On February 12, 1912, after being persuaded and pressured by Yuan Shikai and other ministers, Emperor Puyi (age 6) and Empress Longyu accepted the terms for the Imperial family's abdication, issuing an imperial edict announcing the abdication of Xuantong. Yuan Shikai was authorized by the Qing court to arrange a provisional republican government.
This imperial edict of abdication was drafted by Zhang Jian, and was approved by the Provisional senate. But in the edict, the text "immediate authorization for Yuan Shikai to arrange Provisional republican government" was added by the subordinates of Yuan. From this point on, the Republic of China officially began and replaced the Qing Dynasty, which had reigned China for 268 years.
Yuan Shikai appointed the Provisional president
The Provisional senate selected Yuan as the Provisional president after the emperor's abdication. On 10 March 1912, Yuan Shikai was sworn in as the second Provisional president of the Republic of China in Peking. Sun Yat-sen visited the senate on April 1 and announced the removal of his Provisional president status. Yuan Shikai used a mutiny in Peking as an excuse to move the capital of Republic of China from Nanking back to Peking.
