Hundred Days Reform

◀ Hunan Province
Comprehensive index starts

in volume 5, page 2667.
Hundred Days Reform

Bǎirì Wéixīn 百日维新
The “Hundred Days Reform” was an effort,

over the summer of 1898, by the young em-
peror Guang Xu and many young Confucian
scholar officials to introduce much-needed
reforms to Qing dynasty China following the
country’s defeat by Japan in the First Sino-
Japanese War. It was put down by the dowa-
ger empress Xici.
D efeat by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese

War (1894–1895) greatly affected the Qing
dynasty (1644–1912) government of China
and many young Chinese Confucian scholars. Some of
these scholar-officials, particularly Kang Youwei (1858–
1927) and Liang Qichao (1873–1929), called for dramatic
changes in the structure of government, the examina-
tion system for entrance into government service, and
the relationship of the government to the Chinese people,
although they clothed these changes in traditional Con-
fucian principles.
The young emperor, Guang Xu (1871–1908), was
caught up in the fervor for reform and committed him-
self to carrying out a comprehensive reform program for
approximately one hundred days, hence the phrase “Hun- Kang Youwei, a prominent scholar and reformer
dred Days Reform.” From m id-June to m id-September of the late Qing dynasty. called for dramatic
1898, the emperor issued some forty reform decrees. changes in the structure of government, the ex-
The decrees called for educational reform by replac- amination system for entrance into government
ing the centuries-old “eight-legged” essays—a rigid, codi- service, and the relationship of the government
fied set of exams that for centuries had been the standard to the Chinese people.
for entry into the civil service—w ith an exam that better
1122
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Hundred Days Reform n Bǎirì Wéixīn n 百日维新 1123
Kang Youwei’s Advice to the Emperor

In an attempt to persuade the Guangxu emperor, the source of the disease, you will know that this is the
political reformer Kang Youwei submitted a memorial right prescription.
to the throne titled Comprehensive Consideration of the Our present trouble lies in our clinging to old
Whole Situation in January 1898, a few months before institutions without knowing how to change. In an
the Hundred Days Reform. age of competition between states, to put into effect
methods appropriate to an era of universal unification
A survey of all states in the world will show that

those states that undertook reforms became
strong while those states that clung to the past per-
and laissez-faire is like wearing heavy furs in summer
or riding a high carriage across a river. This can only
result in having a fever or getting oneself drowned . . .
ished. The consequences of clinging to the past and Although there is a desire to reform, yet if the national
the effects of opening up new ways are thus obvious. policy is not fixed and public opinion not united, it
If Your Majesty, with your discerning brilliance, ob- will be impossible for us to give up the old and adopt
serves the trends in other countries, you will see that the new. The national policy is to the state just as the
if we can change, we can preserve ourselves; but if rudder is to the boat or the pointer is to the compass.
we cannot change, we shall perish. Indeed, if we can It determines the direction of the states and shapes
make a complete change, we shall become strong, but the public opinion of the country.
if we only make limited changes, we shall still per- Source: de Bary, W. T., & Lufrano, R. (2000). Sources of Chinese
ish. If Your Majesty and his ministers investigate the tradition, vol. 2. New York: Columbia University Press, 269.
reflected current affairs, establishing an Imperial univer- incapacitated, took over all reform documents, and seized
sity, and initiating classes in foreign affairs and languages, control of the government. Many of the reformers were
economics, medicine, and the sciences. The decrees also arrested and executed, but Kang and Liang managed to
sought changes in government and streamlining admin- escape. The reforms were undone, and one outcome was
istration. Finally, the decrees called for government sup- the so-called Boxer Rebellion, which accelerated foreign
port for building railways, developing the economy, and encroachments on China.
improving the capital city, as well as providing govern- Whether the Hundred Days Reforms were too com-
ment protection of missionaries, simplifying legal codes, prehensive or too radical remains secondary to their
and preparing an annual budget. These measures were short-term failure, but the seeds they planted were felt in
designed primarily to reform the government, but also the form of more gradual reforms as well as rebellions that
had the aim of impressing foreign powers in order to would shape China’s history into the twentieth century.
slow down the pace of foreign encroachments on Chi-
Charles Dobbs
nese sovereignty.
Predictably, there was backlash. The empress dowager,
Cixi (1835–1908), allied with conservative elements in the Further Reading
Imperial City and across the nation and prepared a coun- Cohen, P. A. & Schrecker, J. E. (Eds.). (1976). Reform in
terstrike. Rumors of a coup had floated around Beijing for nineteenth-century China. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
days, and as the emperor moved slowly, the empress dow- University Press.
ager and her allies moved quickly. On 21 September 1898, Kwong, L. S. K. (1984). A mosaic of the hundred days. Cam-
she seized control of the emperor, announced that he was bridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Hundred Flowers Campaign ▶

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◀ Hunan Province

Comprehensive index starts