Provisional Government of the Republic of China (1912)

The Provisional Government of the Republic of China (中華民國臨時政府, pinyin: Zhōnghuá Mínguó Línshí Zhèngfǔ) was a provisional government established during the Xinhai Revolution by the revolutionaries in 1912. After the success of the Wuchang uprising, revolutionary provincial assembly representatives held a conference in Wuchang, China, which framed the organizational outline of the Provisional Government.

In November 1911 the revolutionary group in Wuchang led by Li Yuanhong came together with the revolutionary group in Shanghai led by Chen Qimei and Cheng Dequan (程德全) to prepare for the establishment of a new central government. The group in Wuchang wanted to establish a government in Wuchang, while the group in Shanghai wanted a government in Shanghai. By November 20 the two groups compromised and recognized Hubei as the central government and proposed everyone go to Wuchang. By November 28, Hankou and Hanyang had fallen back to the Qing, so for safety the revolutionaries convened their first conference at the British concession in Hankou on November 30. Tan Renfeng (譚人鳳) was the chairman of the session. Twenty-three representatives from the 11 provinces participated. The representatives decided to frame the organizational outline of the Provisional Government, and they elected Lei Fen (雷奮), Ma Junwu, and Wang Zhengting (王正廷) to prepare the draft.

Because on December 2 the revolutionary forces were able to capture Nanking in the uprising, the revolutionaries decided to make it the site of the new provisional government.The conference passed the outline the very next day, which consisted three chapters and twenty-one clauses. It also confirmed that the new government would be a republic. It was announced that the provincial representatives would meet in Nanking in seven days to elect a provisional government.

Instead of attending Nanking's assembly, Song Jiaoren and Chen Qimei gathered the provincial representatives in Shanghai and held an assembly on December 4. On December 25, Sun Yat-sen, accompanied by general Homer Lea, his closest foreign adviser returned to Shanghai. On December 29, the presidential election was held in Nanking. According to the first article of the "Provisional Government Organization Outline", the Provisional President was to be elected by representatives from the provinces of China; the candidate who received more than 2/3 of the votes would be elected. Each province was entitled to one vote only. 45 representatives from seventeen provinces participated in this election, and Sun Yat-sen received 16 valid votes out of 17.

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