What are the reasons for the failure of the reform movement of 1898? What is the historical significance of the reform movement of 1898? Now let me tell you the reasons and historical significance of the failure of the reform movement of 1898!
The fundamental purpose of the reform is to replace the feudal autocratic political system and natural economy with the capitalist political, economic, cultural and educational system, which will inevitably be opposed by the conservative forces. The success of the reform depends on the power balance between the reform forces and the conservative forces. Although the strength of the national bourgeoisie has made initial development, it is still extremely weak. The severe national crisis after the Sino Japanese War forced them to rush into battle, and their economic strength, theoretical system, ideological brewing and political opinions were seriously insufficient. However, the feudal stubborn forces they faced were very powerful. From Princes and nobles who controlled the real power of military and government to military generals, as well as scholars who could only write eight part essays, all opposed the reform for vested interests, and formed a strict network to resist the reform from top to bottom. In addition, although the Westernization faction, which originally had contradictions with the Conservatives, had a common language with them on the issue of "western use", it sided with the conservative camp for the sake of "Chinese style", making the reform faction weak. The contrast between the old and the new forces is obviously not conducive to the reformers. Therefore, the enemy is strong and we are weak, which is the main reason for the failure of the reform.
The reformers did not hold power and only relied on a powerless Emperor Guangxu to give orders, hoping to realize their ideals through peaceful, top-down reform. In this case, they should have combined the struggle of the participating parties and the people to create a strong momentum and force those in power to take corresponding reform measures, but they are divorced from the people and even afraid and hostile to the people. One of the reasons why they want to advocate reform is to resist the "worry and danger" of "exposing the rod and cutting the wood". As a result, they can not get the support of the broad masses of the people, and their scope of activities is limited to the enlightened faction of the landlord class and the circle of intellectuals. In addition, they also lacked the support of the army. When the great disaster came, they remembered that they needed the army, so they went to Yuan Shikai and were betrayed by Yuan Shikai. Therefore, breaking away from the people is an important reason for the failure of the reform.
Any reform, especially political reform, has a gradual process, and it is unrealistic to finish it in one battle. The reformers, who have no experience in political struggle, have adopted some extreme practices and have to abolish the traditional bureaucracy represented by the six ministries when they do not have power; Although Weng Tongfu proposed to let Empress Dowager Cixi instead of Emperor Guangxu act as the leader of the reformers, she was rejected by Kang Youwei. Finally, Empress Dowager Cixi suspected that their motive for the reform was to seize power from her, which made her stand on the side of the opposition without hesitation. In addition, the reformers took a comprehensive attack and went hand in hand to promote the reform. In just 103 days, Emperor Guangxu issued more than 300 reform decrees, the contents of which involved various fields. This eager attitude increased the disgust and fear of the reform among all sectors of Chinese society, which was originally weak in the bearing capacity of the reform, which undoubtedly increased the resistance to the reform. Therefore, being too radical is another important reason for the failure of the reform.
The reformers were not only dissatisfied with the obstruction and destruction of feudal stubborn forces, but also kept inextricably linked with feudalism. For example, in terms of theoretical guidance, Kang Youwei, the leader of the reformers, played the signboard of "Confucius sage" to carry out reform. Although this has strategic significance to reduce the resistance to reform, it also exposed their weakness, making them lack the courage to fight imperialism and feudalism, so they had to take improvement measures. Although they put forward the resounding slogan of "saving the nation from subjugation and striving for survival", they believed that in order to save the nation from danger, there was no need to oppose imperialism positively. As long as they learned from the west, implemented capitalist reform and made China rich and strong, they could be free from aggression by foreign powers. They even fantasized about Britain, the United States, Japan and other powers to help them reform. As a result, the bloodless reform movement of 1898 ended in a bloody coup of 1898. Therefore, having unrealistic illusions is also an important reason for the failure of the reform.
The reform movement of 1898 was an event of great significance in modern Chinese history. ① the reform movement of 1898 was a bourgeois reform movement and a preliminary attempt by the bourgeoisie to change the social system. The reformers tried to establish a bourgeois constitutional monarchy politically. The economic development of national capitalism is in line with the historical development trend. ② It was a patriotic national salvation_ Sports. At a time when the national crisis is intensifying, the reformers have carried out extensive publicity and encouragement with the goal of reform and strengthening the country and saving the nation from subjugation and survival. They hope that through reform, China will move towards independence, democracy and prosperity, so as to get rid of the aggression of imperialist powers, show strong patriotic enthusiasm and stimulate the people's patriotic thought and national consciousness. ③ The reform movement of 1898 was also a liberation of the ideological trend in modern China. The bourgeois reformers advocated new learning, advocated the rejuvenation of civil rights, fiercely attacked feudal thought, opened the way for the vigorous rise of the ideological enlightenment in modern thought, and promoted the awakening of the Chinese people. Many legacies left by the reform movement, such as emancipating the mind, changing ideas, establishing associations, setting up schools, establishing newspapers and periodicals, advocating women's schools, changing customs and so on. It has become a valuable asset in the history of the development of Chinese civilization. The reform movement of 1898 was also an ideological enlightenment. The reformers advocated new learning, criticized the old learning, and focused on the promotion of "rejuvenating civil rights", which greatly improved the democratic consciousness and political participation consciousness of the whole society. Since then, democracy has become a surging social trend of thought, which has greatly changed the face of China's ideological and cultural circles. He said that China's bourgeois new culture was also initially established during the reform movement of 1898 and later years. The bourgeois new academic, philosophy, history, economics and literary theory have sprouted, and "Poetry Revolution", "style revolution", "Novel Revolution" and "drama improvement" have emerged one after another. The bourgeois new culture, both in content and form, began to become the mainstream of modern Chinese culture.
In April 1895, Kang Youwei launched more than 1300 people who took the exam in Beijing to jointly write to Emperor Guangxu, describing the severe situation and putting forward the idea of reform, which is known as "writing on the bus". The letter did not touch the Qing government much, but it caused a sensation all over the country.
In August 1895, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and others published the "world Communique" (later renamed "Sino foreign Chronicle") in Beijing to promote the reform; Strong organization society. Subsequently, it founded the current affairs newspaper in Shanghai, which became the public opinion center of the reformers to publicize the reform.
In December 1897, Kang Youwei wrote for the fifth time, stating that the situation was imminent for the powers to carve up China.
In January 1898, Kang Youwei wrote to Emperor Guangxu again. In April, he and Liang Qichao initiated the establishment of the National Security Council in Beijing. With the active promotion of reformers and imperial party officials, Emperor Guangxu issued the imperial edict of "fixing the country is an imperial edict" on June 11, announcing the reform. The new deal began on this day and lasted 103 days until the coup launched by Empress Dowager Cixi on September 21. It is known as "100 day reform" in history.
During this period, Emperor Guangxu issued a series of reform edicts and decrees according to the suggestions of Kang Youwei and others. The main contents are as follows: economically, establish the Bureau of agriculture, industry and Commerce and the General Administration of roads and mines to promote the establishment of industry; Building railways and mining mineral resources; Organizing chambers of Commerce; Reform the financial system, abolish the privilege of the flag bearer being supported by the state, and make him earn his own living. Politically, they are open-minded and allow scholars and people to write and talk about things; Amending laws and regulations; Abolish redundant personnel; Clarify the administration of officials; Militarily, the green battalion was eliminated and the new army was compiled and trained; Additional ships; Expand the Navy. Culturally, abolish Bagu and promote western learning; Establishment of primary and secondary schools; Founded the Capital University; Set up translation offices to translate foreign books; Allow the establishment of newspapers and societies; Send foreign students; Reward scientific works and inventions. The purpose of these reform decrees is to learn western culture, science and technology and management system, develop capitalism, establish a constitutional monarchy and make the country rich and strong.
The new deal measures represent the interests of the emerging bourgeoisie and are not tolerated by the feudal die hard forces. Some dignitaries and conservative bureaucrats in the Qing government obeyed the new deal measures in public and disobeyed them in secret. On the fifth day after Emperor Guangxu announced the reform, Empress Dowager Cixi forced Guangxu to send three orders, controlled the appointment and removal of personnel and the military and political power in Beijing and Tianjin, and prepared to launch a coup. After the "hundred day reform" began, the Conservatives in the Qing government could not tolerate the development of the reform movement. Someone wrote to Empress Dowager Cixi to kill Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao; Yi Yi and Li Lianying knelt down and asked the Empress Dowager to "hang the curtain and listen to politics"; Yang Chongyi, the imperial historian, went to Tianjin many times to plot with Rong Lu; Even rumors inside and outside the court will abolish Guangxu and establish another emperor. In mid September, Emperor Guangxu sent several secret edicts to the reformers to discuss countermeasures, but the reformers had no real power and had nothing to do, so they had to suggest to Emperor Guangxu to reuse Yuan Shikai to deal with Rong Lu. 16. On the 17th, Emperor Guangxu summoned Yuan Shikai twice and granted him a servant; On the night of the 18th, Tan Sitong paid a secret visit to Yuan Shikai and advised yuan to kill Ronglu and raise troops to rescue him. Afterwards, he was betrayed by Yuan Shikai.
In the early morning of September 21, 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi suddenly rushed back to the Forbidden City from the summer palace and went straight to the Guangxu emperor's bedroom to imprison the Guangxu emperor in Yingtai, Zhongnanhai; Then the imperial edict on political training was issued, and the "political training" and "reform movement of 1898" failed again. After the coup of 1898, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered the capture and killing of Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao who were at large; Arrest Tan Sitong, Yang Shenxiu, Lin Xu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Kang Guangren, Xu Zhijing, Zhang Yinhuan and others. On September 28, Tan Sitong, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Lin Xu, Yang Shenxiu and Kang Guangren were killed in the Beijing food market; Xu Zhijing was sentenced to permanent imprisonment; Zhang Yinhuan was stationed in Xinjiang. All the new deal measures, except the Capital University (now Peking University) opened in July, have been abolished. From June 11 to September 21, 103 days of reform and reform were carried out, and the 1898 coup failed.