![]() On 12 January 1875, Zaitian's cousin, the Tongzhi Emperor, died without a son to succeed him.Įmperor Guangxu was therefore raised under the total domination of Cixi, who maintained full influence over him. Zaitian was the second son of Yixuan (Prince Chun), and his primary spouse Yehenara Wanzhen, a younger sister of Empress Dowager Cixi. His reign lasted from 1875 to 1908, but in practice he ruled, under Empress Dowager Cixi's influence, only from 1889 to 1898. The Guangxu Emperor was the eleventh emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China. He was succeeded by his nephew, Emperor Xuantong (or Puyi) in December 1908. Guangxu once again became nothing more than a puppet emperor under the shadow of his aunt until his death on November 14, 1908. Cixi thereafter resumed her control of the government. Guangxu was placed under house arrest and Kang Youwei fled to Japan. In May 1898, Kang presented his formal reform proposal to Guangxu, which included a national polity under Emperor Guangxu’s leadership modeled after Peter the Great of Russia and Emperor Meiji of Japan, reorganization of the national government based on the new ideas under the leadership of the new reform-minded intellectuals, and provincial governments to be given authority to initiate changes according to national needs.Įmperor Guangxu agreed with Kang's reform proposals and, on June 11, 1898, officially issued an imperial decree for the general government reform (known as the Hundred Day Reform) which lasted until September 20, when Empress Dowager Cixi unleashed her power and put an immediate stop to it. After January 29, 1898, Kang was granted a special right to have direct access to Emperor Guangxu for closer consultation on the reform. When Guangxu’s imperial tutor Weng Tonghe supported Kang’s advocacies in early 1898, Guangxu became more eager to pursue the new reforms. ![]() Since 1890, Kang Youwei had repeatedly sent memorials to Guangxu expressing his ideas for urgent reform of the Chinese government. Kang Youwei, a young and active scholar, who had similar concerns about China as Guangxu did, attracted the emperor's attention. ![]() Moreover, the defeat and humiliation suffered by China after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 shocked Guangxu in such a way that he became immensely worried about China’s survival and wanted to seek his own way to avert its demise. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |