戊戌變法 // Hundred Days' Reform |
|---|
Part I - Background // Part II // Part III
(I) Background
1. Increased threat to the Chinese people and rise of revolution post Sino-Japanese War
Following the Sino-Japanese War the “Treaty of Shimonoseki” was enforced, symbolising the Great Power’s encroachment into China entering the imperialist phase.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki stipulated Japan’s rights to operating factories in China.
Capitalism in Japan at that time had yet to develop into the imperialist phase, and did not possess large amounts of surplus capital available to export.
Nonetheless western imperialist nations used the consequences of the Sino-Japanese War to fracture and plunder China.
They commenced economic encroachment – scrambling for the rights to build railways and mine, establish factories, set up numerous banks to control the nation’s business, granting the Qing government large loans, while also making political investments.
From 1894 to 1898, the external debt of the Qing government loaned from the four nations of England, Germany, Russia, and France reached 370 million taels.
At the same time, they openly divided China into ‘spheres of influence’, seizing so called ‘concessions’ as their points of encroachment.
This type of imperialism gradually controlled China’s lifeline, sequentially dominating China’s feudal
regime,
while causing the clash between imperialism and Chinese citizenry to grow sharper by the day.
Germany encroached on Shandong, Tsarist Russia’s influence included the northeast.
The UK was the most aggressive, not only controlling southern China and the Yangtze river basin but also entered Tibet, and France’s influence was in Yunnan, Guanxi and Guangdong.
Then, the UK controlled the largest expanse of area, had the most influence on politics and held China’s customs authority.
Japan already occupied the Chinese territory of Taiwan and had made Fujian part of its sphere of influence.
Japan evidentially had conflicting interests with Russia, France and Germany stemming from the Triple Intervention, which mainly was a conflict between the UK and Russia.
Thus this eventually developed into a union between the UK, America and Japan against Tsarist Russia.
By the First Sino-Japanese War, American capitalists had already arranged joint venture companies and entered into the competition for railways.
Prior to the Spanish-American War, right before China was about to be split into spheres of influence under by imperialism, the United States had been busy competing with Spain in the West Indies and Philippine colonies, hence was unable to diver power towards China and snatch up areas.
However, the purpose of competing over the main railway line of China not only passively undermined other imperialist spheres of influence, but also could actively utilise other spheres of influence to serve themselves.
After joint venture‘s failed to obtain rights to the Luhan road (Jinghan road), they obtained the rights to Yuehan road in 1898.
Although the United States did not gain a sphere of influence, their plan to encroach on China’s heartland is worth a note.
As can be seen from above, the imperialist nations did have conflicting interests, but for the sake of collectively intruding into China, ensure profits, and avoiding competition, global financial capitalism was cooperative.
As exemplified by the United States’ joint venture company working with the UK through their Anglo-Chinese companies, this represents how under the intensification of imperialism entering China, they undertook the means to achieve coordination.
The gradual process of the Great Powers partition of China commenced from Germany’s expansion into the Shandong peninsula in 1898.
As the UK’s then Foreign Secretary Salisbury once declared, “There are two groups of nationalities in this world, those that will live and the others that will die a quick death. Such as Turkey and China, whom everyone is carving up.”.
Imperialism was merciless in this way.
During the proceeding step of intensifying China’s division into spheres of influence was also when the Qing government furthered their reliance on the imperialist nations to support their administration.
The administration of the Qing dynasty including Li HongZhang and Empress Cixi were tools of Tsarist Russia.
Tsarist influence was greatest in the north, and they also gained the rights to train the Northern army (華北軍) in place of the Qing government.
Yet within the Zongli Yamen (Office for General Management of Affairs Concerning the Various Countries) British influence still held prominence.
From the south, Liu Kunyi, Zhang ZhiDong, and those after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese war initially advocated to ally the Russians and French to go against Japan.
However eventually following Japan’s ‘one culture, one race” rhetoric, they changed their stance to favor Japan, in reality this was favoring the UK.
Besides, Zhang Zhidong was also influenced by German imperialism.
Thus the overall situation before the Hundred Day’s Reform was of intense attacks from imperialism, encroaching through dividing spheres of influence and targeting bureaucrats, using warlords as their agents.
Concurrently the people’s revolutionary movement against imperial aggression and feudalism was surging. Hunan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Zhejiang all saw continuous peasant insurgency.
The anti Qing Chinese revolutionary
movement was also widespread, from the various former factions of the White Lotus society in the North, to the Older Brothers Society in the Yangtze area, and the triads in Guangdong.
These revolutionary movements represent the increasing overlap between the Chinese people’s resistance against imperialism and anti-feudal movements.
Following the Sino-Japanese war, the military strength of the Qing began to deteriorate and thus was unable to suppress the uprisings.
This was why Zhang ZhiDong invited Japanese to train the troops, due to the prevalence of revolutionary activity in the Yangtze.
Such as the peasant-led uprising in Sichuan’s Dazu County had significant momentum.
Under the anti-Christian movement, they were also involved in anti-feudalist movements.
Under Yu Manzi’s banner the masses united - similar to the saying “Wherever the cloth goes, the citizens rise up.”
,before the Boxer Rebellion revolutionaries around the Yangtze used the slogan “support the Qing, exterminate the foreigners” (「伏清滅洋」) when carrying out peasant uprisings.
Simultaneously under increasing imperialism, Chinese internal political life underwent a large change.
Firstly, even before the Sino- Japanese war, the already existing reforms in political thought within the literati was developing, demonstrated by Hundred Days’ Reform the led by Kang Youwei.
The other aspect being the organic anti-imperialism and anti-feudal sentiment of the general public combining into one struggle.
Of course, all reform ideals must come with an element of anti-revolution.
As the internal revolutionary backdrop was rising, the bourgeoisie reformists and intellectuals of the landowning classes would have thought their demise would follow that of the emperor.
Yet, the under the particular historical conditions then, the Hundred Days’ Reform’s main significance was centered around China’s independence and continued existence.
So accordingly, this movement was the then bourgeoisie and intellectual’s way of “national salvation” and keeping with the mass public’s demands.
(1) Feudal not so much as to government form but the feudal mode of production (agrarian/land based) as opposed to capitalist mode of production
(2) I'm unsure if "Salisbury" is the correct translation of 「沙里士倍」. The UK's Foreign Minister at the time was the Marquess of Salisbury and is referred to as such but I am unable to find the original source of the quote.
(3) Perhaps a bit of an exageration. But there is a possibility Li HongZhang was bribed by Russia to increase railway rights.
(4) The original term 「會黨」is an umbrella term for all anti-Qing/Ming revival religious groups or societies
(5) Yu Manzi was a Sichuan revolutionary. I cannot find the quote's origin and whether it is linked to his uprisings.
2. Initial development of capitalism in China and demands of the emerging new bourgeoise class
The Sino-Japanese war resulted in the Self-Strengthening Movement collapsing in front of the people.
Industries established as part of westernisation failed, thus the embryonic stage of capitalism had the opportunity to oppose government run and “government supervised business operations”, demanding their own development.
The feudal Qing government had to make way for private capital, but they still did not give up on obstructing the development of capitalism.
At the time Sheng XuanHuai wrote to Li HongZhang saying：Private industries cannot be widely be made way for, if cloth is made with machinery, then there will be trouble, we can sell machine produced cloth and local products to foreigners, but cannot use machines for all of them.
After 1897, the national bourgeoise’s investment in establishing factories increased, setting up many commercial mills in Shanghai before and after.
In 1898, Zhang Rui yet again established a Cotton Mill in Nantong, the famous Dasheng Cotton Mill.
Yet at the same time, British, American, German, Japanese, etc were establishing various factories such as Jardine Matheson, Laogongmao, and other cotton mills, competing with Chinese owned factories.
Under the unequal treaties, imperialist products initiated dumping.
The economic power of the emerging bourgeoisie was extremely weak and lacked influence within the government.
They received both oppression from feudal forces and imperialism, the latter being especially evident.
From the 1880’s onwards, China’s reformists such as Ma JianZhong, Chen Chi, Zheng GuanYing, He Qi and authors of that like already proposed developing national industry and commerce, and opposing parts of unequal treaties (e.g. fixed tariffs) and the establishment of parliament.
This represents the demands of the initial weak bourgeoise, that had yet to become a type of political movement.
The “Hundred Days’ Reform” led by Kang YouWei was not only a new ideological development, but also became the representative of a dynamic movement.
3. Changes in class relations, conflicts within the ruling class
Bourgeoise intellectuals took the Hundred Days’ Reform as a dispute between the Emperor and Empress, between the conservative and reformist factions and even as a dispute between the UK and Russia (believing that the reformists represented British and Japanese interests, white the opposition and westernists represented tsarist Russia’s interests. They’re failure to this matter in its essence;
thus their explanations were superficial, incomplete, and faulty.
In reality, the dispute between Empress and Emperor was a relatively focused reflection of the various conflicts at the time.
After the Sino Japanese War, class conflict in Chinese society was rapidly progressing.
Of course, the main conflict was still between the landlord and peasant classes.
Because of the war reparations, the Qing government’s foreign debt increased, causing the rulers to increase exploitation and extortion of the citizens, increasing the peasant’s struggle.
The conflict between the landlord and peasant classes deepened, as demonstrated through the many local spontaneous peasant struggles, especially seen in the later Boxer Rebellion.
During this period, the emerging landlord class was transitioning to become the national bourgeoise, recently doing so in increasing numbers;
They demanded the development of new businesses and industries be guaranteed without feudal rule being changed.
Their power remained weak, unable to advocate for revolution within the government.
The power of the bureaucratic comprador class – also the result of separation from the landlord class – due to being fostered following imperialist encroachment thus increased.
Imperialist lackey’s increasingly emerged within the nation.
The petty bourgeoisie was typically unsatisfied with the feudal rule of the landlord class but had not the revolutionary organizations or platform of the bourgeoisie.
Therefore, the platform provided by the reform movement was able to receive widespread reaction and support from the petty bourgeoisie.
Societal change in class relations impacted changes within the internal Qing rule, represented by how the most conservative and stubborn Empress Cixi continued to resist any change, yet Weng TongHe and Zhang ZhiDong who wanted reform to continue consolidating the unity of the Qing.
However, as Weng TongHe was close with Empress Cixi, he immediately found an excuse to disagree with “A Study of Confucius as a Reformer of Institutions” and terminate his association with the reform bloc after realizing Empress Cixin was determined to preserve the old system.
The reform and westernization factions further split, and the struggle between the reformists and conservatives became further evident, best seen by the conflict between the Emperor’s party and empress.
(I) Background
1. Increased threat to the Chinese people and rise of revolution post Sino-Japanese War
Following the Sino-Japanese War the “Treaty of Shimonoseki” was enforced, symbolising the Great Power’s encroachment into China entering the imperialist phase.
The Treaty of Shimonoseki stipulated Japan’s rights to operating factories in China.
Capitalism in Japan at that time had yet to develop into the imperialist phase, and did not possess large amounts of surplus capital available to export.
Nonetheless western imperialist nations used the consequences of the Sino-Japanese War to fracture and plunder China.
They commenced economic encroachment – scrambling for the rights to build railways and mine, establish factories, set up numerous banks to control the nation’s business, granting the Qing government large loans, while also making political investments.
From 1894 to 1898, the external debt of the Qing government loaned from the four nations of England, Germany, Russia, and France reached 370 million taels.
At the same time, they openly divided China into ‘spheres of influence’, seizing so called ‘concessions’ as their points of encroachment.
This type of imperialism gradually controlled China’s lifeline, sequentially dominating China’s feudal
regime,
while causing the clash between imperialism and Chinese citizenry to grow sharper by the day.
Germany encroached on Shandong, Tsarist Russia’s influence included the northeast.
The UK was the most aggressive, not only controlling southern China and the Yangtze river basin but also entered Tibet, and France’s influence was in Yunnan, Guanxi and Guangdong.
Then, the UK controlled the largest expanse of area, had the most influence on politics and held China’s customs authority.
Japan already occupied the Chinese territory of Taiwan and had made Fujian part of its sphere of influence.
Japan evidentially had conflicting interests with Russia, France and Germany stemming from the Triple Intervention, which mainly was a conflict between the UK and Russia.
Thus this eventually developed into a union between the UK, America and Japan against Tsarist Russia.
By the First Sino-Japanese War, American capitalists had already arranged joint venture companies and entered into the competition for railways.
Prior to the Spanish-American War, right before China was about to be split into spheres of influence under by imperialism, the United States had been busy competing with Spain in the West Indies and Philippine colonies, hence was unable to diver power towards China and snatch up areas.
However, the purpose of competing over the main railway line of China not only passively undermined other imperialist spheres of influence, but also could actively utilise other spheres of influence to serve themselves.
After joint venture‘s failed to obtain rights to the Luhan road (Jinghan road), they obtained the rights to Yuehan road in 1898.
Although the United States did not gain a sphere of influence, their plan to encroach on China’s heartland is worth a note.
As can be seen from above, the imperialist nations did have conflicting interests, but for the sake of collectively intruding into China, ensure profits, and avoiding competition, global financial capitalism was cooperative.
As exemplified by the United States’ joint venture company working with the UK through their Anglo-Chinese companies, this represents how under the intensification of imperialism entering China, they undertook the means to achieve coordination.
The gradual process of the Great Powers partition of China commenced from Germany’s expansion into the Shandong peninsula in 1898.
As the UK’s then Foreign Secretary Salisbury once declared, “There are two groups of nationalities in this world, those that will live and the others that will die a quick death. Such as Turkey and China, whom everyone is carving up.”.
Imperialism was merciless in this way.
During the proceeding step of intensifying China’s division into spheres of influence was also when the Qing government furthered their reliance on the imperialist nations to support their administration.
The administration of the Qing dynasty including Li HongZhang and Empress Cixi were tools of Tsarist Russia.
Tsarist influence was greatest in the north, and they also gained the rights to train the Northern army (華北軍) in place of the Qing government.
Yet within the Zongli Yamen (Office for General Management of Affairs Concerning the Various Countries) British influence still held prominence.
From the south, Liu Kunyi, Zhang ZhiDong, and those after the defeat of the Sino-Japanese war initially advocated to ally the Russians and French to go against Japan.
However eventually following Japan’s ‘one culture, one race” rhetoric, they changed their stance to favor Japan, in reality this was favoring the UK.
Besides, Zhang Zhidong was also influenced by German imperialism.
Thus the overall situation before the Hundred Day’s Reform was of intense attacks from imperialism, encroaching through dividing spheres of influence and targeting bureaucrats, using warlords as their agents.
Concurrently the people’s revolutionary movement against imperial aggression and feudalism was surging. Hunan, Sichuan, Guangxi and Zhejiang all saw continuous peasant insurgency.
The anti Qing Chinese revolutionary
movement was also widespread, from the various former factions of the White Lotus society in the North, to the Older Brothers Society in the Yangtze area, and the triads in Guangdong.
These revolutionary movements represent the increasing overlap between the Chinese people’s resistance against imperialism and anti-feudal movements.
Following the Sino-Japanese war, the military strength of the Qing began to deteriorate and thus was unable to suppress the uprisings.
This was why Zhang ZhiDong invited Japanese to train the troops, due to the prevalence of revolutionary activity in the Yangtze.
Such as the peasant-led uprising in Sichuan’s Dazu County had significant momentum.
Under the anti-Christian movement, they were also involved in anti-feudalist movements.
Under Yu Manzi’s banner the masses united - similar to the saying “Wherever the cloth goes, the citizens rise up.”
,before the Boxer Rebellion revolutionaries around the Yangtze used the slogan “support the Qing, exterminate the foreigners” (「伏清滅洋」) when carrying out peasant uprisings.
Simultaneously under increasing imperialism, Chinese internal political life underwent a large change.
Firstly, even before the Sino- Japanese war, the already existing reforms in political thought within the literati was developing, demonstrated by Hundred Days’ Reform the led by Kang Youwei.
The other aspect being the organic anti-imperialism and anti-feudal sentiment of the general public combining into one struggle.
Of course, all reform ideals must come with an element of anti-revolution.
As the internal revolutionary backdrop was rising, the bourgeoisie reformists and intellectuals of the landowning classes would have thought their demise would follow that of the emperor.
Yet, the under the particular historical conditions then, the Hundred Days’ Reform’s main significance was centered around China’s independence and continued existence.
So accordingly, this movement was the then bourgeoisie and intellectual’s way of “national salvation” and keeping with the mass public’s demands.
(1) Feudal not so much as to government form but the feudal mode of production (agrarian/land based) as opposed to capitalist mode of production
(2) I'm unsure if "Salisbury" is the correct translation of 「沙里士倍」. The UK's Foreign Minister at the time was the Marquess of Salisbury and is referred to as such but I am unable to find the original source of the quote.
(3) Perhaps a bit of an exageration. But there is a possibility Li HongZhang was bribed by Russia to increase railway rights.
(4) The original term 「會黨」is an umbrella term for all anti-Qing/Ming revival religious groups or societies
(5) Yu Manzi was a Sichuan revolutionary. I cannot find the quote's origin and whether it is linked to his uprisings.
2. Initial development of capitalism in China and demands of the emerging new bourgeoise class
The Sino-Japanese war resulted in the Self-Strengthening Movement collapsing in front of the people.
Industries established as part of westernisation failed, thus the embryonic stage of capitalism had the opportunity to oppose government run and “government supervised business operations”, demanding their own development.
The feudal Qing government had to make way for private capital, but they still did not give up on obstructing the development of capitalism.
At the time Sheng XuanHuai wrote to Li HongZhang saying：Private industries cannot be widely be made way for, if cloth is made with machinery, then there will be trouble, we can sell machine produced cloth and local products to foreigners, but cannot use machines for all of them.
After 1897, the national bourgeoise’s investment in establishing factories increased, setting up many commercial mills in Shanghai before and after.
In 1898, Zhang Rui yet again established a Cotton Mill in Nantong, the famous Dasheng Cotton Mill.
Yet at the same time, British, American, German, Japanese, etc were establishing various factories such as Jardine Matheson, Laogongmao, and other cotton mills, competing with Chinese owned factories.
Under the unequal treaties, imperialist products initiated dumping.
The economic power of the emerging bourgeoisie was extremely weak and lacked influence within the government.
They received both oppression from feudal forces and imperialism, the latter being especially evident.
From the 1880’s onwards, China’s reformists such as Ma JianZhong, Chen Chi, Zheng GuanYing, He Qi and authors of that like already proposed developing national industry and commerce, and opposing parts of unequal treaties (e.g. fixed tariffs) and the establishment of parliament.
This represents the demands of the initial weak bourgeoise, that had yet to become a type of political movement.
The “Hundred Days’ Reform” led by Kang YouWei was not only a new ideological development, but also became the representative of a dynamic movement.
3. Changes in class relations, conflicts within the ruling class
Bourgeoise intellectuals took the Hundred Days’ Reform as a dispute between the Emperor and Empress, between the conservative and reformist factions and even as a dispute between the UK and Russia (believing that the reformists represented British and Japanese interests, white the opposition and westernists represented tsarist Russia’s interests. They’re failure to this matter in its essence;
thus their explanations were superficial, incomplete, and faulty.
In reality, the dispute between Empress and Emperor was a relatively focused reflection of the various conflicts at the time.
After the Sino Japanese War, class conflict in Chinese society was rapidly progressing.
Of course, the main conflict was still between the landlord and peasant classes.
Because of the war reparations, the Qing government’s foreign debt increased, causing the rulers to increase exploitation and extortion of the citizens, increasing the peasant’s struggle.
The conflict between the landlord and peasant classes deepened, as demonstrated through the many local spontaneous peasant struggles, especially seen in the later Boxer Rebellion.
During this period, the emerging landlord class was transitioning to become the national bourgeoise, recently doing so in increasing numbers;
They demanded the development of new businesses and industries be guaranteed without feudal rule being changed.
Their power remained weak, unable to advocate for revolution within the government.
The power of the bureaucratic comprador class – also the result of separation from the landlord class – due to being fostered following imperialist encroachment thus increased.
Imperialist lackey’s increasingly emerged within the nation.
The petty bourgeoisie was typically unsatisfied with the feudal rule of the landlord class but had not the revolutionary organizations or platform of the bourgeoisie.
Therefore, the platform provided by the reform movement was able to receive widespread reaction and support from the petty bourgeoisie.
Societal change in class relations impacted changes within the internal Qing rule, represented by how the most conservative and stubborn Empress Cixi continued to resist any change, yet Weng TongHe and Zhang ZhiDong who wanted reform to continue consolidating the unity of the Qing.
However, as Weng TongHe was close with Empress Cixi, he immediately found an excuse to disagree with “A Study of Confucius as a Reformer of Institutions” and terminate his association with the reform bloc after realizing Empress Cixin was determined to preserve the old system.
The reform and westernization factions further split, and the struggle between the reformists and conservatives became further evident, best seen by the conflict between the Emperor’s party and empress.