The Reform Movement of 1898:

The reformers relied too much on the Guangxu Emperor who had no real power and failed. On January 29, 1898, Kang Youwei submitted a letter titled "Ying Zhao Coordinating the Overall Situation" (the sixth petition), requesting Emperor Guangxu to implement reforms. He pointed out that "if you can change, you will be whole; if you don't change, you will perish; if you change everything, you will be strong; if you make small changes, you will still perish." ". Kang Youwei's letter was affirmed by Emperor Guangxu.

In April 1898, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao initiated the establishment of the Baoguo Association in Beijing. On June 11, Emperor Guangxu promulgated the edict "Ming Guo Shi", and the reform officially began. By September 21, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup, which lasted 103 days and was known as the "Hundred Days Reform" in history. Reformers such as Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Tan Si pinned their hopes on Emperor Guangxu to advocate learning from the West, promoting science and culture, reforming the political and educational systems, and developing agriculture, industry, and commerce.

However, the die-hards headed by the Empress Dowager Cixi blocked the reform in every possible way from the beginning and prepared to launch a coup. Emperor Guangxu tried to resist. On September 5, Emperor Guangxu specially gave Tan Sitong, Liu Guangdi, Yang Rui, and Lin Xu the rank of fourth-rank ministers and served as military commanders to step up the implementation of the reform. On September 15, Guangxu summoned Yang Rui and issued a secret edict, requiring Yang Rui to discuss with Lin Xu, Tan Sitong, Liu Guangdi and others as soon as possible.

In the middle of the night on September 18, Tan Sitong went to Yuan Shikai's residence alone and persuaded Yuan to lead troops into Beijing to kill the die-hard Ronglu. Yuan Shikai expressed his "loyalty" to Emperor Guangxu in person, and at the same time, on the pretext that he had to return to Tianjin immediately for deployment, he rushed back to Tianjin on the evening of the 20th, reported to Ronglu, and planned to suppress the reformists.

On September 21, Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup, imprisoned Emperor Guangxu, re-instructed the government, and then arrested the reformers. Kang Youwei had left Beijing for Shanghai the day before the coup, and fled to Hong Kong under the protection of the British. Liang Qichao fled from Tianjin to Japan under the cover of the Japanese.

On September 28, six people including Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, Lin Xu, Liu Guangdi, Kang Guangren, and Yang Shenxiu were killed. People at the time called them the "Six Gentlemen". Other reformers and officials who participated in the New Deal and favored reform were either imprisoned, dismissed, or exiled. After the coup, except for the Capital University (the predecessor of Peking University), all other New Deal measures were cancelled. The "1898 Reform" failed.

The Reform Movement of 1898 ended in tragic failure, but as an important political change, it will be recorded in history forever. The Six Gentlemen of 1898 influenced a group of latecomers who were committed to the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Extended information The direct reasons for the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 are:

1. First, the conservative faction was powerful. At that time, the supreme leadership of the country was not in the hands of Emperor Guangxu, but was headed by the Queen Mother of the West. Controlled by princes and ministers. There were only a few members of the reformers and they had no real power. The Queen Mother of the West initially instructed that "it is appropriate to focus on Western learning today." However, when she felt that the reform touched upon her own rights and the interests of the Qing princes and nobles, she took steps to contain and suppress it.

2. Second, the reformers lacked correct theoretical guidance. Kang Youwei's "New Study of Apocrypha" accused Liu Xin of forging all the ancient classics of the Western Han Dynasty, and "Confucius' Reform of Confucius" dressed up Confucius as the founder of "reform legislation". Neither book contains sufficient and convincing evidence. Needless to say, conservatives opposed it, and some enlightened people at the time also disapproved. In addition, some of the radical propaganda of the reformers also increased social resistance.

3. Thirdly, the reformers lacked strong organizational leadership and were separated from the masses of the people. They only placed their hope in the emperor and a very small number of bureaucrats who had no real power, and even had unrealistic illusions about imperialism. .

4. Fourth, the reformers and Emperor Guangxu took certain aggressive measures in implementing reforms. At the beginning of the reform, Emperor Guangxu was dissatisfied with the restraint and opposition of his teacher and military minister Weng Tonghe, so he dismissed him and returned home. A large number of redundant officials were laid off, only in the capital, involving more than ten idle yamen, and nearly 10,000 people lost their positions, but no way out was arranged. Removing six ministerial officials at once because Wang Zhao was blocked from submitting a letter was too hasty and suffered too much.

5. Fifth, the method of reform is single: a simple top-down "peaceful" and "legal" approach.

Reference materials

Baidu Encyclopedia - Reform Movement of 1898