清末五大臣出洋考察是近代中国走向世界、迎纳 宪政文明的重要步骤，展示出清政府在宪政思潮日益 浓厚的时代背景下顺应历史潮流、试图通过政体革新 应对内忧外患的主动性。考察团主要使命是考察欧美 以及日本的宪政制度，为清政府能否乃至如何推行宪 政改革提供决策依据。经过比较，考察团得出师法日 本二元制君主立宪制的结论，推动清政府将宪政改革 确立为基本国策。(The five commissioners investigating abroad in the late Qing Dynasty is a critical step to going global and usher in constitutional civilization, displaying the Qing government's initiative in coping with domestic trouble and foreign invasion, by following the historical trend and trying to make innovation of form of government in an era of increasingly accumulated constitutionism. The delegation was mainly to investigate the constitutionalism of Europe and Japan so as to help the Qing government decide on the feasibility and way of constitutional reformation in China. By comparison, the delegation finally decided on learning the binary system of constitutional monarchy from Japan, and assisted the Qing government in making the constitutional reform the basic state policy.)