Both within and beyond China, contemporary reflections on the end of two millennia of imperial rule in China frequently focus upon the failure of the new republic to form a strong state and an effective parliamentary form of representative government. For many the agenda for political change in China today is traced back to unfulfilled opportunities in the past. This presentation suggests another set of perspectives that asks what political challenges were met in order to create a state ruling almost all the territory of the former empire, a transition unusual if not unique in the world history of empires, and how the manner in which those challenges were met influences the kinds of problems and possibilities China faces a century after the end of the last dynasty.