Editing Hundred Days' Reform

{{Short description|1898 failed reform movement in late Qing dynasty China}}{{Chinese|s=戊戌变法|t=戊戌變法|l=Wuxu (year) reform|p=wùxū biànfǎ|s2=百日维新|t2=百日維新|p2=bǎirì wéixīn|l2=Hundred Days' Reform}}

The '''Hundred Days' Reform''' or '''Wuxu Reform''' ({{zh|s=戊戌变法|t=戊戌變法|p=Wùxū Biànfǎ|l=Reform of the Wuxu year|first=t}}) was a failed 103-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement that occurred from 11 June to 22 September 1898 during the late [[Qing dynasty]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=The Far East since 1500|last=Eckel|first=Paul E.|publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Company|year=1948|location=New York|pages=278–280}}</ref> It was undertaken by the young [[Guangxu Emperor]] and his reform-minded supporters. Following the issuing of the reformative edicts, a ''[[coup d'état]]'' ('''Wuxu Coup''') was perpetrated by powerful conservative opponents led by [[Empress Dowager Cixi]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Revisionism Reconsidered: Kang Youwei and the Reform Movement of 1898|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|volume=51|issue=3|pages=513–544|jstor=2057948|last1=Wong|first1=Young-Tsu|year=1992|doi=10.2307/2057948|s2cid=154815023 }}</ref> While Empress Dowager Cixi supported the principles of the Hundred Days' Reform, she feared that sudden implementation, without bureaucratic support, would be disruptive and that the Japanese and other foreign powers would take advantage of any weakness.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Empress Dowager Cixi: A Pocket Book|last = Lu|first = Ji|publisher = DeepLogic}}</ref> She later backed the [[late Qing reforms]] after the invasions of the [[Eight-Nation Alliance]].

==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/>

==End==
With the support of the conservatives and the armed forces commanded by Yuan and Ronglu, Cixi launched a ''[[coup d'état]]'' on September 22, 1898, and took over the government.<ref name=":0" /> Guangxu was put under [[house arrest]] on the [[Zhongnanhai|Yingtai Island]] until his death in 1908.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The poisoned palace - mystery of last emperor's death |url=https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2008-11/21/content_7226663.htm |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=www.chinadaily.com.cn}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Troubled Times at the Beginning of the Century (2) The Dark Political Situation |url=https://www.cctv.com/english/tc/sanji/tc02.html |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=www.cctv.com}}</ref>

The reforms were reversed and their chief advocates – the "[[Six gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform|Six Gentlemen of Wuxu]]" (戊戌六君子): [[Tan Sitong]], Kang Guangren (Kang Youwei's brother), [[Lin Xu]], Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, and [[Liu Guangdi]] – were ordered to be executed. Reforms such as the abolishing of the old writing style was put back into mandate, the removal of offices and agencies were reinstituted, and the establishment of certain newspapers, civil societies and schools were all suspended.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Xiaoye |first=Jia |date=June 2020 |title=Kang Youwei's propaganda adjustments after the Hundred Days Reform, 1898–1900 |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/17535654.2020.1763667 |journal= Journal of Modern Chinese History|volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=48–49 |doi=10.1080/17535654.2020.1763667 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The two principal leaders, [[Kang Youwei]] and his student [[Liang Qichao]], fled to Japan to seek refuge where they founded [[Baohuang Hui]] (Protect the Emperor Society) and worked, unsuccessfully, for a constitutional monarchy in China. Tan Sitong refused to flee and was executed. An alternative view is that Liang and Kang had a different objective for leaving for Japan which is to not only justify fleeing China but to also solicit intervention by foreign powers like Britain or Japan to rescue Emperor Guangxu.<ref name=":1" />

During the Hundred Days' Reform, generals [[Dong Fuxiang]], [[Ma Anliang]], and [[Ma Haiyan]] were called to Beijing and helped put an end to the movement along with [[Ma Fulu]] and [[Ma Fuxiang]]. Dong Fuxiang and the Muslim Gansu Army stationed in Beijing during the Hundred Days' Reform later participated in the [[Boxer Rebellion]] and became known as the [[Kansu Braves]].

==Aftermath==
The [[late Qing reforms]] attempted in the years following the Hundred Days included the abolition of the [[Imperial examination]] in 1905, educational and military modernization patterned after the model of Japan, and experiments in constitutional and parliamentary government.{{cn|date=December 2024}} The ultimate failure of these reforms gave impetus to [[revolution]]ary forces within the country. Changes within the establishment were seen to be largely hopeless, and the overthrow of the Qing increasingly appeared to be the only way to save China. Despite the [[late Qing reforms]] of the early 1900s, such [[Anti-Qing sentiment|sentiments]] directly contributed to the success of the [[Xinhai Revolution]] in 1911.

[[Leo Tolstoy]] corresponded with [[Gu Hongming]] on the Hundred Day's Reform and agreed that the reform movement was ill-advised.<ref name="Lee2005">{{cite book|first=Khoon Choy |last=Lee|title=Pioneers of Modern China: Understanding the Inscrutable Chinese|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1jlOQc8BumIC&q=Tolstoy+boxers&pg=PA10|year= 2005|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-256-618-8|pages=10–}}</ref> The reformist Kang Party, formed by students of Kang and Liang, was one of the most alarming groups in the eyes of court conservatives at this time.<ref name=":1" />

==Differing interpretations==
Views of the Hundred Days' Reform have grown increasingly more complex and nuanced. The traditional view<ref>See, for instance, {{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276504/Hundred-Days-of-Reform|title=Hundred Days of Reform|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=12 November 2011}}</ref> portrayed the reformers as heroes and the conservative elites, particularly the [[Empress Dowager Cixi]], as villains unwilling to reform because of their selfish interests.

===Failure as Kang's responsibility===
However, some historians in the late 20th century have taken views that are more favorable to the conservatives and less favorable to the reformers. In this view, [[Kang Youwei]] and his allies were hopeless dreamers unaware of the political realities in which they operated. This view argues that the conservative elites were not opposed to change and that practically all of the reforms that were proposed were eventually implemented.

For example, [[Sterling Seagrave]], in his book "The Dragon Lady", argues that there were several reasons why the reforms failed. Chinese political power at the time was firmly in the hands of the ruling Manchu nobility. The highly xenophobic [[iron hats]] faction dominated the [[Grand Council (Qing dynasty)|Grand Council]] and were seeking ways to expel all Western influence from China. When implementing reform, the [[Guangxu Emperor]] by-passed the Grand Council and appointed four reformers to advise him. These reformers were chosen after a series of interviews, including the interview of [[Kang Youwei]], who was rejected by the Emperor and had far less influence than Kang's later boasting would indicate. At the suggestion of the reform advisors, the [[Guangxu Emperor]] also held secret talks with former Japanese Prime Minister [[Itō Hirobumi]] with the aim of using his experience in the [[Meiji Restoration]] to lead China through similar reforms.

It has also been suggested, controversially, that [[Kang Youwei]] actually did a great deal of harm to the cause by his perceived arrogance in the eyes of the conservatives. Numerous rumors regarding potential repercussions, many of them false, had made their way to the Grand Council; this was one of the factors in their decision to stage a coup against the Emperor. Kang, like many of the reformers, grossly underestimated the reactionary nature of the vested interests involved.

The Emperor set about to enact his reforms by largely bypassing the powerful Grand Council; said councilors, irritated at the Emperor's actions and fearful of losing the political power they had, then turned to the [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] to remove the emperor from power. Many, though not all, of the reforms came to naught. The council, now confident in their power, pushed for the execution of the reformers, an action that was carried out ruthlessly.

===Richard's federation theory===
According to Professor Lei Chia-sheng (雷家聖),<ref>Lei Chia-sheng雷家聖, ''Liwan kuanglan: Wuxu zhengbian xintan'' 力挽狂瀾：戊戌政變新探 [Containing the furious waves: a new view of the 1898 coup], Taipei: Wanjuan Lou 萬卷樓, 2004.</ref> Japanese former prime minister [[Itō Hirobumi]] (伊藤博文) arrived in China on September 11, 1898, about the same time that Kang Youwei invited British missionary [[Timothy Richard]] to Beijing. Richard suggested that China appoint Itō as one of many foreign advisors in order to further push China's reform efforts.<ref name="Richard1916">Richard, Timothy, [https://archive.org/details/fourtyfiveyears00richuoft ''Forty-five Years in China: Reminiscences''] publ. [[Frederick A. Stokes]] (1916)</ref> On September 18, Richard successfully convinced Kang to adopt his plan in which China would join a federation (合邦) of ten nations.

Kang nonetheless asked fellow reformers Yang Shenxiu (楊深秀) and Song Bolu (宋伯魯) to report this plan to the Guangxu Emperor.<ref>Kang Youwei 康有為, ''Kang Nanhai ziding nianpu'' 康南海自訂年譜 [Chronicle of Kang Youwei's Life, by Kang Youwei], Taipei: Wenhai chubanshe 文海出版社, p. 67.</ref> On September 20, Yang sent a [[Official Communications of the Chinese Empire#Memorials|memorial]] to the emperor to that effect.<ref>Yang Shenxiu, "Shandong dao jiancha yushi Yang Shenxiu zhe" 山東道監察御史楊深秀摺 [Palace memorial by Yang Shenxiu, Investigating Censor of Shandong Circuit], in ''Wuxu bianfa dang'an shiliao'' 戊戌變法檔案史料 [Archival sources on the history of the 1898 reforms], Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1959, p. 15.「臣尤伏願我皇上早定大計，固結英、美、日本三國，勿嫌『合邦』之名之不美。」</ref> In another memorial to the Emperor written the next day, Song advocated the formation of a federation and the sharing of the diplomatic, fiscal, and military powers of the four countries<!--Which countries? Please name them in the text of the article.--> under a hundred-man committee.<ref>Song Bolu, "Zhang Shandong dao jiancha yushi Song Bolu zhe" 掌山東道監察御史宋伯魯摺 [Palace memorial by Song Bolu, Investigating Censor in charge of the Shandong Circuit], in ''Wuxu bianfa dang'an shiliao'', p. 170.「渠(李提摩太)之來也，擬聯合中國、日本、美國及英國為合邦，共選通達時務、曉暢各國掌故者百人，專理四國兵政稅則及一切外交等事。」</ref> Lei Chia-sheng argues that this idea was the reason why Cixi, who had just returned from the Summer Palace on September 19, decided to put an end to the reforms with the September 21 coup.

On October 13, following the coup, British ambassador [[Claude Maxwell MacDonald|Claude MacDonald]] reported to his government that Chinese reforms had been "much injured" by Kang and his friends' actions.<ref>''Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of China, Presented to Both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty'' (London, 1899.3), No. 401, p. 303.</ref> However, the British and American governments had been largely unaware of the "federation" plot, which appears to have been Richard's own personal idea. The Japanese government might have been aware of Richard's plan, since his accomplice was the former Japanese prime minister, but there is no evidence to this effect yet.

==See also==
* [[History of China]]
* [[Qing dynasty]]
* [[Late Qing reforms]]
* [[Economy of China]]
* [[Economic history of China before 1912]]
* [[Economic history of China (1912–1949)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |doi=10.1017/CHOL9780521220293.006 |chapter=Intellectual change and the reform movement, 1890–8 |title=The Cambridge History of China |date=1980 |last1=Chang |first1=Hao |pages=274–338 |isbn=978-1-139-05478-2 }}
* Hsü,  Immanuel C. ''The Rise of Modern China'' (6th edn, Oxford University Press 1999) pp 408–418.
* {{cite journal |last1=Hua |first1=Shiping |title=The Meiji Restoration (1868) and the Late Qing Reform (1898) revisited: Strategies and philosophies |journal=East Asia |date=September 2004 |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=3–22 |doi=10.1007/s12140-004-0020-0 }}
*  Karl, Rebecca E. and Peter Gue Zarrow, eds., ''Rethinking the 1898 Reform Period: Political and Cultural Change in Late Qing China''. (Harvard UP,  2002). {{ISBN|0-674-00854-5}}.
* Kwong, Luke S. K. ''A Mosaic of the Hundred Days: Personalities, Politics, and Ideas of 1898''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1984. {{ISBN|0-674-58742-1}}.
* {{cite journal |last1=Kwong |first1=Luke S. K. |title=Chinese Politics at the Crossroads: Reflections on the Hundred Days Reform of 1898 |journal=Modern Asian Studies |date=2000 |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=663–695 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X00003814 |jstor=313144 }}
* {{cite thesis |last1=Li |first1=ZongFang |title=China's Alternative: Kang Youwei's Confucian Reforms in the Late Qing Dynasty |date=May 2018 |hdl=10267/33646 |s2cid=198926006 |url=https://www.rhodes.edu/sites/default/files/ZongFang%20Li-%20Honors%20Thesis.pdf }}
* Shan, Patrick Fuliang (2018). ''Yuan Shikai: A Reappraisal'', The University of British Columbia Press. {{ISBN|9780774837781}}.
* Lei Chia-sheng 雷家聖 (2004). ''Liwan kuanglan: Wuxu zhengbian xintan'' 力挽狂瀾：戊戌政變新探 [Containing the furious waves: a new view of the 1898 coup]. Taipei: Wanjuan lou 萬卷樓. {{ISBN|957-739-507-4}}.

{{Qing dynasty topics}}
{{Hundred Days' Reform}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Boxer Rebellion]]
[[Category:Economic history of China]]
[[Category:1911 Revolution]]
[[Category:1898 in China]]
[[Category:Reform in China]]