The Empress Dowager's Edict of Reform

The setting

After the Boxer War and the occupation of Beijing by foreign armies in 1900, the Qing court fled to Xi'an. There, at the direction of the Empress Dowager Cixi, an edict issued in the emperor's name called on officials to propose sweeping reforms of government.

In substance

The great moral principles never change, but the methods of government must change with the times; China must learn from the strengths of other nations to remedy its own weaknesses.

A summary of the edict of 29 January 1901 that opened the New Policies, issued in the Guangxu Emperor's name at Cixi's direction.

What followed

The edict launched the New Policies: modern schools, a new army, the abolition of the ancient civil-service examinations in 1905, and plans for a constitution. The reforms came too late to save the dynasty, which fell in the revolution of 1911, three years after Cixi's death.

Connected