The 1898 Hundred Days' Reform promoted measures concerning education, official institutions, and the economy, but ended quickly amid political conflict. The reforms were not fully implemented as planned, although some issues developed further later. Studying the period requires distinguishing decrees, their implementation, and subsequent effects.
Historical background
The Hundred Days' Reform or Wuxu Reform was a short-lived national, cultural, political and educational reform movement in the Qing Empire, from June 11 to September 21, 1898. It sought to modernize China's institutions during a time of increasing foreign intervention in China following the country's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895). Although brief, the movement introduced new political concepts of nationhood and sovereignty, inspiring many of the subsequent "New Policies" reforms launched after 1901.
Initiated by the Guangxu Emperor, it was led by reform-minded scholars, including Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. Over a period of roughly 100 days, the Guangxu Emperor enacted a series of imperial edicts with various goals in mind. These mandates aimed to restructure government organization, reform the civil service examination system, modernize the army, promote industrial and education progress, and adopt elements of constitutional governance.
Some of these measures were implemented, such as the establishment of the Imperial University of Peking (now Peking University). However, most faced resistance from conservative factions. While Empress Dowager Cixi supported principles of the 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.
Background
Following its defeat in the First (1839–1842) and Second (1856–1860) Opium Wars, China embarked on an effort to modernize which became the Self-Strengthening Movement. Military modernization was a high priority from the beginning of the movement, concentrating more on providing the armed forces with modern weapons than reforming governance or society. Following the Taiping Rebellion in 1850, Empress Dowager Cixi conducted a series of reforms that led to a brief period of time, known as the Tongzhi Restoration, which sought to modernize China using imported Western machinery and weaponry.
Several western supporting individuals, such as Li Hongzhang, wanted to create a modernized military that incorporated western innovations with China. He, as well as a majority, believed that through western influence, China could strengthen its economy and protect itself on a global stage. At the same time, the British military had flintlocks, caplocks, breech-loading rifled artillery, while the Qing had matchlock muskets which had far less rounds and lower accuracy. These differences motivated China to purchase and employ western weaponry.
Reformer proposals
The limitations of the Self-Strengthening Movement's emphasis on military and technological projects without fundamental institutional reform were exposed by the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) in which Qing China was defeated by Meiji Japan, a state that had undergone more comprehensive reforms during the same period. The defeat led to additional unequal treaties as European powers took advantage of China's weakness. Specifically, the Treaty of Shimonoseki forced China to recognize Korean independence, cede Taiwan and the Liaodong Peninsula, in addition to paying a large indemnity. The defeat was viewed by Chinese elites as clear evidence of the Self-Strengthening Movement's failure as well as a signal that institutional and constitutional change were required.
Against this backdrop, reformist thinkers such as Tan Sitong, Kang Youwei, and Liang Qichao responded to what they perceived as China's deep crisis, including political division, insurrection, opium addiction (due to the opium wars) and growing foreign conflicts, by developing influential philosophical systems. These mechanisms, including memorials to the throne, the organization of reform and "study" societies, as well as widely circulated political essays aimed at creating solutions which enacted political reform and a new Chinese reformist movement.
Cixi ends the program
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. Guangxu was put under house arrest on the Yingtai Island until his death in 1908.
The reforms were reversed and their chief advocates – the "Six Gentlemen of Wuxu": 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. 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.