Hundred Days' Reform

The Hundred Days' Reform (traditional Chinese: 百日維新; simplified Chinese: 百日维新; pinyin: Bǎirì Wéixīn; lit. '100 Days Reform') or Wuxu Reform (traditional Chinese: 戊戌變法; simplified Chinese: 戊戌变法; pinyin: Wùxū Biànfǎ; lit. 'Reform of the Wuxu year') was the short-lived national, cultural, political and educational reform movement that occurred in the Qing Empire from June 11 to September 21, 1898. The reforms were initiated by the Guangxu Emperor and led by reform-minded scholars, including Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao. The movement sought to modernize China’s institutions following the country’s defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and during a time of increasing foreign intervention in China. Over a period of roughly 100 days, the Guangxu Emperor enacted a series of imperial edicts with various goals in mind. These mandates aimed to restructure government organization, reform the civil service examination system, modernize the army, promote industrial and education progress, and adopt elements of constitutional governance. Some of these measures were implemented, such as the establishment of the Imperial University of Peeking (now Peeking University) however most faced resistance from conservative factions. While Empress Dowager Cixi supported principles of the 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. Thus, on September 21, 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi with her allies, staged a coup d’état, forcing the emperor under house arrest and further executing six of the leading reformers (she later backed the late Qing reforms after the invasions of the Eight-Nation Alliance). The Hundred Days' Reform, although brief, introduced new political concepts of nationhood and sovereignty and consequently inspired many of the subsequent “New Policies” reforms launched after 1901.

China embarked on an effort to modernize, the Self-Strengthening Movement, following its defeat in the First (1839–1842) and Second (1856–1860) Opium Wars. The effort concentrated on providing the armed forces with modern weapons, rather than reforming governance or society. Following the Taiping Rebellion in 1850, a brief period known as the Tongzhi Restoration, which focused on development, temporarily provided liveliness to the Qing regime. The most distinctive proposal of the early political reformers was for a parliamentary system of government in addition to numerous additions that aimed to change Chinese society through Western technology. Moreover, several wester supporting individuals, such as Li Honzhngg, wanted to create a modernized military that incorporated western innovations with China. He, as well as a majority, believed that through western influence, China could strengthen its economy and protect itself on a global stage. At the same time, the British military had flintlocks, caplocks, breech-loading rifled artillery, while the Qing had matchlock muskets which had far less rounds and lower accuracy. These differences motivated China to purchase and employ western weaponry. Apart from  their firearm imports, China also desired to improve its weapon manufacturing proficiency by building more domestic factories. The Jiangnan Arsenal, established in 1865 in Shanghai was the largest factory, producing both ships and firearms. The factory acted as a navy shipyard, building wooden and iron-hulled warships, large numbers of breech-loading rifles, as well as artillery shells. However, initiatives such as The Jiangnan Arsenal met significant challenges, still being considered underdeveloped in comparison to Europes innovations, and ventures were deprived of imperial funding, slowing the pace of production. Military modernization was another high priority since the beginning of the movement. While dramatic improvements were made to hardware, the military lacked the organization, training and institutions required to sustain forthcoming wars.

The limitations of this approach were exposed by the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) when China was defeated by Meiji Japan, which had undergone comprehensive reforms during the same period. The defeat led to additional unequal treaties as European powers took advantage of China's weakness. As Tan Sitong (譚嗣同), Kang Youwei (康有爲), and Liang Qichao (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) and foreign conflicts. Therefore, they developed influential philosophical systems for creating solutions which enacted political reform and a new Chinese reformist movement.^{[page needed]}

Elements of the Qing government were sufficiently alarmed to permit Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao to propose reforms to Emperor Guangxu; 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:

Educational:

Administration and Governance

Economy, Industry, and Infrastructure:

Agriculture