Generally referred to as the Six Gentlemen of 1898, it refers to the six main participants who were killed by the Empress Dowager Cixi due to the failure of the 1898 Reform in the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1898, the year of 1898 on the lunar calendar). They are Tan Sitong, Lin Xu, Yang Rui, Yang Shenxiu, Liu Guangdi, and Kang Guangren.

But there is also a saying that they are the Four Gentlemen of 1898, which refers to the Emperor Guangxu who promulgated the edict "Ming Determining the State" on June 11, 1898, under the promotion and planning of the reformists, announcing the beginning of the reform. The representative figure Kang Youwei , Liang Qichao, Tan Sitong, Yan Fu.