Hundred Days' Reform

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The Hundred Days' Reform (Chinese: 戊戌变法, wùxū biànfǎ, or 百日維新, bǎirì wéixīn) was a 103-day reform from 11 June to 21 September 1898. The Qing emperor of China, Guangxu (1875–1908), ordered a series of reforms aimed at making sweeping social and institutional changes. This was in response to weaknesses exposed by China's defeat by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894-5, not long after the Opium Wars: this blow came as a major shock to the Chinese, because Japan used to be a tributary state, was much smaller than China, and was regarded as inferior. The conservatives were unable to use old excuses anymore.

With the help of certain senior officials of the Qing court, who were supporters of reform, Kang Youwei was allowed to speak to the Emperor, and his suggestions were enacted. There were three essential preconditions of reform:

Modernizing the traditional exam system

Elimination of sinecures (positions that provide little or no work but gives a salary)

Creation of a modern education system (studying math and science instead of focusing mainly on Confucianist texts etc.)

The reformers declared that China needed more than "self-strengthening" and that innovation must be accompanied by institutional and ideological change.

1 Reforms
2 End
3 Aftermath
4 Historical views
5 See also
6 Reference

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Reforms

The imperial edicts for reform covered a broad range of subjects, including stamping out corruption and remaking, among other things, the academic and civil service examination systems, legal system, governmental structure, defense establishment, and postal services. The edicts attempted to modernize agriculture, medicine, and mining and to promote practical studies instead of Neo-Confucian orthodoxy. The court also planned to send students abroad for firsthand observation and technical studies. All these changes were to be brought about under a de facto constitutional monarchy.

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End

Opposition to the reform was intense among the conservative ruling elite, especially the Manchus, who, condemning the announced reform as too radical, proposed instead a more moderate and gradualist course of change. Supported by ultraconservatives and having the tacit support of the political opportunist Yuan Shikai, Empress Dowager Cixi engineered a coup d'état on September 21, 1898, forcing the young, reform-minded Guangxu into seclusion. Cixi then took over the government as regent. The Hundred Days' Reform ended with the rescinding of the new edicts and the execution of six of the reform's chief advocates, together known as the "Six Gentlemen" (戊戌六君子): Tan Sitong, Kang Guangren, Lin Xu, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui and Liu Guangdi. The two principal leaders, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, fled abroad to found the Baohuang Hui (Protect the Emperor Society) and to work, unsuccessfully, for a constitutional monarchy in China. Another leader of the revolution, Tan Sitong, refused to flee and was arrested and executed .

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Aftermath

In the decade that followed, the court belatedly put into effect some reform measures. These included the abolition of the moribund Confucian-based examination, educational and military modernization patterned after the model of Japan, and an experiment in constitutional and parliamentary government. The suddenness and ambitiousness of the reform effort actually hindered its success. One effect, to be felt for decades to come, was the establishment of the New Army, which, in turn, gave rise to warlordism.

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Historical views

Views of the Hundred Days' Reform have grown increasingly more complex and nuanced. The traditional view portrayed the reformers as heroes and the conservative elites, particularly the Empress Dowager Cixi as villains unwilling to reform because of their selfish interests.

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.

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