dec 25, 1897 - Hundred Days of Reform
Description:
An attempt to modernise China by reforming its government, economy, and society
The defeat of China by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War & the threat of partition by foreign imperialists made it clear to Chinese intellectuals that China must reform its political and economic systems in order to survive.
Impressed by the Japanese success at modernization, the reformers declared that China needed more than "self-strengthening" and that what was required was institutional and ideological change.
June 12: Influenced by the political reformer Kang Youwei, Emperor Guangxu issued a significant decree proclaiming a new national policy of "reform and self-strengthening,"
For the next 3 months the imperial court gave decrees intending to transform China into a modern, constitutional monarchy. The decrees included provisions for:
→ Modernization of the traditional exam system
→ The inclusion of Western studies, mathematics, and science in all Chinese education
→ A public school system
→ The establishment of popularly elected local assemblies
→ The eventual creation of a national parliamentary government
→ Westernization of the bureaucracy
→ The establishment of official ministries to promote commerce, industry, and banking
→ Elimination of sinecures (positions that required little or no work but provided a salary)
→ Reform of the military
Opposition to the reforms was intense among the conservative ruling elite, especially the Manchus who instead proposed a more moderate and gradual course of change.
The decrees issued by the reform government were implemented in only 1 out of 15 provinces, the rest of China resisted them.
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