Coupled with this discussion there is much matter giving an insight into the extraordinary and calamitous foreign ignorance about present-day China, an ignorance which is just as marked among those resident in the country as among those who have never visited it. The whole of the material grouped in this novel fashion should not fail to bring conviction that the Far East, with its 500 millions of people, is destined to play an important rôle in _postbellum_ history because of the new type of modern spirit which is being there evolved. The influence of the Chinese Republic, in the opinion of the writer, cannot fail to be ultimately world-wide in view of the practically unlimited resources in man-power which it disposes of. In the Appendices will be found every document of importance for the period under examination,--1911 to 1917. The writer desires to record his indebtedness to the columns of _The Peking Gazette_, a newspaper which under the brilliant editorship of Eugene Ch'en--a pure Chinese born and educated under the British flag--has fought consistently and victoriously for Liberalism and Justice and has made the Republic a reality to countless thousands who otherwise would have refused to believe in it. PUTNAM WEALE. PEKING, June, 1917. CONTENTS I.--GENERAL INTRODUCTION II.--THE ENIGMA OF YUAN SHIH-KAI III.--THE DREAM REPUBLIC (From the Manchu Abdication to the dissolution of Parliament) IV.--THE DICTATOR AT WORK (From the Coup d'état of the 4th Nov. 1913 to the outbreak of the World-war, 1st August, 1914) V.--THE FACTOR OF JAPAN VI.--THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS VII.--THE ORIGIN OF THE TWENTY-ONE DEMANDS VIII.--THE MONARCHIST PLOT 1º The Pamphlet of Yang Tu IX.--THE MONARCHY PLOT 2º Dr. Goodnow's Memorandum X.--THE MONARCHY MOVEMENT IS OPPOSED The Appeal of the Scholar Liang Chi-chao XI.--THE DREAM EMPIRE ("The People's Voice" and the action of the Powers) XII.--"THE THIRD REVOLUTION" The Revolt of Yunnan XIII.--"THE THIRD REVOLUTION" (_continued_) Downfall and Death of Yuan Shih-kai XIV.--THE NEW RÉGIME--FROM 1916 TO 1917 XV.--THE REPUBLIC IN COLLISION WITH REALITY: TWO TYPICAL INSTANCES OF "FOREIGN AGGRESSION" XVI.--CHINA AND THE WAR XVII.--THE FINAL PROBLEM:--REMODELLING THE POLITICO-ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CHINA AND THE WORLD APPENDICES--DOCUMENTS AND MEMORANDA ILLUSTRATIONS President Li Yuan-Hung The Funeral of Yuan-Shih-kai: The Procession passing down the great Palace Approach with the famous Ch'ien Men (Gate) in the distance The Provincial Troops of General Chang Hsun at his Headquarters of Hsuchowfu The Funeral of Yuan Shih-kai: The Catafalque over the Coffin on its way to the Railway Station The Funeral of Yuan Shih-kai: The Procession passing down the great Palace Approach with the famous Ch'ien Men (Gate) in the distance