Yesterday’s Proposal to Convene a Great Assembly of the People’s Constitutional Convention[1]

(October 9, 1920)

At nine o’clock yesterday morning, the proposers from various circles of the motion “That the Hunan Revolutionary Government Convene a Hunan People’s Constitutional Convention” held a general assembly at the venue of the Provincial Education Association to discuss methods of proceeding and to vote on the key points of the electoral law and the organizational law.[2] There were very many attendees. First, Mr. Long Jiangong reported on the purpose of the meeting. He stated briefly that the majority of those present today were individuals who had previously signed, with very few additional signatories. The purpose

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[1] This text is part of the news article “Yesterday’s Proposal to Convene a Great Assembly of the People’s Constitutional Convention,” published in the Hunan *Dagong Bao* on October 9, 1920. On October 5 and 7, 1920, two meetings were held in Changsha to discuss methods for carrying out Hunan’s self-government. The October 5 meeting, initiated by Liu Shoukang, was attended by over ten individuals from various circles in Changsha. Liu “advocated that the entire motion be initiated by the people and the constitution be made by the people.” Long Jiangong and Mao Zedong, who attended the meeting, spoke successively, expressing that they “concurred with Mr. Liu’s intent,” believing Liu’s opinion to be “theoretically perfect, though perhaps impracticable in reality. Now that Hunan faces this fleeting opportunity, the self-government constitution should be established in the shortest possible time. As proposed by Mr. Liu, though the intent is good, the procedures are too cumbersome, requiring no less than a year to complete, and would also entail a huge expense with no one to bear it. It would be better to have the Hunan Revolutionary Government convene a constitutional convention, which is both theoretically sound and practically feasible. On our part, if we focus on drafting the organizational law at the outset and ratifying the constitution at the end, we can achieve a perfect objective.” The October 7 meeting was held at the Student Union premises, attended by over 60 representatives from various circles. The meeting “first heard a report by Peng Huang,” followed by “successive speeches by Chen Jiana, Tan Xinyi, Mao Zedong, Yang Jisun, Long Jiangong, and others.” The meeting focused on discussing matters related to holding a citizens’ parade on “Double Tenth Day” and petitioning the provincial government to convene a people’s constitutional convention. The meeting also discussed the key points of the organizational law and electoral law for the constitutional convention to be drafted and submitted to the provincial government for promulgation and implementation.

[2] Refers to “Key Points of the Electoral Law for the Hunan People’s Constitutional Convention” and “Key Points of the Organizational Law for the Hunan People’s Constitutional Convention.”

can be explained simply, as the majority already understood it. The original proposers of this motion were Mr. Mao Zedong, Mr. Peng Huang, and myself. Now that this motion has been proposed with the consent of over four hundred people, we urgently need to discuss how to proceed with campaigning before both society and the government. However, the most crucial point today is to affirm that the Revolutionary Government shall convene the People’s Constitutional Convention, yet we must provide the Revolutionary Government with concrete methods. Therefore, several key points each for the electoral law and the organizational law have been drafted and are submitted for public vote, so as to facilitate progress. Afterwards, we shall elect representatives to present the petition and engage with the Revolutionary Government, or the entire assembly may petition, to be decided later by public vote. But our greatest purpose is to proceed step by step and to conclude step by step. I hope everyone will express their opinions on the above items, and so on. Next, Mr. Mao Zedong was publicly elected as chairman. He stated briefly that the most important matters to be resolved today are the formulation of methods for proceeding and the voting on the key points of the electoral law and the organizational law. He also stated that the Hunan self-government proposal was originally initiated by the Hunan government, but was limited to joint constitution-making by the provincial government and the provincial assembly, which in reality bore a monopolistic nature and was theoretically quite untenable; thus, the provincial assembly also recognized the difficulties and retreated. However, on the issue of Hunan self-government, it can be said that both the government and the people have unanimously expressed their approval. Therefore, we have put forward this motion, for it is both practically feasible and theoretically sound. Yet, the proceedings must be most swift and cannot be excessively delayed. Now, I first invite all gentlemen present to express their views on the methods of proceeding, and so on.