The Unity Party () was a short-lived political party in the early of the Republican period of China from 1912 to 1913.

History

The Unity Party was formed in Shanghai on 2 March 1912, as the merger of

Zhang Binglin Zhang Binglin (January 12, 1869 – June 14, 1936), also known by his art name Zhang Taiyan, was a Chinese philologist, textual critic, philosopher, and revolutionary. His philological works include ''Wen Shi'' (文始 "The Origin of Writing"), ...

's Chinese Republican United Association (中華民國聯合會) and Zhang Jian's Preliminary Constitutional Consortia (預備立憲公會), as well as former officials and local gentries. As a former

Tongmenghui The Tongmenghui of China was a secret society and underground resistance movement founded by Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others in Tokyo, Empire of Japan, on 20 August 1905, with the goal of overthrowing China's Qing dynasty. It was formed ...

member and leader of the Guangfuhui, Zhang Binglin set up the Chinese Republican United Association in early 1912 to participate in new Republican politics. Zhang Jian was a major figure of the Constitutional Movement in the late Qing period, he and Zhang Binglin wanted to form a grand coalition to counter the radical

in the Nanjing Provisional Government. The Unity Party was formed with Zhang Binglin, Cheng Dequan, Zhang Jian, and

Xiong Xiling Xiong Xiling, or Hsiung Hsi-ling (); 23 July 1870 – 25 December 1937) was a Chinese philanthropist and politician, who served as premier of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China from July 1913 to February 1914. Biography

Bo ...

as heads. Other notable founding members included Tang Soqian, Tang Shaoyi and Tang Hualong. The Unity Party also held many ministry offices in the provisional government, such as Zhang Jian as the Minister of Commerce, Cheng Dequan as the Minister of Internal Affairs, and Tang Soqian as the Minister of Communications. In late April 1912, the party moved its headquarters to Beijing with the provisional government. The Unity Party was one of the targets the

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

's government wanted to ally with. Besides funding the party, Zhang Binglin was invited as Yuan's adviser and Cheng Dequan was appointed as

Governor of Jiangsu The governor of Jiangsu, officially the Governor of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government, is the head of Jiangsu, Jiangsu Province and leader of the Jiangsu Provincial People's Government. The governor is elected by the Jiangsu Provincial Pe ...

when the Provisional Senate was opened. Unity Party's Wu Jinglian was also elected as the Speaker to replace Tongmenghui's

Lin Sen Lin Sen (; 16 March 1868 – 1 August 1943)), sobriquet Zhang Ren ( zh, c=長仁, w=Chang-jen, labels=no) was a Chinese politician who served as Chairman of the National Government of China, Chairman of the Nationalist government, National Gove ...

. Under the guide of Yuan Shikai and

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超; Wade–Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu''; ) (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, jour ...

, the Unity Party, Democratic Party and Republican Party merged into the Progressive Party on 29 May 1913. The Progressive Party became the flagship pro-Yuan party in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

References

Bibliography

* {{refend 1912 establishments in China 1913 disestablishments in China Conservative parties in China Defunct political parties in China Political parties disestablished in 1913 Political parties established in 1912 Political parties in the Republic of China

History

See also

References

Bibliography