◇ Article 1: "Reform the truth".
The fiasco of the Qing government in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, especially the signing of treaty of shimonoseki, dealt a heavy blow to the peaceful and peaceful China society. As Liang Qichao said at the beginning of this article: "The awakening of China's dream of more than 4,000 years began after the defeat of Taiwan Province Province in the Sino-Japanese War and the compensation of 200 trillion yuan." 1894- 1895 The failure of the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War of 1895 caused a great shock throughout the country. The people, literati and intellectuals, as well as North Korean officials and government officials are all involved in the climax of anxiety, anger and struggle for the country and the nation. The serious national crisis has caused the political situation of the whole country to turn sharply, and patriots from all walks of life have expressed their patriotic enthusiasm in their own ways. However, the situation of being unable to fight again and being humiliated has been presented to people. People are very indignant and learn from the painful experience. They put the focus of their condemnation on the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government and felt the necessity of reform and change. In this situation, Kang Youwei initiated a bus petition and set off a political movement of political reform and reform.
1March, 895, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao went to Beijing as jurors to take the exam. In April, the news of the signing of treaty of shimonoseki came out, and the national public opinion was boiling, which immediately set off a wave of opposition to cede territory and peace. Initiated by Liang Qichao and others, he joined 18 provinces to participate in the "Yu Miao Conference", and * * * urged Kang Youwei to draft a book with ten thousand words, which was signed by more than a thousand people. On May 2, a group of people gathered in front of Douchayuan to petition and put forward the requirements of "refusing peace, moving the capital and reforming the law" to the court. This is the famous "bus petition". The main content of "Written on the Bus" is to oppose the signing of "treaty of shimonoseki", advocate moving the capital to fight against Japan again, and more importantly, advocate that "political reform becomes the rule of the world". In the Qing Dynasty, scholars were forbidden to interfere in state affairs, but the bus letter broke through the imperial ban and bravely put forward a reform plan for the social system to the autocratic monarchy, which had a distinct color of bourgeois political struggle.
After "writing on the bus", the bourgeois reformists carried out activities in two aspects: on the one hand, they set up societies, ran newspapers and promoted learning; on the other hand, they wrote to the emperor, that is, "writing to change" and "holding meetings to boost morale". The reformists advocated setting up societies, newspapers and schools, which were directly moved from western capitalist countries. Under the guidance of advocating civil rights and enlightening the people, they broke through the ban of the feudal court and fought for democratic rights such as freedom of speech, assembly and association. While vigorously carrying out mass activities such as running newspapers by mass organizations, the reformists put more energy into writing letters to the emperor. They believe that "top-down, smooth sailing", pinning their hopes on the emperor, thinking that as long as the emperor agrees to reform and the next imperial edict is carried out throughout the country, things can be solved. To this end, Kang Youwei wrote to Emperor Guangxu seven times, and was repeatedly obstructed by feudal die-hards. The sixth letter finally arrived. This letter played a very important role in Emperor Guangxu's determination to issue the "imperial edict" and also had a certain impact on the New Deal measures of the Hundred Days Reform. Kang Youwei's previous letters were finally approved by Emperor Guangxu and decided to carry out political reform. 1898, the new policy period of reform began.
◇ Chapter II: The History of Abolition of Slavery.
Just as the reform movement reached its climax, the reformists pushed Emperor Guangxu to issue the imperial edict of "Ding Mingshi Kingdom" and began the New Deal reform, the old school headed by Empress Dowager Cixi also began to take action. On the fourth day after the promulgation of the imperial edict "Ding Mingshi Kingdom", Empress Dowager Cixi forced Emperor Guangxu to issue three imperial edicts in succession. In addition to abolishing reconciliation, there are two important measures. First of all, all ministers with two or more titles should thank the Queen Mother. This imperial edict once again exposed the ambition of Empress Dowager Cixi to "teach politics in the DPRK". Traditionally, the emperor's father and empress dowager returned to the government and were rewarded by the emperor to show their respect. Now Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly ordered Second Minister Xie Enbi to see her. Obviously, she tried to manipulate the power of employing people, not only to win over the upper-level bureaucrats, but also to prevent Emperor Guangxu from appointing reformists as senior officials and to prevent them from entering the power center of the Tang Dynasty. The second is to appoint Rong Lu, a close friend, as the governor of Zhili, to command the Beiyang armed forces. This is a key step for conservatives to deploy a coup. Rong Lu was an official of the imperial court, then the Minister of the Ministry of War and Minister of the Prime Minister's Office. After the military affairs minister ■ Tonghe was dismissed, the Western Empress Dowager intended to award the position of military affairs minister to Rong Lu. Rong Lu, on the other hand, sought the post of minister of Beiyang, "aiming at seizing the relieving power". Empress Dowager Cixi took the military power of the capital city into her own hands through Rong Lu.
During the New Deal, Empress Dowager Cixi and the old school actively planned to abolish Emperor Guangxu. Shan Li, chief minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, led dozens of people to kneel in front of Cixi and accuse Guangxu. The conservative movement and heavily armed Rong Lu planned a coup. Rong Lu himself took it as his duty to plan a coup. He once threatened: "If you want to abolish the emperor, you should not be accused. It is better to listen to his earth-shaking reforms, make the world angry, and then capture it in one fell swoop. " When he left Beijing to take office, he personally begged Empress Dowager Cixi for political instructions many times and had many secret talks with Empress Dowager Cixi. A coup plot is brewing among the old-school high-level groups. After Empress Dowager Cixi seized the military and political power for the old guard, they thought it was a shoo-in. "After the Western Empress Dowager and Rong Lu laid this tight encirclement, they regarded the emperor as a desperate person and let him fall into the trap. It is expected that he will not escape."
At this time, Rong Hong's answer to the old-school people's help was: "If we make trouble for a few days, the world will be furious and guilty." In addition, Manchu dignitaries and ministers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs took the lead in kneeling in the Summer Palace to clear the "political training" for Empress Dowager Cixi. Yang Chongyi, suggestion, intends to ask the empress dowager to get the throne of Rong Lu and Prince Yi of Qing Dynasty. The approval of dignitaries. Although political training was not realized immediately, the brewing of the coup was close to maturity. In the early morning of September 2 1, Empress Dowager Cixi staged a coup in Beijing. On the same day, she announced that she would receive political training and she returned to power. Regarding this "political training", Liang Qichao believes that this time it is abolishing legislation rather than political training.
Liang Qichao said in his book: "Or ask:' This coup is just a curtain call for political training, and the theory of abolishing legislation has not been seen in practice, although the road has been paved. Is it true that this son refers to Fei Li? "Answer:' Why do you care if you are a monarch? Because it has the right to rule the world. Since the throne has been usurped, how can it be called a monarch? The history of husband's past dynasties contains the chaos of mother, which many people regard as a warning. However, the Empresses of past dynasties hung curtains because their heirs were young and were temporarily photographed. If her husband already has a long monarch, but she still has many dictators, she is only after the martial arts of the Tang Dynasty. The rate is that the Tang Dynasty was the leader of the Zhou Dynasty, and she repeated the clan society several times. Today's events are exactly the same. "After the empress dowager cixi" lectured on politics ",the reform failed.
◇ Chapter III: Before the Coup.
The reform and reform is a harsh political struggle, and its edge points directly at feudal autocracy and its decadent forces. Therefore, defenders of autocratic system and bureaucrats entrenched in Tianjin are bound to resist and attack. The innovative and enterprising spirit and shocking actions of reformists have also been criticized by conservative secularism. The reformists seized Guangxu, and enlightened officials even supported Guangxu as the leader. As a result, the conservative forces headed by Empress Dowager Cixi tried their best to weaken Guangxu's power, and anyone who expressed support for Guangxu was vilified. Wang Mingluan, assistant minister of the official department, opposed the signing of treaty of shimonoseki and the cession of Taiwan Province Province. He was summoned by Guangxu for many times, suspected by Empress Dowager Cixi and dismissed. Chang Lin, assistant minister of the Ministry of Finance, was also dismissed for opposing Empress Dowager Cixi's manipulation of political power and obstructing Guangxu. Zhen Fei's younger brother, Zhi Rui, then assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites, supported Guangxu's main battle in the Sino-Japanese War, impeached Li Hongzhang to compromise and avoid the war, and was exiled to Wuliangtai, Xinjiang by Empress Dowager Cixi.
Weng Tonghe's protege Wen, with a bachelor's degree in imperial academy, was praised by Emperor Guangxu, who advocated political reform and initiated the establishment of a strong society with Kang Youwei in Beijing. He often called enlightened officials and reformists to discuss current affairs, and was forced by Empress Dowager Cixi to order Guangxu to dismiss him and expel him to his hometown. Zhang Jian, a disciple of Wengmen, was frightened by the arrogance of Empress Dowager Cixi and led her back to her hometown to run industry and commerce. At the beginning of the Hundred Days Reform, Weng Tonghe drafted the imperial edict of "Ding Mingshi Kingdom" for Emperor Guangxu, which was hated by Empress Dowager Cixi and was finally deported on the fourth day after "Ding Mingshi Kingdom". At this point, the ministers trusted by Guangxu were basically dismissed, and Empress Dowager Cixi gradually cut off all the wings of Guangxu.
◇ Chapter IV: A Record of the Coup.
1898 in August and September, the conservative attempted coup gradually appeared, and the reformists had to plan countermeasures. Kang Youwei wants to win Yuan Shikai. Use its power to defend the New Deal. Yuan Shikai is sinister and cunning. He joined Qiangshe in a speculative way, expressing his support for reform and political reform, but he was also one of Rong Lu's trusted generals. In Rong Lu's Beiyang armed forces, he commanded the elite of the Qing army. With this army, Yuan Shikai became the strength of the army. The reformers were puzzled by Yuan Shikai's superficial phenomenon and wanted to rely on him to maintain the New Deal. Kang Youwei recommended Yuan Shikai to Guangxu, and wrote a secret letter to Tan Sitong, asking Guangxu to "tie Yuan to solve the urgent need", in order to contact Yuan Shikai and rely on him. In order to prevent accidents, it is pointed out that this is the only way to save the current crisis.
Guangxu adopted Kang Youwei's suggestion, summoned Yuan Shikai for two days in a row, awarded assistant minister Hou Bu special military training, and told Yuan Shikai: "We can do anything with Rong Lu from now on", which means we are not controlled by Rong Lu. The struggle between the old and new factions has developed to a tense point. When the situation was pressing, Emperor Guangxu specially sent a secret letter to Yang Rui, saying, "Recently, I consulted the imperial edicts of Empress Dowager Cixi, and tried my best not to change the law or dismiss this generation of old and ignorant ministers, and let them discuss politics with brave and knowledgeable people ... Now I ask you, what are the good strategies ... You can raise business with comrades Xu Lin, Tan Sitong and Liu Guangdi as soon as possible. The reformists also heard that the die-hards planned to launch a coup to depose Guangxu during the Tianjin military parade in October, so they decided to put all their eggs in one basket and let Tan Sitong persuade Yuan Shikai to kill Rong Lu and send troops to surround the Summer Palace. They pinned the fate of the emperor, their own destiny and the whole New Deal on Yuan Shikai. But Yuan Shikai plotted to deceive the reformists. After returning to Tientsin on September 20th, he told Rong Lu. However, before Yung Hong could report to Empress Dowager Cixi, Empress Dowager Cixi had staged a coup in Beijing. This is a coup in 1898.
After the coup, most of the new policies were overthrown and abolished, and scholars were forbidden to write again; Abolish official newspapers, seal up national newspapers, and strictly focus on newspapers; Prohibition of assembly and association; Idle yamen cut by the New Deal, such as Zhanfu and the General Political Department, were restored, while the General Administration of Industry and Commerce cancelled them. Resume the system of using arrows, bows and knives to test martial arts and stereotyped writing to test literary talent, stop special economic courses and stop setting up primary and secondary schools in provinces, prefectures and counties. Power is in the hands of Empress Dowager Cixi, and the emperor exists in name only, so the reform can't go away.
The reformists were persecuted, and Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao fled abroad. Tan sitong refused to leave and died generously. It is suggested that Yang Shenxiu is fearless in times of crisis. In the horrible atmosphere of Empress Dowager Cixi's coup and the pursuit of reformists, he held back his words and asked Empress Dowager Cixi to withdraw her curtain and return to her place. Later, he was arrested and imprisoned. Killed with Tan Sitong. In addition, Liu Guangdi, Yang Rui and Kang were killed at the same time, and they were called the Six Gentlemen of the 1898 Movement.
The vigorous reform failed. Liang Qichao analyzed the reasons for the coup in his third book Before the Coup. He believes that "there are two main reasons for the coup. One is that the Western Empress Dowager and Emperors can't save energy, and they have long been willing to give up their ambitions. The second is that stubborn ministers hate reform. " One of the reasons is that the western empress dowager has long been incompatible with the emperor and has many contradictions. The more important reason is that the reform has been blocked by die-hards. The reform of the New Deal has impacted the vested interests of some conservative figures, so the conservatives are desperately opposed, and every step forward in the reform will encounter heavy resistance. The most powerful opponents of the New Deal are ministers and governors. They were originally powerful people in charge of the old regime, and the old system made them powerful. The old ruling order and the old policies and decrees are their means to seek personal gain. Once they are changed, there will be nothing. Therefore, they strongly opposed the New Deal.
The imperial edict of the 100-day Reform and New Deal was released. However, Li Duan was the only minister who talked about the New Deal, and Chen Baozhen, the governor of Hunan Province, promoted the new law most effectively. In addition, officials of various ministries and provincial governors wait and see, delay, resist, openly oppose and refuse to obey the imperial edict, forming a situation of "if the imperial edict is made clear, we will not argue with it". The reformists tried to attack and restrain the arrogance of conservative bureaucrats through Guangxu and support the governor who carried out the New Deal. However, since the conservative ministers are all behind Cixi, who holds real power, how can the imperial edicts of severe punishment and severe reprimand deter these people? After many twists and turns, the struggle between the old and new forces entered a decisive stage, and the coup in 1898 was its final outcome.
Another obstacle to reform is the old school's perfunctory rut. The feudal conservatives in the late Qing Dynasty were a declining political group, and they followed the old-fashioned policy. Such people are bound to oppose reform and new things, and are subject to the New Deal everywhere. In the period of reform, they will inevitably become the main obstacles to the New Deal.
Liang Qichao pointed out in "Before the coup" that "China's words of reform have been here for 30 years, and the effect of reform has not been seen, which has increased its disadvantages. Why? Everything in the reform must be equal to the old and the new, and it will be effective. If we don't innovate, we will inevitably transfer the disadvantages accumulated by the old politics to the New Deal, which will increase its harm. " However, the elimination of the old will certainly harm the interests of some bureaucrats, such as the reform of cutting idle yamen and redundant staff, which will make a group of conservative bureaucrats face the possibility of losing power and influence, and the resulting shock is no small matter. This reform caused an uproar, and some conservative bureaucrats were even more at odds with the reformists when they saw the imperial edict issued. They used various methods to undermine this reform, or spread rumors to confuse people, or wrote letters to intimidate people. Try to block the New Deal.
The reform has also been blocked by the customary forces formed over thousands of years. People who are bound by the forces of old habits are often easily driven and incited by die-hards and become a great force used by die-hards. It can be seen that there are many and powerful people who oppose the reform and reform. "The reformists want to fight against it, just like being surrounded and besieged on all sides. They are all enemies, but they want to be invincible." The reformists went it alone. They have no real military and political power and the support of the broad masses of the people. They only have a puppet emperor, and this emperor is even in danger of losing his position. This determines that the Uighur faction will inevitably fail in the contest between the old and new forces.
◇ Chapter 5: Biography of Six Martyrs.
1898 After the coup, the reform movement failed. Empress Dowager Cixi once again "lectured on politics". The Qing government looked for reformists everywhere. Many officials were dismissed and sent, and six people, including Kang, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi and Tan Sitong, were killed, which is known as the "Six Gentlemen of the 1898 Movement". In this article, Liang Qichao expressed deep regret for the above-mentioned six people, and accused the Qing government of such atrocities of harming people with lofty ideals: "If all crimes are investigated by the whole people, the perpetrators are unknown, the culprits are unknown, and bystanders are even more indifferent." Later, this article was written into a separate book, also called "Biography of Six Gentlemen in the Hundred Days of 1898".
/kloc-after the coup in 0/898, the Qing court repeatedly ordered the arrest of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, sealed up the era, banned all works of Kang Liang, and punished those who circulated them. This is the most serious ban on books since Qianlong, and it is also the last ban on books in feudal times. In this case, the book has not been spared.