Hundred Days' Reform

The Hundred Days' Reform was a 1898 program of rapid institutional, educational, and military change issued under Qing emperor Guangxu. Conservative court resistance ended it and restored Empress Dowager Cixi’s dominance.

Guangxu Emperor: The Qing emperor who sponsored the 1898 reform program and ruled under Empress Dowager Cixi’s influence. He issued the reform edicts, making imperial authority their formal source.
Qing dynasty: China’s last imperial dynasty, which ruled from 1644 until the 1911 revolution. The reform program attempted to strengthen this dynasty without replacing its imperial structure.
Imperial examination: A state examination system that selected officials through mastery of classical texts and literary composition. Reformers sought to replace its classical curriculum with education suited to modern statecraft.
Six Gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform: Six reformers executed in Beijing after the 1898 coup for their association with the reform movement. Their executions made the crackdown’s human cost a lasting symbol of its failure.
Kang Youwei: A Chinese scholar and reformer who advocated constitutional, educational, and institutional change in the late Qing dynasty. His proposals and memorials helped shape the program’s direction.
First Sino-Japanese War: The 1894–1895 war between Qing China and Meiji Japan, ending in China’s defeat. The defeat exposed military and institutional weaknesses that reformers sought to address.
Peking University: A major Chinese university founded in Beijing in 1898 as the Imperial University of Peking. Its founding was among the reform program’s enduring educational initiatives.
Boxer Rebellion: An anti-foreign uprising in northern China from 1899 to 1901, suppressed by an international coalition. The crisis followed the coup and intensified pressure for Qing reforms.
Liang Qichao: A Chinese journalist and political thinker who became a prominent advocate of late Qing reform. His writings and organizing advanced reform ideas during and after the crisis.
Self-Strengthening Movement: A Qing-era effort to adopt Western military technology and industry while preserving Confucian institutions. Its limited, selective approach preceded the reformers’ broader institutional ambitions.

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