The Reform Movement of 1898

(1) Background:

In the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1898), the bourgeois reformists represented by Kang Youwei Launched the bourgeois political reform movement.

After the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, the national crisis was unprecedentedly severe, and national capitalism achieved preliminary development. The reformists headed by Kang Youwei and others stepped onto the historical stage representing the political demands of the upper class of the national bourgeoisie and the enlightened gentry. It advocates carrying out bourgeois reforms in China's traditional politics, economy, ideology and culture, leading China to the path of capitalist development, so as to save the national crisis and make the country prosperous and strong. Kang Youwei (1858-1927), whose original name was Zu Yi, had the courtesy name Guangsha and his nickname Changsu. A native of Nanhai, Guangdong. Born into a landlord-bureaucratic family. At the age of 18, he studied under the famous Jiangnan scholar Zhu Ciqi, but he was not limited by his teacher's teachings and could think independently. He liked Lu (Xiangshan) and Wang (Yangming), but despised Cheng (Yi) and Zhu (Xi). When he was 21 years old, he traveled to Hong Kong and came into contact with Western capitalist civilization. He believed that "Westerners have rules for governing the country and should not treat them as ancient barbarians." He bought Western books, promoted Western learning, and embarked on the path of exploring the truth of national salvation from the West. The Sino-French War broke out in the tenth year of Guangxu's reign. He witnessed foreign aggression and corruption in the Qing court, which greatly stimulated him and inspired his thoughts on reform. In the 14th year of his reign, he took the opportunity to go to Beijing to take part in the Shuntian Provincial Examination. He wrote to the Qing Emperor for the first time, proposing the three strategies of "turning the law into law, communicating with people, and being careful about the left and right." To govern. At that time, the die-hards controlled the government, blocked it, made it difficult to reach the throne, and denounced it with madness. Kang realized that the time for reform was not yet time, so he returned south. Starting from the spring of the 17th year, Wanmu Thatched Cottage was opened in Guangzhou to cultivate talents for reform and innovation. He gained disciples like Liang Qichao and others. In the spring of the 21st year, Kang and Liang went to Beijing for a joint examination, which coincided with the Qing government's defeat at the hands of Japan in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894 and the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which was an unprecedented loss of power and humiliation to the country. The news reached Beijing, and the people who took the examination were furious and rushed to tell each other. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao contacted more than 1,300 people from 18 provinces to jointly submit a letter to the Qing emperor, opposing the signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki and proposing "rejection of peace, relocation of the capital, military training, and reform." Although the petition was rejected by the Qing court, its contents were circulated and copied, arousing widespread influence in society. This petition marked the formal entry of the bourgeois reformists onto the historical stage, and the bourgeois reform trend of thought that had been brewing for many years began to turn into an actual political movement. After that, Kang Youwei used the call of "reform to strengthen the country" and organized the Strengthening Society in Beijing and Shanghai, and published the Gazette of All Nations (later changed to "China and Foreign Chronicles") and the "Qiangxue Journal" to promote reform and innovation, save the nation and promote Western learning. , examining the sources of strength and weakness of various countries, reflected the reformers' admiration for Western bourgeois democratic politics, and was therefore hated by the feudal die-hards. At the end of the 21st century, the Beijing and Shanghai Qiang Studies Institutes were banned one after another, and "China and Foreign Journals" and "Qiang Xue Journal" were forced to cease publication. However, the reform and reform has become a trend of the times, and it will not remain silent due to the sadism of feudal rulers. In the 22nd year, Liang Qichao and others founded the "Shiwu Bao" in Shanghai, publishing Liang's "General Discussion on Reform" and other important papers; in the 23rd year, Yan Fu founded the "Guowen Bao" in Tianjin, serializing Yan's translation of "Tianyan Lun" and "Yuan Qiang" and other important papers; in the 24th year, Tan Sitong, Tang Cichang and others founded "Xiang Bao" in Hunan. These newspapers and periodicals used Darwin's theory of evolution as ideological weapons, sounding the alarm of national peril, calling for "saving the nation to survive", discussing the necessity and rationality of reform and innovation; exposing the feudal autocratic system as the root cause of China's weakness and backwardness, and vigorously advocating bourgeois civil rights Thought; criticize the old feudal ideas and culture, vigorously promote new learning, and have influence throughout the country. At the same time, the reformers organized societies and schools in various places. According to incomplete statistics, from the 21st to the 24th year of Guangxu, the reformers established more than 50 societies, schools, newspapers, etc., and published more than 30 kinds of newspapers and periodicals, preparing public opinion for the arrival of the climax of the reform movement. Talents have been cultivated. At that time, the imperial party was in a weak position in the struggle with the rear party for the real power of rule, and was in urgent need of support from social forces. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1888-1899, some imperialists gradually leaned toward reform, attempting to use the reformist talent and courage of the reformists to assist Emperor Guangxu in wresting real power from the rear party through reform and achieving the goal of saving the nation and strengthening the country.

The Chinese national bourgeoisie had not yet formed an independent political force at this time, and the reformers were also eager to seek political backers for help. Therefore, after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1894, the imperialists and the reformers gradually merged. The founding of the Strong Society was a symbol of its union.

In the winter of the 23rd year of Guangxu's reign, Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay. Other imperialists followed suit, setting off a climax of seizing leased lands and dividing spheres of influence in China. China faced the crisis of being partitioned. Kang Youwei rushed to Beijing from the south again and submitted the "Fifth Letter of the Shangqing Emperor" on November 12 (December 5) of that year, proposing the upper, middle and lower strategies of the reform for selection. The best strategy is to "adopt France and Russia, and use Japan to determine the state of the country"; the middle strategy is to "gather talents together to seek political change"; the worst strategy is to "listen to the officials in the border areas to implement their own reforms." It also proposed that "state affairs from now on be submitted to the National Assembly" and "adopt the laws of all nations and establish the distinction between public and private in the constitution", which involved the reform of the central power system of the Qing Dynasty and reflected the political ideal of the reformers in pursuit of the bourgeois civil rights system. This petition was blocked by die-hards due to its fierce rhetoric and failed to reach the letter. Emperor Guangxu originally wanted to summon Kang Youwei, but was blocked by the die-hards. On the third day of the first lunar month in the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu's reign (January 24), Emperor Guangxu ordered his ministers to meet Kang Youwei in the Xihua Hall of the General Administration to inquire about the reform, and ordered Kang Youwei to report what he had seen. On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Kang Youwei wrote "The New Political Situation of the Dashu Chen Gongkai System" (i.e., "The Sixth Book of the Shangqing Emperor"), proposing the reform program: 1. "The Dashu ministers should reform the old and restore the new, and adopt the public opinion of the world to adopt "A good law for all nations"; 2. "Open the system in the palace, recruit twenty generalists from all over the world to participate, and re-negotiate all political systems"; 3. "Set up a place to wait for the edict, and allow people from all over the world to submit letters." The core is the second one. According to Kang Youwei's vision, the Institutional Bureau was a central agency that guided national reforms. Its function was to be responsible for legislation and deliberation; it also established separate bureaus for law, taxation, schools, agriculture and commerce, industrial affairs, mining administration, railways, postal services, coinage, travel, Twelve special bureaus, including social affairs and armaments, serve as administrative agencies to specifically implement the new policy matters agreed upon by the institutional bureau. In March, Kang Youwei initiated the establishment of the Baoguo Association, a defense and national salvation group in Beijing, and published 30 articles of the "Baoguo Association Charter", with the purpose of "protecting the country, protecting species, and protecting education", and stipulated the organizational system, authority and responsibilities of the general meeting and branches. , membership procedures, membership rights and obligations, and has become somewhat of a bourgeois political party. Driven by the National Protection Association, patriotic groups with the nature of resisting aggression and saving the nation have been established in various places. "Reform and reform" and "save the nation to survive" have converged into a powerful trend of the times. On the tenth day of April, Prince Gong, who opposed the reform and respected the position of authority? After his death from illness, the favorable opportunity for reform came. Kang Youwei actively contacted the imperial party and promoted Emperor Guangxu's immediate reform. On the 23rd, Emperor Guangxu accepted the suggestions of the reformists and resolutely issued the "Edict to Mingdongguo", announcing the reform and reform, calling on all ministers to work hard and be ambitious, "to plant the foundations of the sages and principles" and "to learn from Western learning". "Those who are concerned with current affairs must pay attention to strength" and implement the New Deal in a practical manner, "and must not be perfunctory and follow the rules." From then on, until the sixth day of August when Cixi re-announced political instruction, on the 103rd day, Emperor Guangxu cited reformers, deposed the conservatives, promulgated the reform decree, and implemented the reform and new policies, which is known in history as the "Hundred Days of Reform". The contents of the reform and new policies mainly include: 1. Economic aspects: protect and reward agriculture, industry and commerce, establish the State Administration of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Railways and Mining in Beijing, promote industry, encourage private investment, and order each province to establish a commerce bureau (or agriculture, industry and commerce branch); order Local officials in each province adopted both Chinese and Western methods to effectively revitalize agriculture; they rewarded scientific works and inventions, and promulgated 12 paragraphs of the "Regulations on Awarding for Promotion of Craftsmanship", which stipulated that those who wrote new books, innovated laws, and made new tools would be rewarded with official positions or patents; In the capital and various trading ports, post offices were widely established and post stations were abolished; national budget and final accounts were compiled, which were published by the Ministry of Household Affairs on a monthly basis; the parasitic privileges of the Manchus were revoked and they were allowed to fend for themselves. 2. Political aspect: Order all yamen to delete and revise regulations; the central government abolishes idle yamen such as Zhanshifu, General Affairs Department, Guanglu Temple, etc., and other provinces abolish overlapping agencies such as the governor of Hubei, Guangdong, and Yunnan (the governors of these three provinces are in the same city), and the governor of Donghe. ; Broaden the way for speech, allow officials and people to write letters and express opinions, and strictly prohibit officials from blocking the way. 3. Military aspects: eliminate the old army and order the Eight Banners and all provincial armies to practice foreign drills; prepare arsenals, build warships, and train the navy; strive to protect the armor and implement team training.

Although the short-lived Reform Movement of 1898 failed to achieve the goal of self-reliance and defense against aggression, it still had important patriotic and national salvation significance. It raised the national salvation consciousness to a new level.

The Reform Movement of 1898 was also a political reform movement led by the bourgeoisie. It was not a simple continuation of the Westernization Movement, but a qualitative leap. The Westernization Movement was to maintain and strengthen the feudal system, while the Reform Movement of 1898 was to gradually transform the feudal autocratic system into a capitalist democratic system. This was unprecedented in Chinese history and was in line with the general trend of China's modern social development.

The Reform Movement of 1898 was also an ideological enlightenment movement. The reformers advocated new learning, criticized old learning, and focused on promoting "promoting civil rights", which greatly improved the democratic awareness and political participation awareness of the whole society. Since then, democracy has become a raging social trend of thought, which has greatly changed the face of China's ideological and cultural circles. He said formally that China’s bourgeois new culture was also initially established during the 1898 Reform Movement and in the following years. The new bourgeois academic disciplines of philosophy, history, economics, literary theory, etc. have emerged, and the "revolution in poetry", "revolution in style", "revolution in novels", "drama reform", etc. have emerged one after another. Culture, both in content and form, began to become the mainstream of modern Chinese culture.

(3) Result: Failure

(4) Fundamental reasons for failure:

The Reform Movement of 1898 was an emergency product under the national crisis. It was premature. Having reached the forefront of history, failure is also inevitable in history.

(1)

Since the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War of Sino-Japanese War, China’s national crisis has become more and more serious day by day. After Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay in November 1897, the imperialist powers have successively China divided its spheres of influence, seized leased lands, and ceded large areas of its territory. At this time, the weak Qing government allowed itself to be slaughtered by the imperialist powers. At this time, Kang Youwei once again wrote to Emperor Guangxu, pointing out: "The catastrophe of partition is imminent, and we must make a decisive decision and implement reforms quickly, otherwise the emperor and his ministers will be unable to get the commoners of Chang'an!" (1) Begging Emperor Guangxu to implement new policies, Guangxu considered this The national crisis does not fail to consider how to make China prosperous and strong so as to resist foreign aggression and avoid the crisis of national subjugation and genocide. to maintain their dominance. A reform movement was pushed onto the stage of history, stimulated by the national crisis. History has proven that both reform and revolution require a certain amount of strong economic and class support. However, due to China's weak capitalist economic foundation and weak class power, the Reform Movement of 1898 lacked strong economic and class support. China at that time There are five economic components, foreign capitalist economy, landlord economy, small peasant economy, and bureaucratic capitalist economy. The weakest among them is the national capitalist economy. Although the germination of capitalism appeared in China in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, due to the strong feudal power, class power and political power in China, China's capitalism has never developed into a national capitalist economy. As a powerful emerging economic and class force, the outbreak of the Opium War and the invasion of foreign capitalism strangled China's original capitalist economy. Only after the rise of the Westernization Movement did China's capitalist economy gradually rise. But their power has always been weak. According to statistics, from the Westernization Movement to the Reform Movement of 1898, the Communist Party of China only owned more than 100 commercial enterprises, 50 of which were established after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. (2) Although these more than 100 commercial enterprises are capitalist in nature, they are only a drop in the bucket in a large feudal economic country with more than 2,000 years of history. Moreover, there are still 50 enterprises that were established after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1899. , it is conceivable to what extent its power can develop in just three years. Furthermore, China’s national capitalist industry emerged in the 1870s. By the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, China’s national capitalism began to develop initially. According to statistics, there were 104 enterprises with a capital of more than 10,000 yuan established from 1895 to 1900, with a total capital estimated at 23 million yuan. The number of factories and mines established in these six years is equivalent to the total of the 20 years before the Sino-Japanese War. Its total capital has exceeded that of government-run or government-supervised commercial enterprises, occupying the main areas of my country's industry.

(3) However, since the emergence of China’s national bourgeoisie in the 1870s, they have been double squeezed by imperialism and their own feudalism. In order to survive, they have to either rely on imperialism or cling to their own feudal forces. This determines The national bourgeoisie has a dual nature since its emergence: on the one hand, it is oppressed by foreign capitalism and domestic feudal forces, has anti-aggression and anti-feudal characteristics, and has revolutionary demands; The feudal forces are inextricably linked, lack a thorough anti-invasion and anti-feudal spirit, and are compromising. If the dual nature of capitalist forces is allowed to fight against the powerful and solid feudal system, failure will be a disaster. This is inevitable. If we move the time back to the beginning of the 20th century, we can take a look at the development of national capitalism in China. “From 1901 to 1911, there were 386 private factories and mines with a total capital of 883.48 billion yuan. Ten The total number of factories, mines, and capital established in the past thirty years more than doubled.”(4) Only then did China’s national capitalism truly become a force that cannot be ignored.

(2)

The leaders of the Reform Movement of 1898 were basically a group of scholars who lacked experience in political struggle. Most of them were well-read in poetry and books, worried about the country and the people, were knowledgeable, and possessed Political enthusiasm and ambition, but lack of strategy, political experience and talent. Let’s first look at Kang Youwei, the leader of the Reform Movement of 1898.

Kang Youwei was born into a family of bureaucratic landlords in Nanhai, Guangdong, which is "the heirloom of Neo-Confucianism" (5). He studied the Four Books and Five Classics with his grandfather when he was young, and later studied under the Guangdong Neo-Confucianist Zhu Ciqi. In 1879, he met the editor Zhang Dinghua. He "knew everything about the customs of the Beijing Dynasty, recent talents, and various new books, and anecdotes from Dao, Xian, and the three dynasties", (6) It broadened my horizons. Kang Youwei lived in a time when the rule of the Qing Dynasty was in turmoil. As an intellectual with strong patriotic ideas, he initiated and led the bourgeois reform movement in order to save the nation. He wrote seven letters and dozens of memorials and at that time His ideas on reform and reform were comprehensively and systematically put forward in his works. In 1888, Kang Youwei went to Beijing for the second time to take the provincial examination. Feeling that the current situation was very difficult, he wrote an angry letter with thousands of words, "The times are extremely dangerous, please change the law in time." This was the first time he submitted a letter, proposing the idea of ??"turning it into a law, understanding the emotions, and being careful about the right and left", emphasizing that as long as it "turns it into a law", "within ten years, wealth and strength can be achieved, and in twenty years, long-lasting principles can be achieved." , it is not difficult to avenge shame by restoring the territory." (7) This was the first time that Kang Youwei published his reform ideas in a relatively systematic manner, which reflected the emerging bourgeoisie's concerns about current affairs. After the defeat of the Sino-Japanese War, in April 1895, the Qing government and the Japanese government signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ceded territory and paid compensation. At this time, Kang Youwei was taking part in the examination. After hearing the news, he was very angry. He, his disciple Liang Qichao and other candidates from all provinces who held the imperial examination in Beijing jointly submitted a petition to oppose the traitorous treaty. This was the second petition, which was the famous "commitment on the bus" in history. The petition put forward the idea of ??"rejecting peace, moving the capital, and reforming the law." Although the petition failed to reach the letter, it had an important enlightenment effect on all patriots at the time, especially intellectuals, and aroused strong repercussions in the whole society. It became the starting point for the strengthening of the Movement of 1898. Soon after, he wrote a separate letter in his own name regarding the reform part of the "Petition on the Bus", proposing the strategy of "riching the country, elevating the people, educating the priests, and training the army", advocating the development of the capitalist economy and the protection of national industry and commerce. After Emperor Guangxu saw this petition, he expressed his approval. After that, he submitted a fourth letter, formally proposing the idea of ??"establishing a parliament to communicate with the people" and implement a constitutional monarchy system without changing the rule of the Qing Dynasty. This letter was not submitted due to the obstruction of the die-hards. . In 1897, Germany occupied Jiaozhou Bay. After Kang Youwei heard the news, he went to Beijing again to write a letter, pointing out: "Foreign contempt, domestic disunity, urgent worries and indignation, false plans and timely reforms... If you continue to hesitate, live on, and follow the old ways, If an accident happens, there will be external troubles and internal strife, and there is no time to break out..." (8) He put forward three methods: "Adopt France and Russia, and use Japan to determine the country's affairs", "Group talents in large numbers to seek political change", and "Let the ministers in the border areas make their own reforms" Click on the specific plan and hope that Emperor Guangxu can "issue an angry edict" and "dedicate himself to reform." However, due to the obstruction of the die-hards, Emperor Guangxu failed to see this petition in time.

On the night of September 18, Tan Sitong went alone to Yuan's residence, Fahua Temple, and persuaded Yuan to use his troops to kill Ronglu, a close associate of the Nala clan, and protect Emperor Guangxu. Kang Youwei and others thought that as long as they captured the emperor, everything would be accomplished. In fact, Emperor Guangxu was just an empty show, and the real power was completely in the hands of the die-hard Nala family and others. Emperor Guangxu adopted Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao's ideas of reform and strengthening the country, issued an edict to "clearly determine the state of affairs", and actively planned the New Deal. Nala also hurriedly deployed a coup to undermine the reform movement. Just when Kang Youwei and others were complacent, the diehards counterattacked and defeated the reformists. Emperor Guangxu was imprisoned, Tan Sitong and others were killed, and Kang Youwei and Ran Qichao fled abroad. The Reform Movement of 1898 failed within a hundred days.