The Hundred Days' Reform or Wuxu Reform () was a failed 103-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement that occurred from 11 June to 22 September 1898 during the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. It was undertaken by the young

Guangxu Emperor The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth Emperor of China, emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China ...

and his reform-minded supporters. Following the issuing of the reformative edicts, a ''

coup d'état A coup d'état (; ; ), or simply a coup , is typically an illegal and overt attempt by a military organization or other government elites to unseat an incumbent leadership. A self-coup is said to take place when a leader, having come to powe ...

'' (Wuxu Coup) was perpetrated by powerful conservative opponents led by

Empress Dowager Cixi Empress Dowager Cixi ( ; 29 November 1835 – 15 November 1908) was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent for almost 50 ...

. While Empress Dowager Cixi supported the principles of the Hundred Days' Reform, she feared that sudden implementation, without bureaucratic support, would be disruptive and that the Japanese and other foreign powers would take advantage of any weakness. She later backed the

late Qing reforms Late Qing reforms (), commonly known as New Policies of the late Qing dynasty (), or New Deal of the late Qing dynasty, simply referred to as New Policies, were a series of cultural, economic, educational, military, diplomatic, and political refo ...

after the invasions of the

Eight-Nation Alliance The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion, with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, which were being besieged by the popular Boxer ...

Beginning

China embarked on an effort to modernize, the

Self-Strengthening Movement The Self-Strengthening Movement, also known as the Westernization or Western Affairs Movement (–1895), was a period of reforms initiated during the late Qing dynasty following the military disasters of the Opium Wars and Taiping Rebellion. The ...

, following its defeat in the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

(1839–1842) and

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

(1856–1860) Opium Wars. The effort concentrated on providing the armed forces with modern weapons, rather than reforming governance or society. The limitations of this approach were exposed by the

First Sino-Japanese War The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...

(1894–1895) when China was defeated by

Meiji Meiji, the romanization of the Japanese characters 明治, may refer to: Japanese history * Emperor Meiji, Emperor of Japan between 1867 and 1912 ** Meiji era, the name given to that period in Japanese history *** Meiji Restoration, the revolution ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, which had undergone comprehensive reforms during the same period. The defeat led to additional

unequal treaties The unequal treaties were a series of agreements made between Asian countries—most notably Qing China, Tokugawa Japan and Joseon Korea—and Western countries—most notably the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, the Unit ...

as European powers took advantage of China's weakness. As

Tan Sitong Tan Sitong (, March 10, 1865 – September 28, 1898), courtesy name Fusheng (), pseudonym Zhuangfei (), was a well-known Chinese politician, thinker, and reformist in the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911). He was executed at the age of 33 when ...

(譚嗣同),

Kang Youwei Kang Youwei (; Cantonese: ''Hōng Yáuh-wàih''; 19March 185831March 1927) was a political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty. His increasing closeness to and influence over the young Guangxu Emperor sparked confli ...

(康有爲), and

Liang Qichao Liang Qichao (Chinese: 梁啓超; Wade–Giles: ''Liang2 Chʻi3-chʻao1''; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Lèuhng Kái-chīu''; ) (February 23, 1873 – January 19, 1929) was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, jour ...

(梁啓超) saw the utter destruction and political problems of China at this time, such as political division, insurrection, opium addiction (due to the

opium wars The Opium Wars () were two conflicts waged between China and Western powers during the mid-19th century. The First Opium War was fought from 1839 to 1842 between China and Britain. It was triggered by the Chinese government's campaign to ...

) and foreign conflicts. Therefore, they developed influential philosophical systems for creating solutions which enacted political reform and a new Chinese reformist movement. Elements of the Qing government were sufficiently alarmed to permit

and

to propose reforms to

Emperor Guangxu The Guangxu Emperor (14 August 1871 – 14 November 1908), also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 18 ...

; Guangxu agreed. Some of Kang's students were also given minor but strategic posts in the capital to assist with the reforms. The goals of these reforms included: * Abolishing the traditional examination system * Eliminating

sinecure A sinecure ( or ; from the Latin , 'without', and , 'care') is a position with a salary or otherwise generating income that requires or involves little or no responsibility, labour, or active service. The term originated in the medieval church, ...

s (positions that provided little or no work but provided a salary) * Establishing

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

as a place where sciences, liberal arts and the Chinese classics would all be available for study * Establishing

agricultural schools Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domestication, domestic ...

in all provinces and schools and colleges in all provinces and cities * Building a modern education system (studying mathematics and science instead of focusing mainly on Confucian texts) * Encouraging imperial family members to study abroad * Transitioning to a

constitutional monarchy Constitutional monarchy, also known as limited monarchy, parliamentary monarchy or democratic monarchy, is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in making decisions. ...

* Applying principles of capitalism to strengthen the economy * Modernizing the military and adopting modern training and drill methods * Establishing a naval academy * Utilizing unused military land for farming * Rapid industrialization through manufacturing, commerce, and capitalism * Establishing trade schools for the manufacture of silk, tea, and other traditional crafts * Establishing a bureau for railways and mines The reformers declared that China needed more than " self-strengthening" and that innovation must be accompanied by institutional and ideological change. Opposition to the reforms was intense among the conservative ruling elite who condemned it as too radical and proposed a more moderate and gradualist alternatives. Conservatives like Prince Duan suspected a foreign plot due to the introduction into the Qing government of foreign advisors like Timothy Richards and Ito Hirobumi; Duan wanted to expel foreigners completely from China. In addition to the reforms, the reformers plotted to forcefully remove

from power. Tan Sitong asked

Yuan Shikai Yuan Shikai (; 16 September 18596 June 1916) was a Chinese general and statesman who served as the second provisional president and the first official president of the Republic of China, head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916 and ...

to kill

Ronglu Ronglu (6 April 1836 – 11 April 1903), courtesy name Zhonghua, was a Manchu political and military leader of the late Qing dynasty. He was born in the Guwalgiya clan, which was under the Plain White Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners. D ...

, take control of the garrison at

Tientsin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the 2020 Chinese census. Its metropoli ...

, and then march on Beijing and arrest Cixi. However, Yuan had previously promised to support Ronglu; rather than kill him, Yuan informed Ronglu of the plot.

End

With the support of the conservatives and the armed forces commanded by Yuan and Ronglu, Cixi launched a ''

'' on September 22, 1898, and took over the government. Guangxu was put under

house arrest House arrest (also called home confinement, or nowadays electronic monitoring) is a legal measure where a person is required to remain at their residence under supervision, typically as an alternative to imprisonment. The person is confined b ...

on the Yingtai Island until his death in 1908. The reforms were reversed and their chief advocates – the " Six Gentlemen of Wuxu" (戊戌六君子):

, Kang Guangren (Kang Youwei's brother),

Lin Xu Lin Xu (; 1875 – 28 September 1898), courtesy name Tungu (), was a Chinese politician, scholar, songwriter and poet who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was also a student of Kang Youwei, a prominent official and one of the leaders of a refo ...

, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, and

Liu Guangdi Liu Guangdi (; 18 June 1861 - 28 September 1898) was a Chinese government minister during the late Qing dynasty. He was a leader of the Hundred Days' Reform movement of 1898. After the reforms were reversed in a coup, he and five other leaders w ...

– were ordered to be executed. Reforms such as the abolishing of the old writing style was put back into mandate, the removal of offices and agencies were reinstituted, and the establishment of certain newspapers, civil societies and schools were all suspended. The two principal leaders,

and his student

, fled to Japan to seek refuge where they founded

Baohuang Hui The Chinese Empire Reform Association, abbreviated as C.E.R.A (''Baojiu Da-Qing Huangdi Hui'', ), or, more often, Baohuanghui, ) was a worldwide Chinese political association founded by Kang Youwei (1858–1927) in Victoria, British Columbia on ...

(Protect the Emperor Society) and worked, unsuccessfully, for a constitutional monarchy in China. Tan Sitong refused to flee and was executed. An alternative view is that Liang and Kang had a different objective for leaving for Japan which is to not only justify fleeing China but to also solicit intervention by foreign powers like Britain or Japan to rescue Emperor Guangxu. During the Hundred Days' Reform, generals

Dong Fuxiang Dong Fuxiang (1839–1908), courtesy name Xingwu (), was a Chinese general who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was born in the Western Chinese province of Gansu. He commanded an army of Hui soldiers, which included the later Ma clique genera ...

Ma Anliang Ma Anliang (, French romanization: Ma-ngan-leang, Xiao'erjing: ; 1855 – November 24, 1918) was a Hui people, Hui born in Linxia City, Hezhou, Gansu, China. He became a general in the Qing dynasty army, and of the Republic of China (1912 ...

, and

Ma Haiyan Ma Haiyan (1837–1900) was a Chinese Muslim general of the Qing Dynasty. Originally a rebel, he defected to Qing during the Dungan revolt and helped crush rebel Muslims. He was the father of Ma Qi and Ma Lin and of Ma Feng. Dong Fuxiang, ...

were called to Beijing and helped put an end to the movement along with

Ma Fulu Ma Fulu ( zh, s=马福禄, p=Mǎ Fúlù, Xiao'erjing: ; 1854 – 1900) was a Chinese Muslim general of the Hui people, Hui ethnic group who served under the Qing dynasty. The son of General Ma Qianling and the brother of Ma Fucai, Ma Fushou a ...

and

Ma Fuxiang Ma Fuxiang (, Xiao'erjing: , French romanization: Ma-Fou-hiang or Ma Fou-siang; 4 February 1876 – 19 August 1932) was a Chinese Muslim scholar and military and political figure, spanning from the Qing Dynasty through the early Republic of ...

. Dong Fuxiang and the Muslim Gansu Army stationed in Beijing during the Hundred Days' Reform later participated in the

Boxer Rebellion The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, was an anti-foreign, anti-imperialist, and anti-Christian uprising in North China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious F ...

and became known as the

Kansu Braves The Gansu Braves or Gansu Army was a combined army division of 10,000 Chinese Muslim troops from the northwestern province of Kansu (Gansu) in the last decades of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). Loyal to the Qing, the Braves were recruited i ...

Aftermath

The

attempted in the years following the Hundred Days included the abolition of the

Imperial examination The imperial examination was a civil service examination system in History of China#Imperial China, Imperial China administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the Civil service#China, state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureau ...

in 1905, educational and military modernization patterned after the model of Japan, and experiments in constitutional and parliamentary government. The ultimate failure of these reforms gave impetus to

revolution In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elements ...

ary forces within the country. Changes within the establishment were seen to be largely hopeless, and the overthrow of the Qing increasingly appeared to be the only way to save China. Despite the

of the early 1900s, such sentiments directly contributed to the success of the

Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

in 1911.

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using Reforms of Russian orthography#The post-revolution re ...

corresponded with

Gu Hongming Gu Hongming ( zh, c=辜鴻銘, p=Gū Hóngmíng, w=Ku Hung-ming, poj=Ko͘ Hông-bêng; 18 July 185730 April 1928) was a Chinese scholar born in British Malaya man of letters. He also used the pen name Amoy Ku. Life Gu Hongming was born in Pen ...

on the Hundred Day's Reform and agreed that the reform movement was ill-advised. The reformist Kang Party, formed by students of Kang and Liang, was one of the most alarming groups in the eyes of court conservatives at this time.

Differing interpretations

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

, as villains unwilling to reform because of their selfish interests.

Failure as Kang's responsibility

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,

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. For example,

Sterling Seagrave Sterling Seagrave (April 15, 1937 – May 1, 2017) was an American historian. He was the author of numerous books which address unofficial and clandestine aspects of the 20th-century political history of countries in the Far East. Personal life B ...

, in his book "The Dragon Lady", argues that there were several reasons why the reforms failed. Chinese political power at the time was firmly in the hands of the ruling Manchu nobility. The highly xenophobic iron hats faction dominated the Grand Council and were seeking ways to expel all Western influence from China. When implementing reform, the

by-passed the Grand Council and appointed four reformers to advise him. These reformers were chosen after a series of interviews, including the interview of

, who was rejected by the Emperor and had far less influence than Kang's later boasting would indicate. At the suggestion of the reform advisors, the

also held secret talks with former Japanese Prime Minister

Itō Hirobumi Kazoku, Prince , born , was a Japanese statesman who served as the first prime minister of Japan from 1885 to 1888, and later from 1892 to 1896, in 1898, and from 1900 to 1901. He was a leading member of the ''genrō'', a group of senior state ...

with the aim of using his experience in the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

to lead China through similar reforms. It has also been suggested, controversially, that

actually did a great deal of harm to the cause by his perceived arrogance in the eyes of the conservatives. Numerous rumors regarding potential repercussions, many of them false, had made their way to the Grand Council; this was one of the factors in their decision to stage a coup against the Emperor. Kang, like many of the reformers, grossly underestimated the reactionary nature of the vested interests involved. The Emperor set about to enact his reforms by largely bypassing the powerful Grand Council; said councilors, irritated at the Emperor's actions and fearful of losing the political power they had, then turned to the

to remove the emperor from power. Many, though not all, of the reforms came to naught. The council, now confident in their power, pushed for the execution of the reformers, an action that was carried out ruthlessly.

Richard's federation theory

According to Professor Lei Chia-sheng (雷家聖), Japanese former prime minister

(伊藤博文) arrived in China on September 11, 1898, about the same time that Kang Youwei invited British missionary

Timothy Richard Timothy Richard (Chinese: 李提摩太 ''Li Timotai'', 10 October 1845 – 17 April 1919) was a Welsh Baptist missionary to China, who influenced the modernisation of China and the rise of the Chinese Republic. Biography Richard was born on ...

to Beijing. Richard suggested that China appoint Itō as one of many foreign advisors in order to further push China's reform efforts.Richard, Timothy
''Forty-five Years in China: Reminiscences''
publ. Frederick A. Stokes (1916) On September 18, Richard successfully convinced Kang to adopt his plan in which China would join a federation (合邦) of ten nations. Kang nonetheless asked fellow reformers Yang Shenxiu (楊深秀) and Song Bolu (宋伯魯) to report this plan to the Guangxu Emperor. On September 20, Yang sent a

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects such as home ...

to the emperor to that effect. In another memorial to the Emperor written the next day, Song advocated the formation of a federation and the sharing of the diplomatic, fiscal, and military powers of the four countries under a hundred-man committee. Lei Chia-sheng argues that this idea was the reason why Cixi, who had just returned from the Summer Palace on September 19, decided to put an end to the reforms with the September 21 coup. On October 13, following the coup, British ambassador

Claude MacDonald Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald, (12 June 1852 – 10 September 1915) was a British soldier and diplomat, best known for his service in China, Korea, and Japan. Early life MacDonald was born the son of Mary Ellen MacDonald (''nee'' Dougan ...

reported to his government that Chinese reforms had been "much injured" by Kang and his friends' actions.''Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of China, Presented to Both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty'' (London, 1899.3), No. 401, p. 303. However, the British and American governments had been largely unaware of the "federation" plot, which appears to have been Richard's own personal idea. The Japanese government might have been aware of Richard's plan, since his accomplice was the former Japanese prime minister, but there is no evidence to this effect yet.

Beginning

End

Aftermath

Differing interpretations

Failure as Kang's responsibility

Richard's federation theory

See also

Notes

Further reading