There was some democracy in the late 1800s to early 1900s. But it didn't gel with the Confucian ethos. Stephenson's Diamond Age is actually pretty informative.
The first was a last ditch effort by the Qing dynasty to retain power with the election of powerless feel-good provincial assemblies. Even if they had real authority, which they did not, only half a percent of the populace had franchise. Not a democracy by any means.
The 1912 election was for the Nationalists upon overthrowing the imperial system. However China transitioned into a period of warlord rule immediately and the National Assembly never had any control over anything except in theory on paper until Taiwan transitioned to democracy in the 80’s and 90’s.
