古德诺与民初宪政问题研究

Frank Johnson Goodnow and the Constitutional Question in Early Republican China

民国初期,在亚洲第一个共和国面临何去何从局面的关键时刻,袁世凯的法律顾问古德诺却极力怂恿他扼杀共和,恢复君主制。古氏之所以直截了当地主张中国放弃共和民主制、恢复君主制,是因为他带着西方人的有色眼镜,以傲慢和偏见来观察中国问题,从而得出中国人民“民智卑下”、没有能力建立民主共和制度的荒谬结论。某些学者对古氏的辩护是站不住脚的。一个国家应当走什么样的道路,应当由这个国家的人民自己来决定,而不应由外人说三道四,指手划脚,甚至越俎代庖。

In the early Republican period, at the key point when China-the first republic in Asia-was facing difficulties choosing its path of development, Yuan Shikai's legal advisor Frank Johnson Goodnow was energetically encouraging him to strangle republicanism and restore the imperial system. The reason why Goodnow bluntly advocated that China give up republicanism and the democratic system and restore the imperial system was that he observed China's problems arrogantly and one-sidedly through a Western lens, and therefore drew the absurd conclusion that the Chinese people were 'not educated' and had no ability to build a democratic republican system. The arguments some scholars have made in defense of Goodnow are insupportable. A country's direction of development should be decided by its people, and foreigners should not make irresponsible remarks and give orders, let alone meddle in the process.