Towards the Republic. English Captions and Annotations. Episode 52

(1) The term in Chinese for republicanism (共和), like many translations of modern western concepts, is rooted on Chinese classical texts (and oftentimes, these translations were first invented by the Japanese, using the same Kanji from the same texts). In this case, the term Gong He derives from the Gonghe Regency, a period in the 9th century BC when nobles ruled in the stead of the king of Zhou dynasty. In this sense, it might be claimed that republicanism is a return to an ancient historical precedent, though there was absolutely no true republicanism recorded in ancient China.

(2) This is a reference to many Chinese operas centered around 托孤, a dying ruler entrusting their child successor with regents, who may then either serve the role honorably or attempt to usurp. For the former, the most famous example is of Liu Shan and Zhuge Liang. The latter can be found within Qing dynasty with Emperor Shunzhi and Dorgon, or Emperor Kangxi and Oboi, or Emperor Tongzhi and Sushun. There is no shortage of examples from recent history of officials abusing the vulnerability of a young liege, in the vein of Yuan Shikai.

(3) During the period of the provisional governments, the Republic of China had a bicameral parliament, with a senate and a house of representatives modeled after the United States.