National Assembly (Beiyang government)
National Assembly 國會 | |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Houses | Senate House of Representative |
| History | |
| Founded | 8 April 1913 |
| Disbanded | 1 July 1925 |
| Preceded by | Provisional Senate (1913) |
| Succeeded by | Legislative Yuan (1928) National Assembly (1947) |
| Structure | |
| Seats | Senate: 274 House of Representative: 596 Senate: 168 House of Representative: 406 |
Length of term | Senate: 6 years House of Representative: 3 years |
| Elections | |
First general election | December 1912–January 1913 |
Last general election | May–June 1918 |
| Meeting place | |
| National Assembly Building, Peking | |
| Constitution | |
| Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China | |
| National Assembly | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 國會 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 国会 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The National Assembly (Chinese: 國會) was the legislative branch of the Beiyang government during the Republican era of Chinese history. The National Assembly was first founded in 1913, following the overthrow of the previous Qing dynasty, as the first free democratic legislature in Chinese history. It was disbanded less than a year later as President Yuan Shikai assumed dictatorial power and declared himself the Emperor of China. During the Warlord Era, the National Assembly was resurrected and disbanded more than once as different warlords vied for power and legitimacy.
In 1925, the National Assembly, was dissolved by Duan Qirui as a result of the 1924 Beijing Coup and replaced by the Provisional Government led by Duan, Feng Yuxiang, responsible for the coup and Manchurian warlord Zhang Zuolin. The Beiyang Government ceased to exist in 1928 as a result of the success of Chiang Kai-Shek's Northern Expedition, replacing it by the Nationalist Government.