Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal (Contemporary Chinese Studies)

Yuan Shikai (1859–1916) has been hailed as China's George Washington for his role in the country's transition from empire to republic. Yet Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal sheds new light on the equally controversial history of this talented administrator and modernizer who endeavoured to establish a new dynasty while serving as the first president of the republic. Since his death during the civil war his actions provoked, he has been condemned as a counterrevolutionary. Drawing on untapped primary sources and recent scholarship, Patrick Fuliang Shan offers a lucid, comprehensive, and critical new interpretation of Yuan's part in shaping modern China.