The Nineteen Articles (), officially the Nineteen Major Articles of Good Faith on the Constitution (), also known as the Doctrine of Nineteen Articles and 19 Fundamental Articles, was a constitutional document, and the only constitution of the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, which was promulgated by the Qing government on November 3, 1911. The purpose of Nineteen Articles was to establish a British-style system of

ministerial responsibility In Westminster-style governments, individual ministerial responsibility is a constitutional convention that a cabinet minister bears the ultimate responsibility for the actions of their ministry or department. Individual ministerial responsibili ...

, and reconstitute the Qing government as a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

. These articles restrained the power of the

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

and expanded the power of the

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. However, after only 3 months (February 1912) the Monarchy abolished.

References

{{Reflist Law in Qing dynasty 1911 in China 1911 documents Constitution of China

See also

References