A 103-day Qing reform effort in 1898 that failed after a conservative coup but shaped later modernization policies in China.
Key Facts
- Duration
- June 11 to September 21, 1898
- Duration in days
- Approximately 103 days days
- Initiated by
- Guangxu Emperor
- Led by
- Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao
- Reformers executed
- 6 people
- Institution established
- Imperial University of Peking (now Peking University)
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895) exposed deep institutional weaknesses and intensified foreign intervention, prompting reform-minded officials and scholars to push the Guangxu Emperor toward rapid modernization of government, military, education, and civil service structures.
From June 11 to September 21, 1898, the Guangxu Emperor issued a series of imperial edicts aimed at restructuring government organization, reforming the civil service examination, modernizing the army, promoting industry and education, and adopting elements of constitutional governance, guided by scholars Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao.
Empress Dowager Cixi, fearing instability and foreign exploitation of weakness, staged a coup on September 21, 1898, placing the emperor under house arrest and executing six leading reformers. Most edicts were reversed, though the movement later inspired the Qing court's own 'New Policies' reforms launched after 1901.