An Unexpected Gift for the Empress Dowager
In 1894, as Empress Dowager Cixi celebrated her 60th birthday amidst grand imperial festivities, an unusual gift arrived that would quietly influence China’s turbulent path toward modernization. Approximately 10,000 Chinese Christian women from across the country, guided by their priests and pastors, decided to present Her Majesty with a silver-edged Chinese Bible. On November 11, 1894, this exquisitely crafted volume reached the Zongli Yamen (China’s foreign affairs office) through British and American diplomats before being presented to the Empress.
Cixi responded with polite gratitude – a carefully worded note and gifts for the leading Christian women – then promptly forgot about the Bible. Yet this seemingly minor diplomatic gesture caught the attention of the young Emperor Guangxu, who saw in it an opportunity to deepen his understanding of the West. Requesting additional Bibles from Beijing churches for palace eunuchs, Guangxu demonstrated his characteristic curiosity about Western knowledge, though his interest lay in learning rather than conversion.
The Thirst for Western Knowledge in the Forbidden City
Emperor Guangxu’s fascination with Western ideas had been growing for years. Unlike most Qing rulers, he actively collected translated Western books, attempted to learn English (mastering several words), and sought knowledge about foreign technologies and governance systems. Tragically, this intellectually curious emperor lacked both the political strength to implement his visions and competent advisors within the palace walls. Most eunuchs were illiterate or barely literate, providing poor intellectual companionship for an emperor eager to modernize his crumbling empire.
Historical irony marked Guangxu’s predicament. Had powerful reform-minded officials like Zeng Guofan still lived, China’s modernization might have taken a different course. Instead, Guangxu found his primary intellectual ally in Kang Youwei, a controversial scholar whose radical reform ideas would soon shake the Qing court to its foundations. This unlikely partnership between emperor and scholar-official would drive China’s most ambitious reform attempt before the 20th century revolutions.
The Gathering Storm: Foreign Powers Circle a Weakened China
The context surrounding Guangxu’s reform efforts reveals why they faced such formidable obstacles. China’s humiliating defeat in the 1894-1895 Sino-Japanese War exposed the empire’s military weakness, triggering a feeding frenzy among Western powers. The Triple Intervention of 1895 (where Russia, France and Germany forced Japan to return the Liaodong Peninsula) wasn’t humanitarian diplomacy but naked imperialism – these powers simply wanted concessions for themselves.
The 1897 murder of two German missionaries in Shandong provided the perfect pretext for foreign intervention. Germany seized Jiaozhou Bay, Russia demanded Port Arthur, Britain took Weihaiwei, and France claimed Guangzhou Bay. Within months, China lost control of four strategic ports. This “scramble for concessions” demonstrated how foreign powers viewed late Qing China – not as a sovereign nation but as territory to be carved up. Against this backdrop of national humiliation, Guangxu’s push for Western-style reforms faced immense psychological barriers among officials and commoners alike.
The Hundred Days Reform: Bold Vision, Rash Implementation
By 1898, Guangxu had fully embraced the reformist camp. His January meeting with Kang Youwei proved pivotal when the scholar presented his book on Japan’s Meiji Restoration. Inspired, Guangxu launched the Hundred Days’ Reform on June 11, issuing an astonishing series of edicts that aimed to transform China’s education, military, industry, and government.
Key measures included:
– Establishing Peking University (Jingshi Daxuetang) as China’s first modern national university
– Abolishing the centuries-old eight-legged essay examination system
– Modernizing military training and equipment with foreign advisors
– Promoting railways, mining, and industrial development
– Streamlining government bureaucracy by eliminating redundant positions
American missionary W.A.P. Martin’s appointment as Peking University’s first chancellor symbolized the reforms’ Western orientation. Yet the breakneck pace of change – 27 major reforms in just 103 days – alienated powerful conservative factions while creating chaos in implementation.
The Conservative Backlash: Why Reforms Failed
Several critical errors doomed Guangxu’s ambitious reforms:
1. Overreach: The reforms attacked too many entrenched interests simultaneously – conservative officials, Confucian scholars, and Manchu nobility.
2. Poor Political Judgement: Guangxu dismissed senior officials like Li Hongzhang without securing alternative power bases, creating dangerous enemies.
3. Underestimating Cixi: Reformers wrongly believed the Empress Dowager had become politically weak after the Sino-Japanese War.
4. Foreign Policy Blindspot: While promoting Western learning, Guangxu failed to address the immediate threat of foreign imperialism, making reforms appear unpatriotic.
The final straw came in early September 1898 when Guangxu dismissed six high-ranking officials for opening a reform memorial without authorization. These ousted conservatives rushed to the Summer Palace, urging Cixi to retake control. On September 21, she launched a coup, confining Guangxu and rescinding most reforms. Only Peking University survived the conservative purge.
Legacy of a Failed Reformation
Though short-lived, the Hundred Days’ Reform left enduring marks on China:
1. Educational Transformation: The classical examination system’s abolition (completed in 1905) began China’s shift toward modern education.
2. Political Awakening: Reform attempts demonstrated the Qing Dynasty’s inability to change, pushing more Chinese toward revolutionary solutions.
3. Intellectual Foundations: Many early 20th century reformers and revolutionaries built upon ideas first proposed in 1898.
Historians still debate whether more gradual implementation could have succeeded. What’s undeniable is that the reform failure accelerated China’s revolutionary momentum, contributing to the 1911 Revolution that toppled the Qing Dynasty just 13 years later. The silver-edged Bible that indirectly inspired Guangxu’s curiosity about the West thus became part of a larger story about China’s painful, contradictory journey toward modernization – a journey marked by both sincere attempts to learn from foreign powers and bitter resistance against their domination.