentary election

September – October 1909 1912 →
elected members →
196 seats (of 200 seats) to the Advisory Council 101 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Chen Baochen Yang Du Yan Xishan Party Continuous Constitutionalism CERA Xinhai Club Alliance Constitutionalists Constitutionalists Constitutionalists Leader's seat Scholars (Appointed) Did not stand Did not stand Elected seats 38 10 4 Appointed seats 37 0 7   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Sun Yat-sen Wang Rongbao Zheng Xiaoxu Party Tongmenghui Political Science Club Preparative Constitutionalism Alliance Revolutionaries Constitutionalists Constitutionalists Leader's seat Did not stand Government Officials (Appointed) Did not stand Elected seats 4 1 3 Appointed seats 3 4 2
Constitutionalist majority  Independent majority  Divided between constitutionalists and independents  Divided between constitutionalists and revolutionaries  No election

The 1909 Chinese parliamentary election was an indirect election to the first imperial Advisory Council, a preparatory body of the parliament created under the constitutional reform bought by the late Qing dynasty. It was seen as the first popular election in Chinese history.

Originally 100 members, half of the seats in the council were to be elected by the members of the Provincial Consultative Assemblies, while the other half were appointed by the Emperor. Due to the fact the Provincial Consultative Assembly had not been set up in Sinkiang, the seats were reduced to 98.

Translations with bracketed Chinese text are for reference only.

Electoral system

The candidates were indirectly elected by members of Consultative Assembly in provinces. The number of candidate each electorate shall vote for was double the delegated seats. Amongst all the supported candidates, half of them would be chosen by the governor as elected members. Appointed members included a certain degree of election features as there were considerable size of eligible members.

Constituencies

The new Advisory Council only consisted of 196 members, instead of 200 as planned, as Consultative Assembly was not established in Sinkiang, and the number of appointed members shrank to 98 to achieve the balance.

Elected members are as follows:

Appointed members are as follows:

Result

The constitutionalists, who advocated constitutional monarchy in Qing, secured a majority in the Advisory Council. The revolutionaries on the other hand, despite banned by the authorities, won a few seats. The party membership is only estimation as political party system was immature at the time. Some members resigned during the session and the vacancies were filled according to the precedence list, which is not reflected here.

Political party		Elected	Appointed	Total
	Continuous Constitutionalism Association (憲政維持進行會)	38	37	75
	Xinhai Club (辛亥俱樂部)	4	7	11
	Chinese Empire Reform Association	10	0	10
	Political Science Club (政學會)	1	4	5
	Preparative Constitutionalism Association (預備立憲公會)	3	2	5
	Brotherhood of Petition for Parliament [zh] (國會請願同志會)	5	0	5
	Joint Association of Provincial Consultative Assemblies (各省諮議局聯合會)	3	0	3
	Guangdong Autonomous Chamber of Commerce (粵商自治會)	1	0	1
	Preparative Constitutionalism Association of Guizhou (貴州憲政預備會)	1	0	1
	Constitutionalists total	66	50	116
	Tongmenghui	4	3	7
	Association for Guizhou Autonomy (貴州自治學社)	1	0	1
	Revolutionaries total	5	3	8
	Independents	27	45	72
Vacant		2	2	4
Total		100	100	200

Detailed results

See also

• Democracy in China
• Preparative Constitutionalism
• 1909 Chinese provincial elections

References

1. ^ 張, 朋園 (2007). 中國民主政治的困境 1909－1949：晩清以來歷屆議會選舉述論. Changchun: 吉林出版集團有限責任公司. p. 63.
2. 張, 朋園 (2007). 中國民主政治的困境 1909－1949：晩清以來歷屆議會選舉述論. Changchun: 吉林出版集團有限責任公司. pp. 317–329.
3. 張, 玉法 (1985). 清季的立憲團體. 中央研究院近代史研究所.

• 1909 in China
• 1909 elections in Asia
• 20th-century elections in China
• September 1909 events
• October 1909 events