The 1954 Constitution of the People's Republic of China was adopted and enacted on September 20, 1954, through the first session of the First National People’s Congress in Beijing. This constitution was amended and formulated on the basis of the Common Program of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s United front (China), united front system. Its members adv ...

, which served as a provisional constitution in 1949, and is the first constitution of the People's Republic of China. The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the fundamental law of the People's Republic of China and has the highest legal effect.

Introduction

The first constitution of the People's Republic of China was published as 2 documents: the " Common Program of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference" (CPCPPCC), and the "Organic Law of the

Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

." The Constitution of 1954 was the first codified constitution of the People's Republic, and according to its preamble is "based on the CPCPPCC of 1949, and is an advance on it." The constitution of 1954 includes the Preamble, four chapters, 106 articles, and it defines "the national flag of People's Republic of China is a red flag with 5 stars" (Article 104); "the national emblem of the People's Republic of China is: in the center, Tien An Men under the light of five stars, and encircled by ears of grain and a cogwheel." (Article 105); and "the capital of People's Republic of China is Peking eijing" (Article 106). During the development of socialism, the Constitution of 1954 stipulated the task for the ongoing Chinese

communist state A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...

. Like the Common Program, the new Constitution limited any reference of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) to the preamble. Unlike the Common Program, however, which mentioned the CCP as merely one party within the United Front, the 1954 constitution declared that the CCP was the leader of the front and credited it with ending a " century of heroic struggle" against "

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

feudalism Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

, and

bureaucrat A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", wh ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

." Under this situation, China finally became a

one-party state A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a governance structure in which only a single political party controls the ruling system. In a one-party state, all opposition parties are either outlawed or en ...

under the uncontested control of the CCP. On the eve of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

Liu Shaoqi Liu Shaoqi ( ; 24 November 189812 November 1969) was a Chinese revolutionary and politician. He was the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress from 1954 to 1959, first-ranking Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communis ...

, then the Chairman of the People's Republic of China, fell victim to the Red Guards. Although constitutionally Liu could only be removed by the

National People's Congress The National People's Congress (NPC) is the highest organ of state power of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The NPC is the only branch of government in China, and per the principle of unified power, all state organs from the Sta ...

, since the force of the dawning Cultural Revolution was too great, the Communist Party hierarchy intervened and expelled Liu from office. The 1954 Constitution was replaced in the midst of the Cultural Revolution by the

1975 Constitution of the People's Republic of China The 1975 Constitution of the People's Republic of China was promulgated by the 4th National People's Congress. The offices of Chairman and Vice-chairman were officially scrapped under the Constitution after almost 7 years of functional non-ex ...

. Books published in the PRC since the 1980s regarded it and the 1978 Constitution with "serious errors". In the 1954 Constitution, the Chairman (now translated as president) could convene Supreme State Conferences—emergency meetings. This Presidential right was never seen again in later promulgations of the Chinese constitution.

Summary of the constitution of 1954

The first chapter in the Constitution of 1954 includes 20 articles and it deals with the general issue of defining social and economic structure. The first chapter, gave the primary definition of “the nature of regime, the structure of ownership, people’s property rights and so on.” Heavily considering the state of the country at the time, the first part of the constitution emphasized the equality between the Han nationality and the other fifty-five minority nationalities. The second chapter consists of 64 articles; this part stipulates the relationship between “the national people’s congress (NPC), Chairman of China, State Council, and the local people’s congress, the local people’s councils” with “the Organs of self-government of National Autonomous Areas, the people’s courts and the people’s Procuratorates”. The third chapter indicates rights and duties of the country’s citizen. It guarantees the equality of each citizen and it prohibits racial discrimination and oppression. This chapter consists of 19 articles and it protects a citizen’s customs, habits and religious beliefs. The last chapter, which is the fourth chapter, stipulates the national flag, the national emblem and the capital of PRC.

References

External links

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (1954)

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (1954)

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China (1954) from the Peking University Center for Legal Information
{{DEFAULTSORT:1954 Constitution Of The People's Republic Of China

Constitution of the People's Republic of China The Constitution of the People's Republic of China is the supreme law of the People's Republic of China (PRC). In September 1949, the first plenary session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference adopted the Common Progr ...

Constitution of China