Era of Revolution for the Country and People of China - Essay Example

The Hundred Day Reforms of 1898 Introduction The 18th century has marked an era of revolution for the country and people of China. Many events andrevolutions took place in this era. In 1898 China was nothing but a state full of traditional and cultural activities. It had no such defense or a system defined to control activities of people as compared to the developing world. The weakness of their defense is clearly shown in Sino-Japanese war. This war was lost by the people of China because of their lack in technology and defense. This further made the officials of China to think that some reforms were to be introduced to save China from any future consequences. In 1895, Shimonoseki mortifying treaty inflamed the anger of China’s public. Students took an action against this agreement and around 600 young students signed a ‘Ten Thousand Words Memorial’ refusing Shimonoseki treaty and promoted institutional reform. Kang Youwei was the leader. Regardless of the official and traditional ban against the political grouping, young scholars shaped an organization called hsueh-hui to save the country. After 1895, many loyal societies of this type emerged. These societies were extended over the provinces and were struggling to save their homeland. Emperor Guangxu and Kang Youwei were brought together, as both had the same motive to save their homeland from the enemies and unfaithful leaders.1 At that time there was a great threat posed to the people and the country of China and to settle the situation they needed a revolution. China was lacking in every field i.e. of technology and education. Technology was outdated in China and to compete with the developing world there was a need to change and adapt the conditions of the developing world. In the late 18th century countries started demanding China of un-authorized benefits which they had to give to them as they were not strong enough to fight with them. The emperors did not take this matter seriously until 1898 when Emperor Guangxu realized the significance of this threat and took some precautionary measures in order to avoid any mishap which could occur. He was a man who realized that the country needed to adapt to the changing conditions of the world and leave behind the traditions and culture which limited them in progressing. On June 11, 1898 the Emperor finally decided to announce for a change in the country of China. This change was first welcomed by the masses and people of China. The emperor tried to implement policies of his own which gave a new way of progress to China. This article would further review about Hundred Day Reforms introduced by the emperor Guangxu. Hundred Day Reforms of 1898 The emperor Guangxu wanted to see a change in the system of China and hence introduced The Hundred Day Reform in China. There is a belief that Kang Youwei played in important role in the forming up of the reforms. He is said to be the advisor the emperor who helped him to implement and structure the hundred day reforms. He decided to formulate some policies according to the environment of China and implement them accordingly. He was a man of a quick nature who wanted his policies to be accepted at the moment. At first the policies were welcomed and appraised by all but after a gap of time many factors started to affect the policies and the firmness of the emperor. The emperor wanted to see China on the way to progress and thus the policies made were of westernized standards. Kang He introduced reforms in the educational and military sectors which were of great importance to the country of China. The policies in the starting were successful to a limit but after a time due to other factors involved the graph began to drop down. At first many promotions were made to the military, educational and agricultural system which was largely applauded by the people of China. The emperor abolished the ‘eight legged essay’ which used to take place in Civil Services. This eight legged essay had a lot of requirements and needed a lot of practice. In order to get into the Civil Departments one had to give this eight legged essay. And the emperor abolished it and introduced a totally new curriculum in the educational sector which involved the present political and financial problems.2 The emperor established an Imperial University in Peking. This university also consisted of a medical school under its jurisdiction. Many schools were developed in the provinces to teach students both the western and Chinese subjects. The emperor implemented some administrative reforms by removing some of the designated posts of the government. This was done because these posts were not necessary and played no role in controlling the offices. Many of the governors were also removed from provinces due to different reasons. Strict measures were taken to assure that no corruption took place in the government offices. Different ministries were created which included the ministry of agriculture. This was seen as a positive point too as the minister of agriculture could monitor the situation of agriculture in the country and act accordingly. The military sector was changed internally. The emperor provided the army with modern weapons so that they could compete with the western world. The army was restructured and forces were trained thoroughly. The reforms introduced by the emperor were reviewed by many people and then implemented. Though the emperor possessed the total power still it was the duty of the emperor to pass the reforms to the committees and boards to be accepted. There were six boards who aided the rules of the emperor. These reforms introduced were widely accepted by the committee members at first but after some time plots were being made by people to bring down the emperor. Some key reasons for the failure of the reform: As the emperor wanted everything to be implemented in a hurry, many people started opposing the policies implemented or passed by him. The emperor wanted a sudden change in the policies of China and this made some of the committee members to start disliking him and his policies. This was a major set back for the Hundred Days Reforms introduced in China. This new change brought by the emperor was welcomed at a slow pace but when the emperor started to hasten up the things it started getting unpopular among the masses. The enemies of the emperor took this situation to their advantage and took several steps which also lead to the failure of the reforms introduced. The emperor at times got aggressive when he saw that his reforms were not being introduced or were being slowly reviewed. And due to this reason the emperor took many wrong steps which lead to the downfall of his throne. The emperor took harsh steps on those who were against his reforms or were not in favor of implementing them. He showed his aggressive feelings towards the governor generals of two provinces. As the situation was getting out of control the enemies started making plots against the government of Guangxu. Song Bolu and Yang Shenxiu were two of the plotters who conspired against Xu Yungkuei. Hence after this period of time the conspiracies against the emperor rose to a level that it became alarming for the emperor.3 The reforms introduced by the emperor were disliked by some groups as they were not ready for a change. The Emperor and the reformers devised the policies of these reforms by analyzing other successful nations. But because of a lack of knowledge, culture and political state the reformers and the emperor could not implement it. They did not understand the situation in their country and did not devise a plan accordingly. This was an important part in their downfall. Many of the policies which were to be implemented in the provinces and the country could not be implemented due to many reasons. The governors of the provinces were not in favor of the reforms while those who were in favor of the reforms could not implement them as they did not have enough power in their province to implement them. This was a blow to the whole system of reforms. The reforms which were being introduced tried to establish a constitutional government in the centre. But the reforms did not help in finding an alternate of the power that the king possessed. And as the emperor started to hasten up the implementation of policies it worsened the condition of the state as the people were not interested in changing. The conservative society of the country thought that these reforms were an attempt to destroy the traditions of the dynasty.4 Some of the sects thought that these reforms were implemented to remove the concept of their sect from the society. This was because of the removal of some important officials from their designated posts who belonged to the same sect. Some people believed Kang Yuwei as being a close aide to the emperor. And due to this the conservatives thought that the reforms formed were against their sect as the place from which Kang Yuwei belonged to was against different sects. Another step taken by the administration of changing the Buddhist temples into government based institutions provoked controversy and anger among the sect of Buddhists. Some educational reforms which were implemented by the emperor were not liked by the youth of the country as some students had already prepared for their studies according to the traditional government educational system. The education standards in China were changed to the standards of the western world. The students could not cope up with the new standard and hence they started disliking the policies and the emperor himself. The Societies of the students which were formed in the latter years of the 18th century relied greatly on the government for their survival. As these societies became too essential support from them was taken away and this made these societies to disintegrate. And because of this the youth in Qing court lost their social support in 1898. They thus depended on the power of military to act against the Empress Dowager.5 But the military acted against the youth reformers and did not help them in opposition of Empress Dowager. Hence more of the student support was lost. The emperor also forced many senior governors and officials to retire or leave their designated posts so that able and mindful scholars can take their place. This was taken as a threat by the old officials as it also meant that their career was ended. Many old people who worked for the government thought that their lives were endangered and thus they opposed the policies largely. The emperor gave great importance to the people of southern china which made the conservatives from the other parts of China to be jealous and this further made them think that the policies which are being implemented are targeted at them. Corruption was widely caught in these reforms and stern actions were taken against those who were found in the matters of corruption. This was another cause for the reforms to be disliked as the people who liked this unlawful practice did not want to live their earnings in an honest way. There was another opposition to the emperor which was of the old empress named Dowager. She had retired in 1889 but left her mark at the Qing court and the people in Qing court were greatly influenced by her. This was another weakness to the reforms as the people who liked Empress Dowager did not want the policies of the emperor to be successful. The emperor himself was weak in power and he himself could not use his authoritative powers in the provinces. And without the lack of power with the emperor himself it was very hard for the policies of the emperor to be implemented. The dynasty broke into pieces after the Taiping Rebellion which took place in 1851. The government lost its power on the provinces and it became decentralized.6 Thus the emperor automatically lost the powers vested to him. Peking’s control over the provinces got very weak and in the end the reforms introduced by the emperor in the central government were not of much importance in the provinces as these reforms were not being implemented. As Kang Yuwei was handling the departments of the government and advising the emperor on his policies it became a weak point for the emperor as Kang Yuwei was greatly disliked by many people. Conservatives were against the perspective of Kang Yuwei on the subject of Confucianism. And on the other hand Kang Yuwei had no prior experience in the field of administration. There was a lack of knowledge about western standards among the government officials of China. This was a major point in the downfall of the reforms as the standards put up by the Western side of the world could not be met by China due to lack of expertise. The reforms were handled in a very hasty manner which showed their inability and incompetence.7 The policies of the emperor were not handled tactfully and time was not allocated according to the requirements of the policies. The emperor wanted to finish all the problems of China in three months which was impossible and therefore this lead to many inter-government problems. Many of the officials could not adapt with the proposals which recommended a change in such a hurry that it was impossible for them to cope up with it. And thus many of the committee members either rejected or amended it accordingly. The emperor and the reformers could not achieve the cooperation and support of all the conservative groups in China. They did not show proper leadership qualities in controlling the people of China. The emperor did not consult anyone before making a policy. The government had a lot of departments and if a certain proposal was accepted by the emperor it took a lot of days for the other committees to review it. Thus this wasted a lot of time for the policies to be implemented. At times many people were allowed to advice about how and what a new reform should include. This created confusion among both the officials and the emperor. And due to the different advices of people the paperwork increased and it became really difficult for the committee and the emperor to review all the possible reforms. The system collapsed from the inside as many officials started conspiring against the emperor. The final blow to the reforms came when Empress Cixi took over from the emperor after a period of hundred days. Many of the measures which were designed for the reforms were not practiced. It made the people realize the importance of a progressing China. The leadership qualities lacked by the emperor and his aides were an important factor which contributed to the downfall of their government. Conclusion The failure of these reforms led to the old establishment of conservative traditions. Empress Dowager took back her position from Emperor Guangxu and appointed conservative Manzhus to the top positions in the government. This led to the beginning of an anti Chinese policy which was against the people of Chinese. This was the beginning of riots between the Chinese and other sects. This anti Chinese policy in the future led to the revolution of 1911. The downfall of the government of the emperor and the failure of his reforms showed that proper leadership is required to implement and structure reforms. It showed that in order to change the whole environment has to be changed and only one cannot change the whole environment. The reforms left a very bitter effect on all the sects of China as they started to fight with each other. Though these reforms were not implemented but they left their mark even on the future government. Empress Dowager was forced to follow the same principles as that introduced by the previous government due to the revolutions which were taking place.8 Some of the previous reforms were introduced and led to the westernization of China. It brought the concept of constitutional government in China and helped people to realize the importance of technology and progress. The hundred day reforms failed in the first era but were quite successful when implemented by Empress Dowager. This is because of the control that Empress had on the provinces and the tactics which she chose to implement the policies. Hundred Day Reforms made a way for the future government to realize the significance of a modernized China. And in the latter stages the same policies were followed and went quite successful. The Hundred Day Reforms are still celebrated in China and are seen as a sign of a great revolution in the history of China. They marked the beginning of an improved and westernized China.9 Bibliography DeFronzo, James. Revolutions and Revolutionary Movements. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press, 2007. Reynolds, Douglas Robertson. China, 1895-1912: State-Sponsored Reforms and Chinas Late-Qing Revolution : Selected Essays from Zhongguo Jindai Shi (Modern Chinese History, 1840-1919). Special studies in Chinese history. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1995. Chronological, Political and Physical Description of the Empire of China, Chinese-Tartary, Corea and Thibet. ... Adornd with Curious Maps, and ... Copper-Plates. Done from the French of P. Du Halde. London: printed by and for John Watts, 1736. . Macgowan, John. The Imperial History of China Being a History of the Empire. Shanghai: Printed at the American Presbyterian mission press, 1906. Karl. Rebecca E. and Zarrow Peter 2002, Rethinking the 1898 Reform Period: Political and Culture Change in Late Qing China, Harvard University Asia Center and distributed by Harvard University Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) and London. Read More