Where else in the world can you find a country which observes Constitution Day on Christmas? That is the case in the Republic of China, which adopted its Constitution on December 25, 1946, and brought it into effect on December 25, 1947. So although the Republic of China is not a Christian country in the usual sense of the word (most of the people are Buddhists or Taoists), Christmas is a holiday and the Christmas spirit prevails along with acknowledgement of the blessings which constitutional government has brought to Free China.
As in the United States, Christmas decorations come to Taiwan early. Colored lights decorate stores in all the major shopping centers. Furthermore, these and other decorations are not imported. They are made at home in an export decoration business which earns more than US$100 million a year. For some time, Taiwan has been the world's largest exporter of decorative lights (which also are used by devotees of religions other than Christianity).
Christmas programs are held by churches, lodges and other organizations. The Christmas spirit is in the air for orphans, and the familiar Salvation Army kettle awaits the donations of the generous. Christmas cards wend their way through the efficient post office not so much because of any social requirement as because it seems a nice thing to do. Chinese New Year's cards are sent, too, in January or February, depending on the year, but the attraction of Yuletide gaiety seems to have caught on strongly with young people.
The midnight Christmas party (together with its New Year's cousin) has been banned only as a remark of respect to the religious implications of the holidays. Not that anyone objects to a few friends getting together for a little wassail. But commercialized places of entertainment are required to close before 12, as on any other evening. The people of Taiwan are hard-working and many of them are God-fearing, too. They are happy enough to be home and snug in their beds before the witching hour.
Christmas is more for children than grown-ups in Taiwan, as once it was in the United States and Europe. Toys and clothes are given, as is also the case at Chinese New Year's time. Some schools have programs. Santa is present on Christmas cards but missing in department stores. There are plenty of Santa decorations, however, on the fir, hemlock and pine trees that are brought down from the mountains to express the Christmas spirit in both mansions and humble homes.
On the Chinese mainland, two or three churches have been holding Christmas services in recent years. The Communist propagandists have made much of this. They tell foreigners that the people are free to believe in the birthday of Jesus Christ. Actually, this is not so. Religion continues to be regarded as the opiate of the people. Only showplace churches are allowed, and these are basically for foreigners, not Chinese. A Christian outside Peiping or Shanghai has no opportunity to pay homage to the Prince of Peace on Christmas Day.
In the Republic of China, hundreds of Christian churches—both Catholic and Protestant—are open the year round and extend an especially warm welcome at Christmas. Many of the pastors and missionaries who serve them were once stationed on the mainland. Driven out of continental China, often after varying periods in prison, they have come to Taiwan to continue seeking the opportunity to serve their God and win new believers. The Constitution of the Republic of China pledges freedom of religion to the people and the promise has been kept to the letter. Ecumenicalism is the rule for all who believe in a force greater than themselves.
President Chiang Kai-shek was a devoted Christian who read his Bible daily, attended church regularly and often made Testimonials of his belief at Easter time. On April 22, 1962, President Chiang offered one of the most eloquent of these testimonials. He said: "Jesus Christ himself repeatedly made clear to his disciples and followers that 'whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.' He also gave a simple parable to explain what he meant. He said: 'Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.' This gives us increased understanding of the wonders and significance of the Cross and the Resurrection, which have parallels in our anti-Communist struggle for self-deliverance and world salvation.
"It is said in Corinthians II of the New Testament that 'be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what concord hath Christ with Belial?' The lesson of our 40 years of anti-Communist struggle is that any individual, group, race or nation wishing to be 'yoked together' and to coexist peacefully with Communists and Communist regimes will be devoured by the devil. The fact that the Chinese mainland has been shut behind the Iron Curtain and that our compatriots are suffering extreme hardship under the Peiping regime is undeniable evidence of this.
"The history of these 40 years proves that Communism is an organized violent force and planned witchcraft. It intends slavery for freedom-loving people and conquest for the free nations. It symptomizes the destruction of the free people and also imposes a threat to the security and peace of the free world. The Communist bloc chooses to control its people through oppression after oppression, making terror out of terror. Its aggression is endless; it robs and struggles continuously. It is a bloodthirsty creature, an unending new colonialism and the source of aggression and wars. It also contains the seeds of its own destruction. If its aggressions can be stopped, conflicts will at once occur within its own dominions. The more serious the conflict within its domain, the stronger its tendencies toward aggression. 'No existence without struggle' is its motto. Because it wants to force the sins of the minority upon the shoulders of the majority, it would continue its evil conduct until it conquered the whole world, bringing about the demise of mankind in a total holocaust. Therefore the evil actions of Communism amount to internal suppression and external aggression. Communism will never desist from this policy and change its intentions...
"The wonders of the Cross are revealed, step by step, in the course of the anti-Communist struggle of the Republic of China. The evils of Communism which know no limit are spreading and developing, while the salvation of God is boundlessly progressing and expanding. The spread and growth of evil can cause bewilderment among individuals, extinction of nations and even destruction of the world. But the progress and expansion of salvation can remove the illusions of misguided individuals, thus leading to the revival of a nation or the reconstruction of universal peace. In the fierce tides of Communist totalitarianism and aggression, no one man can be saved. Nor can one state or one nation survive. Our country and people have suffered great losses and made great sacrifices. Our struggle for national recovery is the vital hinge on which rest both the peace of the world and the well-being of mankind. This is what the Bible says, 'For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and external weight of glory,' and 'Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.'
The first page of the Constitution states that the Republic shall be based on the Three Principles of the People. (File photo)
"Fellow Christians! We have need of increased awareness and prayer to probe deeper into the wonders of the Cross. The Communist bloc constitutes a diabolical danger. The Communists seek to strengthen and extend the evil grasp of Satan, to destroy the salvation offered by God. They not only reach from beyond Christian churches to inflict violence, but work on the churches internally through psychological infiltration. They manufacture imaginative peaceful coexistence. They support an appeasement policy to foster further aggression. All of these sinister deceptions have been detected in international politics and have been exposed as fraudulent. But Communism has turned to the churches in pursuit of its expansion and conspiracy of control. We must ask ourselves conscientiously: Can believers and nonbelievers work under the same yoke. Is it possible for Jesus to be in concord with Belial? Do we want to serve sin and safeguard our physical lives? Or will we refuse to become moribund servants and gain salvation for eternal life? These are alternatives on which every Christian and every church must make wise decisions.
"St. Paul, in his epistles to the Corinthians, wrote: 'For the preaching of the Cross is to them that perish foolishment; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.' We Christians must be aware that 'without death there can be no life.' And we must perceive the wonder of the words 'Death is swallowed in victory.' From self-salvation, we shall achieve the salvation of the nation. From the salvation of the nation we shall help the advance along the road towards the salvation of all humanity."
President Chiang Kai-shek was not calling for a holy war but a war against the unholy. Since then, the United States and other Christian countries have recognized the Chinese Communists. That is discouraging. Yet in another sense some encouragement is to be found in the new pretense of the Communists that they do not proscribe religion. They are lying and that is not yet widely known. In time the truth will out. As the late President Chiang said, there can be no coexistence between God and the anti-God. The Chinese Communists have been compelled to open phony churches and pretend that the people may go there to worship. There will be services this Christmas for purely cosmetic reasons. It will not be too long before Christians and men of goodwill everywhere come to realize that Chiang Kai-shek was speaking the truth and that the Communists mean to destroy not only Christianity but Islam, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism and any other rival to the secular faith of Marxism.
Many of the Chinese Republic's founding fathers were Christians. Those who were not believed in God and also in the great humanitarianism of Confucius. That is immediately apparent in the Constitution, which opens with these words: "The National Assembly of the Republic of China, by virtue of the mandate received from the whole body of citizens, in accordance with the teachings bequeathed by Dr. Sun Yat-sen in founding the Republic of China, and in order to consolidate the authority of the State, safeguard the rights of the people, ensure social tranquillity and promote the welfare of the people, do hereby establish this Constitution, to be promulgated throughout the country for faithful and perpetual observance by all."
Dr. Sun was a faithful Christian and his Constitution was not only a model of modern organic law but an expression of people who believed in something more than a wholly manmade state. The Constitution does not stipulate any state religion; it guarantees freedom of religious belief for all. The Founding Father is reminiscent of both Washington and Lincoln. He made remarkable contributions stemming from both his mundane and eternal wisdom. Examining the ways of men and their exercise of power, he concluded that political authority could be separated into that of the people and that of the government. The people have authority over the government. This is popular power. The government has the power to administer—to keep the wheels rolling.
As Dr. Sun saw it, the people have political powers of suffrage, recall, initiative and referendum. The government has the administrative powers of the executive, legislature, judiciary and examination and control organs. Democracy can function well only when these powers are properly allocated, as is the case with the Chinese Constitution. The Western powers of executive, legislative and judicial branches are well known. The examination function stemmed from the ancient and deeply embedded concept of choosing the best and most learned men as government administrators. The control function grew out of the Chinese experience of needing a watchdog to keep an eye on the whole structure of government and the relationship between government and people.
Dr. Sun recognized the importance of local and provincial government as well as that at the national level. He thought the line of demarcation should be carefully drawn, and so it has been. Those things that can be best done at the grassroots are left there, Based on Dr, Sun's thinking, especially that expressed in the Three Principles of the People, and on the willingness of people and government to cooperate, the Constitution has worked remarkably well. It survived all assaults of the Communists and has been a firm rod in opposing their attempts to fasten Marxist socialism and ukase on all China.
The road to Chinese constitutionalism was long and arduous. Few people realize that China has the longest continuous record of historical thought in the world. The Greeks were making their contributions about the same time as the early Chinese political thinkers. But the governments of Athens and the other city-states vanished more than 2,000 years ago, What Confucius and Mencius had to say about government has come down to modern times in a long, long stream of history. Much has changed, and China is now a republic rather than a monarchy, but most of the concepts expressed by Confucius are still to be found in Chinese political science and are incorporated in the Constitution.
Modern Chinese constitutional history begins with the government's proclamation of a draft constitution in May of 1936. A constitutional national assembly was to have prepared the final draft. War with Japan intervened in 1937 and continued until 1945. The last step toward constitutional rule had to be delayed. The government called a Political Consultative Conference in January of 1946, All political parties and other interested groups were represented. Agreement was reached on revising the 1936 draft and the convocation of a constitutional national assembly was set for May of 1946. This meeting was repeatedly delayed by the Communist rebellion. Finally, the Constitutional National Assembly opened at Nanking on November 15, 1946, and the Constitution was approved on December 25.
Many provisions of the Constitution are characteristic of the cabinet system of government. The president of the Executive Yuan—or Premier—is nominated and, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan, appointed by the President of the Republic. The Premier must be the leader of the majority in the legislature or someone who can win the support of the majority party. The vice president of the Executive Yuan—or deputy Premier—and the ministers are appointed by the President of the Republic upon the recommendation of the Premier.
The yule tree has become a uniting Christmas symbol. (File photo)
Laws or administrative orders based on presidential decrees require the countersignature of the Premier and on some occasions that of a cabinet minister. The Executive Yuan is responsible to the Legislative Yuan. The Premier must resign or abide by a resolution of the Legislative Yuan, if he is overruled by a two-thirds majority. The Executive Yuan, with the approval of the President of the Republic, may send a bill back to the Legislative Yuan for reconsideration. No member of the Legislative Yuan may hold concurrent posts in other branches of the government. The Legislative Yuan cannot force the Premier to resign by a vote of nonconfidence. At the same time, the Executive Yuan has the power to dissolve the Legislative Yuan. The authority of local governments is clearly separated from that of the central government.
In the experience of 35 years, the Chinese Constitution has functioned very well—almost miraculously so, considering the usurpation of the mainland by the Communists, The Constitution was drawn up for a subcontinent and more than 500 million people. The National Assembly, Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan were elected to represent this vast area and the biggest constituency in the world. How could this big Constitution be made applicable to Taiwan, a land of less than 14,000 square miles with a 1949 population of only around 10 million? How would elections be carried out? How could the interests of Taiwan and its people be kept from submergence in the affairs of institutions which were intended to represent and govern the whole of China?
Chinese political experience and genius were applied once again in the adoption of the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion and the Interpretation of the Total Membership of the National Assembly. The Temporary Provisions were enacted by the National Assembly in 1948 and amended in 1960, 1966 and 1972. The Interpretation was handed down by the Council of Grand Justices in 1960.
These are the highlights of the Temporary Provisions:
—The President of the Republic may by resolution of the Executive Yuan (cabinet) take emergency measures to avert imminent danger to the State or the people or to cope with any serious financial restrictions.
—Emergency measures may be modified or abrogated by the Legislative Yuan.
—The President and Vice President may be re-elected without regard to the two-term limit.
—The President is authorized to establish in accordance with the constitutional system an organ for making major policy decisions concerned with national mobilization and suppression of the Communist rebellion and for assuming administrative control in war zones.
—The President may make adjustments in administrative and personnel organs of the Central Government to meet the requirements of national mobilization and the suppression of the Communist rebellion.
—The President may initiate and promulgate regulations providing for elections to strengthen elective offices of the Central Government level without being subject to constitutional restrictions but with these stipulations: (1) In free areas, additional representatives to Central Government elective offices may be chosen in elections held at an established time. The President may initiate regulations to choose members of the Legislative Yuan and Control Yuan from among Chinese national residing overseas. (2) Representatives chosen originally or selected in subsequent elections to fill vacancies or provide additional representation will continue to hold office. As soon as the mainland is recovered, elections will be held one by one as areas are recovered. (3) Additional representatives shall carry out the same functions as those elected earlier. New members of the National Assembly will serve for six years, those of the Legislative Yuan for three years and those of the Control Yuan for six years.
—The National Assembly may enact measures to initiate principles concerning Central Government laws and submit Central Government laws to referendum without constitutional restriction.
—The President may convoke extraordinary sessions of the National Assembly to discuss initiative and referendum measures.
—The National Assembly shall establish an organ to study constitutional problems.
—Termination of the Period of Communist Rebellion will be declared by the President.
—Amendment or abrogation of the Temporary Provisions will be resolved by the National Assembly.
The Council of Grand Justices held that the total membership of the National Assembly "Shall be counted on the basis of the "number of delegates who are duly elected according to law and able to answer summons to attend the meeting of the Assembly." This made it possible for the National Assembly to continue performing its functions.
All of this means that the Constitution is not only intact but thriving. For the first time in Chinese history it placed Chinese law above men. Its basis is equality for all and service from all. In this sense there is more than a December 25 connection between Christmas and the Chinese Constitution.
Confucius said "Love men." Jesus said "God is love." The two are very close. They are also forerunners of constitutionalism and the practice of democracy. In ancient times, life was cheap. As Thomas Hobbes said, when man lived in the state of nature, there were "No arts, no letters, no society, and which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." This led to man's compact with the ruler, Hobbes said, but he reckoned without the rise of humanitarianism, which has meant so much to China.
Men found love and brotherhood in China as surely as in Bethlehem.
So it is appropriate that the Chinese Constitution and Christmas should complement each other. The December 25 meetings to mark Constitution Day go with the greeting cards, the bright lights and the decorations of Christmas, and with the services held in Christian churches throughout the Republic of China. They go, too, with the Salvation Army pots and dinners for the not-so-well-off. If the Republic of China has fewer needy today, it is because of the Constitution and its effect upon men and their institutions.
Americans understand this more than many other foreigners, because the United States is also a constitutional land. After 205 years, the constitution is unquestionably the strongest part of the American framework. It prevailed in the dark days of the Civil War and helped the United States weather the travail of Watergate.
But not many Americans think of their constitution on Christmas Day. In this the Free Chinese are more fortunate. They do not have a Christmas in the formal sense; it is not a national holiday, just an occasion observed by Christians and people who like the spirit of giving and loving others. But all Chinese of the Republic of China (and many of those shut behind the Iron Curtain) mark Constitution Day. When all is said and done, December 25 has two significances and one meaning. Constitution Day is Christmas and Christmas is Constitution Day, and what is the difference?