Аннотация:In the late Qing era there were essentially three political systems in the world: absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, and republican democracy. Among them, none differed more greatly than the American style of republican democracy and the Chinese style of absolute monarchy. Thus it would be extremely difficult for Chinese people to comprehend the American system. This article tries to tease out the process by which the American democratic system was introduced and explained in late Qing China, especially the concept of "president," and to analyze the misreadings and misunderstandings that this process entailed.
