Guangxu Emperor

The eleventh Qing emperor, Guangxu ruled China from 1875 to 1908, largely under the influence of Empress Dowager Cixi. His reign included the Hundred Days’ Reform and his confinement after its failure.

Hundred Days' Reform: A 1898 campaign of sweeping institutional reforms in the Qing Empire, ended by a coup led by conservative court forces. Guangxu sponsored these reforms before Cixi’s coup removed him from political power.
Grand Council: A Qing imperial body of senior officials that advised the emperor and handled confidential state business. It was among the central institutions through which Qing policy reached the throne.
Tongzhi Emperor: The tenth Qing emperor, whose reign lasted from 1861 until his death in 1875. His death without a surviving heir opened the succession that brought Guangxu to the throne.
Kang Youwei: A Chinese scholar and political thinker who advocated institutional reform and constitutional monarchy in the late Qing period. His proposals and court connections helped shape the reform movement Guangxu endorsed in 1898.
Empress Dowager Cixi: A Qing dynasty regent who exercised decisive influence over imperial politics for much of the late nineteenth century. She dominated Guangxu’s court and led the coup that ended his reform campaign.
Regency: Government exercised on behalf of a monarch who is a minor or otherwise unable to rule independently. Cixi’s regency framed Guangxu’s early accession and her continued political influence.
Prince Chun: Yixuan, a Qing imperial prince and father of the Guangxu Emperor and the Xuantong Emperor. Guangxu was chosen from Prince Chun’s family to succeed Tongzhi.
Liang Qichao: A Chinese journalist, scholar, and reformist who promoted political and educational change in the late Qing era. He publicized reformist ideas associated with Guangxu’s short-lived reform drive.
Boxer Rebellion: An anti-foreign uprising in northern China, followed by an international military intervention in 1900. The crisis exposed the Qing court’s weakness during Guangxu’s reign.
Qing imperial examination: A state examination system that selected officials through mastery of the Confucian classics and related scholarship. The examination system supplied the scholar-officials who served Guangxu’s government.

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Late Qing reformsRelated: His failed reform drive was a direct precedent for the later imperial program.