Editing Hundred Days' Reform (section)

==Beginning==
{{See also|Self-Strengthening Movement}}
China embarked on an effort to modernize, the [[Self-Strengthening Movement]], following its defeat in the [[First Opium War|First]] (1839–1842) and [[Second Opium War|Second]] (1856–1860) Opium Wars.<ref>{{Cite book |last=德熙 |first=冷 |title=我们这一个世纪 |publisher=中国财政经济出版社 |year=2001 |isbn=9787500547761 |pages=23 |language=zh |trans-title=This century of ours}}</ref> The effort concentrated on providing the armed forces with modern weapons, rather than reforming governance or society. The limitations of this approach were exposed by the [[First Sino-Japanese War]] (1894–1895) when China was defeated by [[Meiji (era)|Meiji]] [[Japan]], which had undergone comprehensive reforms during the same period. The defeat led to additional [[Unequal treaty|unequal treaties]] as European powers took advantage of China's weakness.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pumin |first=Yin |title=The Defeat That Changed China's History: The First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95 altered China's past and has left the nation in reflection ever since |url=http://www.bjreview.com/quotes/txt/2014-08/18/content_640834.htm |website=Beijing Review |date=18 August 2014 |access-date=3 February 2022}}</ref> As [[Tan Sitong]] (譚嗣同), [[Kang Youwei]] (康有爲), and [[Liang Qichao]] (梁啓超) saw the utter destruction and political problems of China at this time, such as political division, insurrection, opium addiction (due to the [[Opium Wars|opium wars]]) and foreign conflicts. Therefore, they developed influential philosophical systems for creating solutions which enacted political reform and a new Chinese reformist movement.<ref>{{cite thesis |id={{ProQuest|2532030025}} |last1=Monson |first1=Lucien Mathot |date=2021 |title=Learning to Be Human: Ren 仁, Modernity, and the Philosophers of China's Hundred Days' Reform }}{{pn|date=June 2024}}</ref>

Elements of the Qing government were sufficiently alarmed to permit [[Kang Youwei]] and [[Liang Qichao]] to propose reforms to [[Guangxu Emperor|Emperor Guangxu]]; Guangxu agreed.<ref>{{cite book|title=The China Year Book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q31EAQAAMAAJ&q=mohammedan+wei+kuang+tao&pg=PA572|year=1914|publisher=G. Routledge & Sons, Limited|pages=572–}}</ref> Some of Kang's students were also given minor but strategic posts in the capital to assist with the reforms. The goals of these reforms included:

* Abolishing the [[Imperial examination|traditional examination system]]<ref name=":0" />
* Eliminating [[sinecure]]s (positions that provided little or no work but provided a salary)<ref name=":0" />
* Establishing [[Peking University]] as a place where sciences, liberal arts and the Chinese classics would all be available for study<ref name=":0" />
* Establishing [[Agricultural school|agricultural schools]] in all provinces and schools and colleges in all provinces and cities<ref name=":0" />
* Building a modern education system (studying mathematics and science instead of focusing mainly on Confucian texts)
* Encouraging imperial family members to study abroad<ref name=":0" />
* Transitioning to a [[constitutional monarchy]]<ref name=":0" />
* Applying principles of capitalism to strengthen the economy
* Modernizing the military and adopting modern training and drill methods<ref name=":0" />
* Establishing a naval academy<ref name=":0" />
* Utilizing unused military land for farming<ref name=":0" />
* Rapid industrialization through manufacturing, commerce, and capitalism
* Establishing trade schools for the manufacture of silk, tea, and other traditional crafts<ref name=":0" />
* Establishing a bureau for railways and mines<ref name=":0" />

The reformers declared that China needed more than "[[Self-Strengthening Movement|self-strengthening]]" and that innovation must be accompanied by institutional and ideological change.

Opposition to the reforms was intense among the conservative ruling elite who condemned it as too radical and proposed a more moderate and gradualist alternatives.<ref name=":0" /> Conservatives like [[Zaiyi|Prince Duan]] suspected a foreign plot due to the introduction into the Qing government of foreign advisors like Timothy Richards and Ito Hirobumi; Duan wanted to expel foreigners completely from China.<ref name=foreign>{{cite book |last1=Wenguang Shao |title=China's Foreign Policy and Practice: A Survey |date=2022 |publisher=Taylor and Francis |isbn=9781000787474 |chapter=5. The Turn of the Century}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jhuapl.edu/ourwork/nsa/papers/China%20ReliefSm.pdf|title=The China Relief Expedition Joint Coalition Warfare in China Summer 1900|last=Leonhard|first=Robert R.|page=13|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory|access-date=31 October 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206044959/http://www.jhuapl.edu/ourwork/nsa/papers/China%20ReliefSm.pdf|archive-date=6 December 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In addition to the reforms, the reformers plotted to forcefully remove [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] from power.<ref name=":0" /> Tan Sitong asked [[Yuan Shikai]] to kill [[Ronglu]], take control of the garrison at [[Tianjin|Tientsin]], and then march on Beijing and arrest Cixi. However, Yuan had previously promised to support Ronglu; rather than kill him, Yuan informed Ronglu of the plot.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=foreign/>