(1) background:
In the 24th year of Guangxu in Qing Dynasty (1898, 1898), the bourgeois reform movement represented by Kang Youwei launched the bourgeois political reform movement.
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 high-spirited, "taking the knowledge of sages as the foundation", "learning from the West, keeping abreast of current events, and stressing strength", earnestly implementing the New Deal and "not following perfunctory rules". 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 views on the establishment of constitution and parliament in the second to fifth volumes; And the open system bureau put forward in the Reform Movement of 1898, which requires the bourgeoisie to participate in political power, has the enlightenment significance of the bourgeoisie's opposition to feudal absolutism, and 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 government to the local government, 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.
(2) the significance of political reform:
The primary problem of China's modern social development is to oppose imperialist aggression and safeguard national independence. Although the reformists did not put forward the slogan of opposing imperialism, they advocated that the primary purpose of the reform was to save the nation and survive. In previous books, Kang Youwei took pains to explain that only political reform can resist aggression and survive. Emperor Guangxu's political reform was mainly due to the invasion of foreign powers. On the day when Empress Dowager Cixi staged a coup, she accused Guangxu in person: "The anti-ancestral law ... followed Kang's method. Why are you so confused?" ! Guangxu replied trembling: "It is because foreigners are too eager to persecute themselves. They want to preserve the national pulse, change the rules, try western methods, but dare not listen to Kang Youwei's method. " The panicked Emperor Guangxu is still explaining the relationship between the invasion of foreign powers and the political reform. Although the short-lived Reform Movement of 1898 failed to achieve the goal of self-improvement and anti-Japanese war, it still had important patriotic significance and raised the consciousness of national salvation to a new level.
The Reform Movement of 1898 was also a political reform movement led by the bourgeoisie. It is not a simple continuation of the Westernization Movement, but a qualitative leap. The Westernization Movement was to maintain and strengthen the feudal system, and the Reform Movement of 1898 was to gradually turn the feudal autocratic system into a capitalist democratic system, which was unprecedented in the history of China and conformed to the general trend of China's modern social development.
The Reform Movement of 1898 was also an enlightenment trend of thought. The reformists advocated new learning, criticized old learning and emphasized "advocating civil rights", which greatly improved the democratic consciousness and 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 the new bourgeois culture in China was initially established in the Reform Movement of 1898 and the following years. New bourgeois knowledge such as philosophy, history, economics and literary theory has sprouted, and "revolution in poetry", "revolution in style", "revolution in novels" and "improvement in drama" have emerged one after another. The new bourgeois culture, both in content and form, has begun to become the mainstream of modern China culture.
(3) Result: Failure
The root cause of failure:
The Reform Movement of 1898 was an urgent product under the national crisis, which came to the forefront of history prematurely, and failure was also a historical necessity.
( 1)
Since the failure of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895, the national crisis in China has become increasingly serious. 1 1 After the German occupation of Jiaozhou Bay in June, the imperialist powers divided their spheres of influence in China, seized leased land and occupied a large area of land, while the weak Qing government was at the mercy of the imperialist powers. At this time, Kang Youwei wrote to Emperor Guangxu again, pointing out: "It is imminent to carve up a catastrophe, and we must make a decisive decision and reform the political system quickly, otherwise the emperor and ministers will not get it!" (1) implored Emperor Guangxu to implement the New Deal. In view of the national crisis, Guangxu did not consider how to make China rich and strong, so as to resist foreign aggression and avoid the crisis of national subjugation and extinction. To maintain their dominant position. Stimulated by the national crisis, a political reform movement was pushed onto the historical stage. History has proved that both reform and revolution need strong economic and class support. However, due to the weak capitalist economic foundation and class strength in China, the Reform Movement of 1898 lacked strong economic and class support. At that time, China had five economic components, namely, foreign capitalist economy, landlord economy, small-scale peasant economy and bureaucratic capitalist economy. The weakest one is the national capitalist economy. Although capitalism sprouted in China in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, China's capitalism never developed into a powerful emerging economy and class power because of the powerful feudal, class and political forces in China. With the outbreak of the Opium War and the invasion of foreign capitalism, the original capitalist economy in China was strangled, and it was not until the rise of the Westernization Movement that the capitalist economy in China gradually rose. However, their strength has been weak. According to statistics, from the Westernization Movement to the Reform Movement of 1898, China only owned more than 100 commercial enterprises, 50 of which were established after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. (2) Although these 65.438 million commercial enterprises are capitalist in nature, they can only account for nine hairs among the feudal economic forces of more than 2,000 years. In addition, 50 enterprises were established after the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. In just three years, it is conceivable how far their strength can develop. Furthermore, China's national capitalist industry came into being in the 1970s of 19, and by the end of 19 and the beginning of the 20th century, China's national capitalism began to develop initially. According to statistics, from 1895 to 1900, there are 104 enterprises whose capital exceeds 10000 yuan, with an estimated total capital of 23 million yuan. The number of factories and mines set up in these six years is equivalent to the sum of the 20 years before the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and its total capital has surpassed that of government-run or government-supervised commercial enterprises, occupying the main industrial zones in China. (3) However, since the emergence of the national bourgeoisie in China in the 1970s, they have been squeezed by imperialism and domestic feudalism. In order to survive, they have to rely on imperialism or domestic feudal forces, which determines that the national bourgeoisie has a dual nature when it comes into being: on the one hand, it is oppressed by foreign capitalism and domestic feudal forces, which is anti-aggression and anti-feudalism, and has revolutionary requirements; On the other hand, it is inextricably linked with foreign capitalism and domestic feudal forces, lacking a thorough anti-aggression and anti-feudalism spirit, and it is a compromise. If the capitalist forces with duality are allowed to fight against the powerful and solid feudal system, failure is inevitable. If we go back to the early 20th century, let's look at the development of Chinese national capitalism. "19065438+. 834.8 billion yuan. In the past decade, the total number of factories, mines and capital established in the previous three decades has more than doubled. " (4) By this time, China's national capitalism has truly become a force to be reckoned with.
(2)
The leaders of the Reform Movement of 1898 were basically a group of scholars who lacked experience in political struggle. Most of them are well-read, concerned about the country and the people, knowledgeable and ambitious, but lack strategy, political experience and talent. Let's take a look at Kang Youwei, the leader of the Reform Movement of 1898.
Kang Youwei was born in a bureaucratic landlord family in Nanhai, Guangdong. In his early years, he studied the Four Books and the Five Classics with his grandfather, and later studied with Guangdong Neo-Confucianism Zhu Ciqi, and met the editor Zhang Dinghua on 1879. "I know the atmosphere in Beijing and North Korea like the back of my hand. I know all kinds of new books and the stories of the Three Dynasties like the back of my hand." (6) I have broadened my horizons. Kang Youwei lived in the turbulent times of Qing Dynasty. As an intellectual with strong patriotic thoughts, he initiated and led the bourgeois reform movement in order to save the nation and survive. In seven letters, dozens of memorials and works at that time, he put forward his thoughts of political reform and reform comprehensively and systematically. 1888, Kang Youwei went to Beijing for the second time to take the provincial examination. He is extremely difficult about current affairs. He wrote angrily, "extremely dangerous, please reform it in time." This is the first time he wrote a letter, putting forward the idea of "turning it into law, understanding the situation and being cautious", emphasizing that as long as it is "turned into law", "it is not difficult to achieve prosperity within ten years and to recover territory and avenge it in twenty years." (7) This is the first time that Kang Youwei systematically published his thoughts on reform and political reform, which embodies the requirements of the emerging bourgeoisie to care about current politics. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895,1April, the Qing government and the Japanese government signed the treaty of shimonoseki. At this time, Kang Youwei is taking the exam. He was very angry after receiving the news. He and his disciple Liang Qichao jointly signed a petition against the traitorous treaty in Beijing. This is the second petition, which is the famous "bus petition" in history. The petition put forward the idea of "rejecting peace, moving the capital and reforming the country". Although the petition failed to be reached, it had an important enlightening effect on all patriots at that time, especially intellectuals, and aroused strong repercussions in the whole society, which became the starting point for the development of the ideological trend of the 1898 Movement. Soon, in his own name, he wrote down the part about the political reform, put forward the strategy of "enriching the country, prospering the people and cultivating livestock", and advocated developing the capitalist economy and protecting the national industry and commerce. Emperor Guangxu saw this letter and agreed. Later, in the fourth book, the idea of "setting up a parliament to communicate feelings" was formally put forward, and a constitutional monarchy was implemented without changing the rule of the Qing Dynasty. This time, due to the resistance of the die-hards, this letter was not submitted. 1897, Germany occupied JIAOZHOU bay. After hearing the news, Kang Youwei wrote to Beijing again, pointing out: "Foreign contempt, domestic centrifugal, urgent work anxiety and resentment, absurd plan of timely political reform, ... If you hesitate again, you can drag out an ignoble existence, stick to the routine and take a plane crash, then foreign invasion is internal and must not happen ..." () However, due to the obstruction of die-hards, Emperor Guangxu failed to see this in time. 1898 1 month, Kang Youwei was ordered to read the sixth book, namely "Book Fold of Ying Zhao Overall Planning". In this last book, Kang comprehensively expounded the suggestions and propositions of political reform, emphasizing that relying on the power of Emperor Guangxu to carry out the New Deal and take the road of Meiji Restoration in Japan. He pointed out: "Looking at the trend of all ethnic groups, we can change all, remain unchanged and die, all change is strong, and small change is dead." (9) And put forward the idea of setting up a system bureau, which is an important step to implement political reform. Soon, he wrote a letter to this book for the last time, proposing that "China's political reform is nothing like France and Russia, and imperial reform is nothing like adopting Peter." (10) From his background, experience, position, especially his time, it is decided that he will be rooted in the deep soil of China culture and influenced by the unique psychological quality, national character and cultural tradition of the Chinese nation when seeking truth from the west and constructing his own ideological system. Therefore, the reformists headed by Kang Youwei have limitations in theoretical guidance. Kang Youwei used the traditional Confucian authority to publicize the truth of political reform by exerting Confucius' political thought. His two books, A Study of New Classics and A Study of Confucius' Reform, declared some classics that feudalists had always regarded as sacred as pseudographs. In the latter book, Confucius, who was originally conservative, was dressed up with enterprising spirit and advocated the concept of equality as much as possible. Kang Youwei and others sought the theoretical basis for opposing the feudal system from the traditional thought of maintaining the feudal system, and did not completely abandon the traditional Confucianism. It fully embodies the weakness and compromise of the national bourgeoisie. Neither of these two books has sufficient and convincing evidence. Needless to say, the old school opposed them, and some enlightened people at that time did not approve of them. Some radical propaganda by reformists has also increased social resistance. In addition, Kang Youwei is the leader of an enlightened landlord and wealthy businessman who wants to be transformed into a bourgeoisie, and a representative of a semi-feudal capitalist political group between the die-hards and revolutionaries. Judging from the class attribute of Kang Youwei, he is in the process of transforming from the landlord class, and his thoughts are also in the process of transforming from traditional feudal thoughts to modern western bourgeois thoughts. He advocates bourgeois reform, so they are afraid of the masses and even hostile to them. They advocate political reform, but oppose revolution. Kang Youwei believes that "the three laws of absolute monarchy, constitutionalism and democracy should be carried out one by one, and if they are in an orderly way, there will be chaos." He described the revolution as very cruel and terrible; "I have read the history of various countries. At the time of the French Revolution, the drama of people's struggle with people was not without tears. There was a national hemorrhage, and Paris died in a hundred days1290,000, changed three times, the monarch was restored, and it was a disaster in eighty years. " (1 1) It is based on this understanding that Kang Youwei resolutely opposed the revolution with the idea of royalism after the Reform Movement of 1898, which eventually became a stumbling block to historical progress.
Liang Qichao, like his teacher Kang Youwei, wanted to carry out some reforms and was extremely afraid of the people. So although they often talk about "civil rights", it's just a bad check. As for the realization of civil rights, it is a very distant thing for Liang Qichao and others. He said: "Western countries can establish a civil service system because they are open to the wisdom of the people and have strong people power." Everyone has an independent right. Although it is openly discussed, it is not difficult to be protected by parents when children are around. Today's China is still a child. When he was a child, he forced himself to be independent, which encouraged him, not useless, but harmed him. Therefore, China advocates civil affairs today, but it is only nine Niu Yi hairs. "Based on this understanding, the reforms advocated by Liang Qichao and the reformists as a whole rely on the top-down reforms of emperors and governors.
Tan Sitong is very confident and thinks that "national affairs are promising". In fact, he is wrong. Just as they were tirelessly carrying out reforms, the die-hards were also sharpening their swords and preparing to take advantage of the Tianjin military parade in June 5438+00 to abolish Emperor Guangxu and completely destroy the political reform movement. The situation is getting more and more urgent. In September, Emperor Guangxu said in a secret letter to Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong: "Today, we are in danger. There are Kang Youwei, Yang Rui, Xu Lin, Tan Sitong and Liu Guangdi. You can raise money quickly and try to rescue them. I am so anxious that I have no expectations. " Tan sitong and others knelt down to read the imperial edict, but they couldn't help crying, but they were at a loss. Finally, I thought of Yuan Shikai and wanted to save the emperor with Yuan Shikai's new army. They suggested that the emperor summoned Yuan Shikai and rewarded him with an official position in order to win over. /kloc-On the night of September, 0/8, Tan Sitong went to Hokeji, Yuan's residence alone, and advised Yuan to use his troops to kill Rong Lu, Nalashi's confidant, to protect Emperor Guangxu. Kang Youwei and others thought that as long as the emperor was caught, nothing would happen. In fact, Emperor Guangxu was just an empty shelf, and the real power was entirely in the hands of the die-hards Nala and others. Emperor Guangxu adopted Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao's thought of reforming and strengthening the country, promulgated the imperial edict of "Ding Mingshi Country" and actively planned the New Deal. Nora also hastily deployed a coup to undermine the political reform movement. Just when Kang Youwei and others were full of ambitions, the die-hards counterattacked and overthrew the reformists. Emperor Guangxu went to prison, Tan Sitong and others were killed, and Kang Youwei and Ran Qichao fled abroad. The Wuyi political reform, which lasted only a hundred days, failed.