thanks for your scrutiny

1. I wouldn't think those minor attempts would count. The system was forever dead. Manchuria was really not an empire but an agent of the Japanese occupation. Puyi could have been called a president. But he liked the title of "emperor".

2. I was referring to the old Chinese systems. Basically when they adopted new systems, they threw away everything. I agree with you that scholars thought about the British system. But in the end, the overall change was a revolution.

3.The word "suddenly" here was intended to capture the feelings of realizing the dreams of those who strived for it. I didn't mean that the whole struggle happened overnight. Many people spend a long time strive to achieve for something, and when they finally get what they wanted, they still feel that they are ill prepared for it. The ideology of the CCP really changed from time to time, as evidenced by the many purges that the leaders conducted before they took power and after they took power. They've always sticked to the overall idea of communism. But they all had different ideas about how to implement them in China.  

4.Sorry. This wasn't clear. I was referring to the Nationalist's adoption of the American system and the Communist's adoption of Marxism. The goal of the rebels was to seize power and if the Nationalist's adopted Marxism, there is no doubt that the rebels would have adopted Captalism. The methods and routes of seizing power could be different but the goal was the same. Once they took power, they were free to do anything to interpret any ideology, as long as it suited their purpose.

Overall, what I view is that the rulers have been very pragmatic. They don't really care what they are called and they don't have a long term vision. They only care about holding on to power for as long as possible. The older generations were a little different, they had a vision, which was to build an empire, although many people didn't fully understand that vision.