Who launched the 100 days of reform

"The 100 Days of Reform," also known as the Hundred Days' Reform, was initiated by the Guangxu Emperor in China in 1898. The Guangxu Emperor, with the support of reform-minded officials and intellectuals, launched a series of political, administrative, educational, and economic reforms in an attempt to modernize China and to stave off the decline of the Qing Dynasty after the defeat by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War and the humiliating terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki.

However, the 100 Days of Reform was short-lived, lasting only from June 11 to September 21, 1898. The conservative forces within China, led by the Empress Dowager Cixi, opposed the rapid changes. The Empress Dowager orchestrated a coup that effectively put an end to the reform movement and placed the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest. The consequences of these reforms set the stage for future movements and eventually the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911.

Extra: The 100 Days of Reform is an important episode in the history of modern China, deeply illustrating the internal tensions that existed within the Qing Dynasty and the clash between traditionalists and reformists. The Qing Dynasty, established by the Manchu in 1644, was the last imperial dynasty in China. By the late 19th century, the dynasty was faltering under external pressures from imperialist powers and internal strife.

The reformists, inspired by the success of Western countries and Japan, which had rapidly modernized through the Meiji Restoration, believed that China needed to adopt new methods of governance and education, industry development, and military strengthening to survive. Despite the initial support from the emperor, the conservatives—many of whom were part of the old-guard elite—in the Qing government viewed these reforms as a threat to their power and traditional Confucian values.

The eventual failure of the 100 Days of Reform demonstrated the complexity of implementing rapid changes in a deeply traditional society and highlighted the resistance to reform that can occur in established political structures. These events led to increased support for revolutionary ideas and movements throughout the early 20th century, which would eventually lead to the end of imperial rule in China and the establishment of the Republic of China. The Hundred Days' Reform is thus often seen as a precursor to the Xinhai Revolution, which changed the political landscape of China dramatically.