Cixi's Reform

In the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, many elites, new intellectuals and reform-minded Chinese had realized that the existing political and social systems which lasted for more than thousands years should be changed immediately, or the Qing Empire would collapse quickly. The actual ruler of the Empire, Empress Dowager Cixi, who oppressed the Reform of 1898, recognized the urgent needs for reform as she felt gradually losing control, respects and confidence over both domestic and international sides. The reform that she decided to have was then called The New Policy of 1901. This New Policy involved with the reforms of political changes, education, economics and military, and the most important reforms included the …show more content…
One official of Qing Court reasoned that the practice of foreign military drill and enlargement of military supply were imperative, and the whole systems of both naval and military should change . As Jonathan Spence shows, the troops and officers of New Army accepted the drill, the khaki uniforms and the modern weaponry from both European and Japanese troops . Since 1850s, Zeng Guofan had already started to form a locally recruited army, which concentrated on the military efficiency and moral rectitude. These methods were then popularizing, and the army gradually substituted the Banner System; more importantly, after the reform, the army was controlled by the gentry rather than the Qing Court directly. Last but not least, the encouragement for commerce, trades and modern industry constituted the main ideas of economic reforms. In a memorial, one of the officials pointed out that the promotion of the industry was the substance for the commerce , and only when the industry of one country was prosperous, the economy could be flourishing. The Qing tried to build the railway in order to unite the nation more closely, which also showed its moves to the economic …show more content…
First of all, the education reform initially seemed promising; nevertheless, it deprived the loyalty to the emperor, and more students were educated in nationalism, which taught them the importance of being devoted to the country instead of the emperor, and even the higher class children who received the new education abandoned the old thoughts. As these students witnessed the incapability of the government and how obedient to the foreign powers the Qing was, they lost hopes later. Furthermore, the failure of 1898 Reform also disappointed many reformers, making them refuse to trust the New Policy. In addition, since the local or provincial assemblies had more power, the influence and authority of central government were weakened at once. Students, reformers and the new army soldiers were no longer faithful to the emperor after the New