After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the national crisis was unprecedented and national capitalism was initially developed. On behalf of the political demands of the upper class of the national bourgeoisie and enlightened gentry, the reformists headed by Kang Youwei took to the historical stage, and advocated bourgeois transformation of China's traditional politics, economy, ideology and culture, leading China to the capitalist development path, so as to save the national crisis and make the country rich and strong. Kang Youwei (1858- 1927), formerly known as Zuyi, was named Guangsha with a long name. People from Nanhai, Guangdong. Landlord bureaucrat family background. 18 years old, educated by Zhu Ciqi, a famous Confucian in Jiangnan, but not confined to the teacher. He can think independently, likes Lu (Xiangshan) and Wang (Yangming), but can't afford to leave (,). 265,438+0 years old, traveled to Hong Kong and got in touch with western capitalist civilization. He believed that "westerners should not treat the past as a rule", bought western books and advocated western learning, and embarked on the road of exploring the truth of saving the country from the west. When the Sino-French War broke out in the tenth year of Guangxu, he witnessed the foreign invasion of Ling and the corruption of the Qing court, which greatly inspired the idea of reform and political reform. /kloc-in 0/4, he took the opportunity of taking the provincial examination in Shuntian, Beijing, and wrote to the Qing emperor for the first time, proposing three strategies of "turning into law, understanding the situation, and being cautious", asking Guangxu emperor to respect your dignity, blame himself, and seek to cure it by words. At that time, the die-hards held and blocked the state affairs, which was difficult to achieve and was crazy about it. Kang realized that it was not time for reform, so he returned to the south. Since the spring of 17, a 10,000-acre thatched cottage has been set up in Guangzhou to train talents for the reform and reform. Disciple Liang Qichao and others. In the spring of the 21st year, Kang went to Beijing to take the exam, which coincided with the defeat of the Qing government by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War and the signing of the unprecedented treaty of shimonoseki. When the news reached Beijing, the candidates were furious and rushed to tell each other. Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao contacted 18 province 1300 people to write a letter to the Qing emperor, opposing the signing of the treaty of shimonoseki, and putting forward the idea of "refusing peace, moving the capital, training and reforming". Although the petition was rejected by the Qing court, its contents were copied and copied, which caused widespread influence in society. This petition marks that the bourgeois reformists have officially entered the historical stage, and the bourgeois reformist trend of thought that has been brewing for many years has begun to become a practical political movement. Since then, Kang Youwei has organized strong societies in Beijing, Shanghai and other places with the call of "strengthening the country through reform", published the Bulletin of the Nations (later changed to "Chinese and foreign magazines") and "Powerful Country Magazine", promoted the reform and reform, saved the nation from extinction, advocated western learning, and investigated the sources of strength and weakness of various countries, which reflected the reformists' admiration for western bourgeois democracy and was therefore hated by feudal die-hards. 2 1 at the end of the century, the powerful societies in Beijing and Shanghai were banned one after another, and Chinese and foreign periodicals and powerful periodicals were forced to stop publishing. However, the reform has become a trend of thought of the times, and it will not be silent because of the madness of feudal rulers. In 22 years, Liang Qichao and others founded The Times in Shanghai, and published important papers such as Liang Zhu's Political Reform. In twenty-three years, Yan Fu founded The Country in Tianjin, serializing important papers such as Evolution and Yuan Qiang translated by Yan. In twenty-four years, Tan Sitong and Tang founded Xiang Bao. These newspapers and periodicals use Darwin's theory of evolution as an ideological weapon, ringing the alarm of national peril, calling for "saving the nation from extinction" and discussing the necessity and rationality of political reform and reform; Exposing feudal autocracy is the root of China's weakness and backwardness, and vigorously advocating bourgeois civil rights thought; Criticizing the old feudal ideology and culture and vigorously promoting new learning have spread all over the country. At the same time, reformists organized societies and founded schools in various places. According to incomplete statistics, during the twenty-one to twenty-four years of Guangxu, the reformists founded more than 50 societies, schools, newspapers and periodicals, and published more than 30 kinds of newspapers and periodicals, which prepared public opinion for the climax of the reform movement and trained talents. At that time, the Imperial Party was in a weak position in the struggle for the ruling power with the post-Party, and it was in urgent need of social support. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, some imperial parties gradually tended to reform, trying to use the reform talents and courage of the reformists to help Guangxu emperor seize the ruling power from the post-party through reform, so as to achieve the goal of saving the country and strengthening the country. At this time, the national bourgeoisie in China has not yet formed an independent political force, and the reformists are also eager to seek political support to win their support. Thus, after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the imperial party and the reformists gradually combined. The establishment of a strong society is the symbol of its combination.
In the winter of the 23rd year of Guangxu, the Germans occupied Jiaozhou Bay, and other imperialists followed suit, which set off the climax of occupying the leased land and dividing up China's sphere of influence. China was facing the crisis of being carved up. Kang Youwei rushed to Beijing from the south again, and presented the fifth book of Qing Emperor on 1 1 2 that year (65438+February 5), proposing three reform strategies to choose from. The best policy is to "adopt France, Russia and Japan to determine the country"; China's policy is "seeking politics by gathering talents"; The best policy is to "listen to the political reform of Xinjiang ministers." He also put forward such contents as "paying for the country from the country" and "adopting the laws of other countries and clarifying the distinction between public and private in the constitution", which involved the reform of the central political power system in the Qing Dynasty and embodied the political ideal of the reformists in pursuing the bourgeois civil rights system. This time, because of the fierce rhetoric, it was banned by the die-hards and failed to be reached. Emperor Guangxu wanted to summon Kang Youwei, but he was also blocked by the die-hards. In the 24th year of Guangxu (65438+1October 24th), on the third day of the first month, Emperor Guangxu ordered the king to meet Kang Youwei in the West Flower Hall of the General Political Department to ask about the political reform. On the eighth day of the first month, Kang Youwei put forward the program of political reform in the book "The Great Pledge Minister Works to Create a New Political Situation" (that is, the sixth part of Emperor Shangqing): First, "The Great Pledge Minister should get rid of the old and innovate, adopt the public opinion of the world, and adopt the good laws of all countries"; Second, "set up a system bureau in the palace, recruit 20 generalists from all over the world to participate, and reconsider all political systems"; Third, "set up a summoned place for everyone in the world to write." Its core is the second paragraph. According to Kang Youwei's idea, the system bureau is the central organization that guides the political reform of the country, and its function is to be responsible for legislation and deliberation; Twelve special bureaus of law, taxation, science, agriculture, commerce, industry, mining, railway, postal service, coin-making, tourism, social service and military equipment are set up as administrative agencies to implement the New Deal matters agreed by the system bureau. In March, Kang Youwei initiated the establishment of a group to defend aggression and save the nation in Beijing, and published 30 articles of association to defend the National Assembly. With the aim of "protecting the country, species and education", it stipulated the organizational system, powers and responsibilities, membership procedures, rights and obligations of the Congress and branches, which was slightly the size of a bourgeois political party. Under the impetus of the Bulgarian National Assembly, patriotic organizations with the nature of resisting aggression and saving the nation have been set up in various places, and "reform and reform" and "saving the nation from extinction" have gathered into a powerful trend of the times. On the 10th day of April, Prince Gong, who opposed political reform and admired power, played a game of chess. When he died of illness and the favorable opportunity for political reform came, Kang Youwei actively contacted the Imperial Party to promote Guangxu's immediate political reform. On the 23rd, Emperor Guangxu accepted the reformists' suggestion, resolutely promulgated "The State is the Imperial Decree", announced the reform, and called on ministers of all sizes to work hard and be furious, "taking the knowledge of sages as the foundation", "learning from the West, keeping abreast of current events and stressing strength", and earnestly implementing the New Deal, "not perfunctory". From then on, until the sixth day of August, Cixi once again announced her political training. *** 103, Emperor Guangxu quoted the reformists, denounced the conservatives, promulgated reform decrees and implemented the New Deal reform policy, which was known as the "Hundred Days Reform" in history. The contents of the new reform mainly include: 1. Economically, protect and reward agriculture, industry and commerce, set up the General Administration of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce and the General Administration of Railways and Mines in Beijing, promote industry and encourage private investment, and set up business bureaus (or branches of agriculture, industry and commerce) in all provinces; Ordering local officials in all provinces to adopt Chinese and western laws to effectively revitalize agriculture; Award scientific works and inventions, and promulgate article 12 of the regulations on revitalizing technology awards, which stipulates that those who write new books, innovate laws and make new devices shall be granted official positions or patents; In the capital and various trading ports, post sub-offices are generally established and post stations are abolished; Prepare the national budget and final accounts, which will be published by the Ministry of Housing on a monthly basis; Cancel the parasitic privileges of Manchu and allow them to make a living on their own. Second, the political aspect: let the yamen delete the rules; The central government abolished idle yamen such as Zhan Shifu, the General Political Department and Guanglu Temple, and other provinces abolished overlapping institutions such as the governors of Hubei, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces (the governors of these three provinces are in the same city) and the governors of Donghe; Clear the way, allow officials and people to write and say things, and prohibit officials and people from blocking the grid. Third, the military aspect: the old army was eliminated, and all the troops of the eight banners provinces were changed to foreign exercises; Organize arsenal, build soldier wheel and train navy; Practice armor protection and group training. Fourth, culture and education: reform the imperial examination, abolish the system of taking stereotyped writing of scholars, and try to discuss policies; To set up schools to promote western learning, we should first set up Shi Jing University Hall, so that all provinces, governments, ministries, states and counties can change the existing academies into schools that also study in Manabu Nakanishi. Set up a translation bureau to translate foreign new books; Allow the establishment of newspapers and associations; Send people to travel abroad, study abroad and so on. Although the reform jointly carried out by the reformists and the imperial party is quite moderate, it involves political, economic, military, ideological and cultural fields and is a far-reaching bourgeois social reform. In a short period of 100 days, the people of China have achieved a certain degree of freedom of speech, publication, assembly and association; The national capitalist industry was legally recognized for the first time; The old feudal ideology and culture suffered a heavy blow, and bourgeois ideas spread widely. Especially in the process of the in-depth development of the reform movement, the reformists vigorously advocated the bourgeois civil rights thought; Kang Youwei's political proposition of establishing a constitution and parliament in his second to fifth books, and his proposition of setting up a system bureau and asking the bourgeoisie to participate in political power in the Hundred Days Reform have enlightenment significance for the bourgeoisie to oppose feudal absolutism, which is a milestone of China people's anti-feudal struggle.
The Reform Movement of 1898 reflected the interests of the emerging bourgeoisie and caused desperate resistance from the feudal die-hards. Stubborn ministers such as fortitude and Xu Tong declared that they would rather die than change the law, and repeatedly asked Empress Dowager Cixi to suppress the reformists and sanction Emperor Guangxu. As the actual supreme ruler of the Qing Dynasty, Cixi never sided with the die-hards, and her ruling power was based on the checks and balances between the die-hards and the Westernization School. In the face of foreign invasion, the call for reform and saving the country is growing. As long as the reform does not fall within the scope of the Westernization School's "taking middle school as the body and western learning as the application", she can tolerate it temporarily to show her willingness to bow to public opinion and "change her tune" to achieve the purpose of alleviating class contradictions and old and new contradictions. Her policy is never to shake its military and political power from the central to the local, never to allow Guangxu to exclude his cronies, and never to allow him to form his own clique in the court. Once Emperor Guangxu crossed this line, she was ready to launch a coup at any time. To this end, a few days after the Hundred Days Reform, she let Weng Tonghe abdicate. Cut off the wings of Guangxu; After the appointment, Rong Lu, the backbone of the party, was appointed governor of Zhili and minister of Beiyang, commanding Beiyang armed forces; He also ordered ministers above the second class to thank the Empress Dowager when accepting new posts, so as to control Guangxu's power of appointment and removal and prevent him from promoting reformists without exception. In addition, she also sent cronies to take charge of Beijing's military command and public security power, preparing for the post-party to launch a coup at any time. This is tantamount to telling ministers that power is still firmly in her hands and they can let go of the New Deal. Therefore, except for Chen Baozhen, the governor of Hunan Province, who took the New Deal seriously, most governors did not take Guangxu's letters seriously, and their bets were still on Empress Dowager Cixi. Therefore, in the Hundred Days Reform, although more than 80 New Deal letters were issued, the actual results were very small. The die-hards continued to attack the reformists directly, and Emperor Guangxu fought back boldly. On the second day of May, Song Bolu and Yang Shenxiu, as imperial envoys of the imperial court, were betrothed by the ministers of the Ministry of Rites. Obstruct the discussion of abolishing stereotyped writing and play "old-fashioned absurdity and obstruct the New Deal". Emperor Guangxu ordered Xu Ying? I see. Echo. Xu tried every means to cover up and took the opportunity to attack Kang Youwei for "shaking people's hearts and confusing people", so please "expel him to his hometown". Was reprimanded by Emperor Guangxu. After May 20th, Kang Youwei, the censor of Shen Yan Party, "said that local officials control the whole country". Emperor Guangxu angrily dismissed the paper banner and walked back to the original yamen. On July 19, wasn't Xu Ying, the minister of the Ministry of Justice, on the whiteboard? , assistant minister? Yi, Xu Huifeng, Pu? Zeng Guanghan was dismissed by Emperor Guangxu for obstructing the master Wang from speaking according to the imperial edict. The next day, Emperor Guangxu awarded Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi and Xu Lin four titles and took to the military plane Zhang Jing to participate in the New Deal. These great events greatly angered the post-party die-hards, and the contradiction between the old and new parties quickly intensified. After the party ministers, such as Rong Lu, fortitude, Whitehead, etc. , have been out, to step up the coup.
Kang Youwei and other reformers have a military coup plan aimed at "respecting the monarchical power" and "going to the empress dowager". Seeing that the post-party die-hards stepped up their preparations for the coup, they also made great efforts to promote the implementation of the military coup plan. They wooed Yuan Shikai in an attempt to kill Rong Lu, surround the Summer Palace, hijack the Western Empress Dowager, protect Emperor Guangxu and defend the New Deal reform. Emperor Guangxu didn't know the plot of the reformists, but he summoned Yuan Shikai and awarded him the title of assistant minister in case of emergency. And put all your eggs in one basket, promote a large number of reformers, and plan to open a discussion system in the logistics department; It is also scheduled to summon former Japanese Prime Minister Ito Bowen on August 5; Reformists and Imperial Party officials also frequently contacted Ito and invited him as a New Deal adviser. These two incidents aroused great suspicion of the post-party clique. They are most afraid that the imperial party will be armed, and they are most worried that the reformists will combine with foreign forces, prompting imperialism to help Guangxu seize power from Cixi. So Cixi decided to stage a coup before Guangxu met Ito. On the third day of August, Yang Chongyi, the late party adviser, tipped off Cixi and asked the empress dowager to "instruct the government on the same day". The late party leader Rong Lu sent troops on the same day to prepare for a coup. Reformists have also stepped up their actions. Tan Sitong called on Yuan Shikai day and night and instigated Yuan to implement the plan of "killing (tolerating) Lu Gu Hou". Yuan pretended to promise, but was spared execution. On the fourth day, Cixi suddenly returned to the palace from the Summer Palace, staged a coup and imprisoned Guangxu. On the fifth day, under the close supervision of Cixi, Guangxu handled two original government affairs, one was to summon Yuan Shikai for "training" and the other was to summon Ito Bowen. On the sixth day, Cixi issued an imperial edict under the pseudonym of Emperor Guangxu, demanding that Empress Dowager Cixi issue a political instruction, announcing her third political instruction in North Korea, and ordering the arrest of Kang Youwei and Kang Ren Guang. Yuan Shikai returned to Tianjin after "training" on the fifth day of the fifth day, and immediately tipped off Rong Lu. Rong hesitated for a long time. After learning that the coup had "started from the inside", he began to tip off the contents of Yuan's tip-off to Cixi. On the ninth day, Cixi ordered the arrest of Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Xu Lin and Yang Shenxiu. 13, these five people were killed in Beijing food market together with Kang, known as the "Six Gentlemen of the 1898 Movement". Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao fled to Japan. Officials supporting the political reform include Chen Baozhen, Jiang Biao, Huang Zunxian and Li Duan. Zhang and other dozens of people were arrested and imprisoned, or dismissed, or sent to the border. The New Deal was completely abolished, and the Reform Movement of 1898 failed, except for the Capital University Hall and westernization projects such as trading, benefiting workers, attaching importance to agriculture and cultivating talents.
The Reform Movement of 1898 was the product of the intensification of the contradiction between the Chinese nation and imperialism at the end of 19, and it was a patriotic movement aimed at saving the motherland from peril. This is China's first visit to the Enlightenment in modern history. It is a post station of China people's anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle during the old democratic revolution, and it has indelible historical achievements. However, due to the strong economic foundation of feudalism in 2000, the strong feudal political power and the deep-rooted influence of feudalism, the young and weak bourgeoisie who just stepped onto the historical stage could not defend against the enemy, and the failure of the Reform Movement of 1898 was inevitable. At the same time, the national bourgeoisie in China has not yet become an independent class force, and it is inextricably linked with the feudal forces. The reformists are seriously divorced from the masses, lack the courage to break with feudalism completely, and have unrealistic illusions about imperialism. At best, they can only launch a weak bourgeois political reform movement, but they can't make the reformists take power. Just as the imperial edict of the political reform flew like snowflakes, the military and political power was still firmly in the hands of the feudal die-hards. Reform without political power is doomed to failure. The history of the Reform Movement of 1898 proves that in semi-colonial and semi-feudal China, top-down reform and improvement is only an unrealistic fantasy of the young and weak national bourgeoisie, and it is bound to give way to the bourgeois democratic revolution.