Chu Hung-chi and others have also memorialized us stating that the country is in imminent danger and that the people have lost their faith in the Republic, and asking that we ascend the Throne in obedience to the mandate of Heaven and man.

Li Yuan Hung has also memorialized the throne, returning the great power of State to us in order to benefit the country and save the people.

A persual of the said memorials, which are worded in earnest terms, has filled our heart with regret and fear.  On the one hand We, being yet in Our boyhood, are afraid to assume the great responsibilities for the existence of the country but on the other hand We are unwilling to turn our head away from the welfare of the millions simply because the step might affect Our own safety.

After weighing the two sides and considering the mandates of Heaven and man, we have decided reluctantly to comply with the prayers, and have again occupied the Court to attend to the affairs of State after resuming possession of the great power on the 13th day of the 5th moon of the 9th year of Hsuan Tung.

A new beginning will be made with our people.  Hereafter the principles of morality and the sacred religion shall be our constitution in spirit, and order, righteousness, honesty and conscience will be practised to rebind the minds of the people who are now without bonds.  People high and low will be uniformly treated with sincerity, and will not depend on obedience of law alone as the means of co-operation.  Administration and orders will be based on conscientious realization and no one will be allowed to treat the form of State as material for experiment.  At this time of exhaustion when its vitality is being wasted to the last drop and the existence of the country is hanging in the balance, we, as if treading on thin ice over deep waters, dare not in the slightest degree indulge in license on the principle that the Sovereign is entitled to enjoyment.  It is our wish therefore that all officials, be they high or low, should purify their hearts and cleanse themselves of all forms of old corruption, constantly keeping in mind the real interests of the people.  Every bit of vitality of the people they shall be able to preserve shall go to strengthen the life of the country for whatever it is worth.  Only by doing so can the danger be averted and Heaven moved by our sincerity.

THE NINE ARTICLES

Herewith we promulgate the following principal things, which we must either introduce as reforms or abolish as undesirable in restoration.

1.  We shall obey the edict of Emperor Teh Tsung Chin (Kuang Hsu), namely, that the sovereign power shall be controlled by the Court (state) but the detailed administration shall be subject to public opinion.  The country shall be called The Empire of Ta Ching; and the methods of other constitutional monarchies shall be carefully copied.