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The Hundred Days' Reform was a failed 103-day national cultural, political and educational reform movement from 11 June to 21 September 1898 in late Qing dynasty China. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emperor and his reform-minded supporters. The movement proved to be short-lived, ending in a ''coup d'état'' ("The Coup of 1898") by powerful conservative opponents led by Empress Dowager Cixi. ==Beginning== Guangxu (born 1871, reigned 1875–1908) ordered a series of reforms aimed at making sweeping social and institutional changes. He did this in response to weaknesses exposed by China's defeat by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895, not long after the First (1839-1842) and Second (1856-1860) Opium Wars; this blow came as a major shock to the Chinese, because Japan had been regarded as a tributary state, was much smaller than China, and was regarded as inferior. China also fought France in the Sino-French War from 1884 to 1885. Moreover, the defeat of China by Japan led to a scramble for "privileges" in China by other foreign powers, notably by the German Empire and Russia, further awakening the conservatives. Before the First Sino-Japanese War, China engaged in technological modernization only, buying modern weapons, ships, artillery, and building modern arsenals to produce these weapons, and only giving their soldiers modern weapons without institutional reform, all the while declining to reform the government or civil society according to western standards - unlike Japan, which adopted western-style government with a Parliament and completely reorganized its army along western lines. With the help of certain senior officials of the Qing court who supported reform, Kang Youwei was permitted to speak with the Emperor, and his suggestions were enacted. Some of Kang's students were also given minor but strategic posts in the capital to assist with the reforms. Essential preconditions of reform included: * modernizing the traditional examination system * eliminating sinecures (positions that provided little or no work but provided a salary) * building a modern education system (studying math and science instead of focusing mainly on Confucian texts, etc.) * changing the government from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy with democracy * applying principles of capitalism to strengthen the economy * completely changing the military buildup to strengthen the military * rapid industrialization of all of China through manufacturing, commerce, and capitalism The reformers declared that China needed more than "self-strengthening" and that innovation must be accompanied by institutional and ideological change. However, conservatives like Prince Duan opposed the reformers, suspecting a foreign plot. Prince Duan wanted to expel foreigners completely from China. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Hundred Days' Reform」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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