Guangxu Emperor Zaitian — An Ambitious but Failed Reformer and His Tragic Ending

Guangxu Emperor (1871 — 1908), named Zaitian, revered as Emperor Dezong of Qing, was the penultimate emperor in both the Qing Dynasty and the history of China.

His entire life was controlled mainly by his aunt, Empress Dowager Cixi.

Guangxu Emperor only obtained power for a few years, during which he participated in a failed war and implemented a short-term but advanced reform.

He was not afraid of losing his power or the throne; however, the Guangxu Emperor and his followers could not apply the unprecedented transformation.

Portrait of Guangxu Emperor, By Court Artist of the Qing Dynasty — Palace Museum

Young Guangxu Emperor Restrained by Empress Dowager

Zaitian’s birth father was a noble prince, the son of the Daoguang Emperor; his birth mother was the sister of Empress Dowager Cixi.

When Zaitian was four years old, the current emperor, Empress Dowager Cixi’s only son, passed away and left no heir.

Cixi still wanted to keep reigning the empire, so she needed a young puppet emperor who was easy to manipulate.

Therefore, she decided to take her sister’s boy, the four-year-old Zaitian as her adoptive son and supported him as the new emperor.

Painting of Empress Dowager Cixi, By Hubert Vos in 1905 — Summer Palace

Afterward, Zaitian left his birth parents and started to live in the Forbidden City.

Cixi didn’t only take Zaitian as her means to obtain power; she also loved him as her nephew and adoptive son and raised him as her heir.

She assigned Zaitian to the most knowledgeable teacher, though she decided what to teach him.

When Zaitian, now the Guangxu Emperor, turned 18, he married his queen, a girl that Cixi assigned.

Afterward, Cixi gave him back the authority and let him make political decisions on his own.

Part of Painting "Guangxu Emperor's Wedding Ceremony" (Guangxu Da Hun Dian Li Quan Tu Ce), By Court Artist of the Qing Dynasty — Palace Museum

The Decimated Army and the Lost Dignity of the Guangxu Emperor

A few years later, the First Sino-Japanese War (1894 — 1895) erupted, and the Guangxu Emperor decisively supported the decision to fight.

However, the Qing Empire's navy, which was Li Hongzhang's private troop, the Beiyang Fleet, suffered defeat after a series of intense battles.

The Guangxu Emperor wanted to move the capital city to a safer place and continue to fight against Japan. Still, Cixi insisted on suing for peace and then signed the unfair Treaty of Shimonoseki that included the cede of vast territories and a great deal of war indemnity.

This huge failure meant the Self-Strengthening Movement (1861 — 1895) had failed thoroughly, and Qing became a semi-colonial and semi-feudal empire.

The Guangxu Emperor faced the sea where Qing’s main force had perished and wailed sadly, feeling extremely miserable that he couldn’t defend his country as the monarch.

Ironclad Warship Dingyuan Constructed During the Self-Strengthening Movement of the Qing Dynasty

Ironclad Warship Dingyuan Constructed During the Self-Strengthening Movement, Which was Beombarded and Sunk In the War.

Guangxu Emperor and His Thorough Reform Movement

The day after the Qing Empire signed the harmful treaty with Japan, around 1300 scholars suggested that the lagged Qing required fundamental, more radical reforms.

The Guangxu Emperor strongly supported these ideas and tried harder to seek changes.

Three years later, supported by some officials, the Guangxu Emperor implemented the Reform Movement of 1898.

This reform included changing Qing’s Manchu clothes and hairstyle, establishing constitutions, parliament, modern armies, new schools, encouraging private business and industry, free communication, cutting off Manchu privileges, etc.

These policies required transferring political and military power away from Cixi and Manchu nobles, a fundamental reform of the Qing Empire’s nomadic aristocratic system.

Lotus Shaped Famille Rose Cup with A Straw, Produced During Guangxu Emperor's Reign, to Memorise Annual Military Training in Autumn — Hubei Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

The Failed and Imprisoned Reign of Guangxu Emperor

Whether these reform officials and the Guangxu Emperor were capable or too naive to implement those policies, as many historians argued, they had tried their best to make a considerable change.

Guangxu Emperor Zaitian, as a feudal emperor occupying centralized power, was prepared to give up his paramount power in exchange for a better country.

Throughout the Qing Dynasty, he was the first and only monarch who put the country's dignity and prosperity before his power and put civilians' interests before the nomadic Manchu nobles'.

However, this reform displeased the entire ruling class, including Empress Dowager Cixi, Qing's nomadic nobles, and many conservative officials who were removed from power.

Calligraphy Work of Guangxu Emperor

Hence, Cixi initiated a coup, imprisoned the Guangxu Emperor, and executed some reformist officials.

This movement lasted only 103 days.

Besides strong opponents from conservative nobles, the Guangxu Emperor and his reform officials also lacked political and administrative experience.

They had implemented numerous aggressive and hasty policies aimed at reforming the old and decaying system within a limited time, many of which were neither feasible nor realistic given the circumstances.

Afterward, Cixi regained all the power, dramatically damaging her relationship with the Guangxu Emperor.

She also tried to nominate another heir to replace Guangxu but failed because of strong opponents among the ruling class and foreign forces in Qing.

Painting Work of Guangxu Emperor

Tragic Love Story of the Guangxu Emperor

Guangxu Emperor didn’t like his queen, the girl Cixi chose for him. This queen, respected as Empress Longyu, got the crown only because she was Cixi’s niece.

Guangxu Emperor also got two imperial concubines when he was 18; one named Zhen was the love of his life.

She was a beautiful, active, open-minded girl who completely understood and supported Guangxu’s ideology and introduced some officials to assist his reform.

However, her involvement in politics strongly displeased Cixi; in some gossip, Zhen was punished (possibly beaten) and locked up by Cixi after the reform failed, and Guangxu was imprisoned.

In 1900, despite the Guangxu Emperor’s strong opposition, Cixi declared war against the Eight Power Allied Force, and the Qing kept losing.

Before the Eight Power Allied Force occupied Beijing, Cixi escaped westward. But before she left Beijing, she commanded to kill Zhen, who was cruelly thrown into a well in the royal palace and drowned.

This well is now a tourist site inside the Forbidden City.

Zhenfei Jing in the Forbidden Palace, the Well that Guangxu Emperor's beloved Woman was Pushed in under Commanded of Empress Dowager Cixi.

Zhenfei Jing in the Forbidden Palace, the Well that Guangxu Emperor's beloved Woman Zhen was Pushed in under Commanded of Empress Dowager Cixi

The Persistence and Tragedy of the Guangxu Emperor

During Guangxu's ten years of captive life, Cixi sometimes would let him participate in political meetings; but he was a puppet who had to say what Cixi asked.

He spent most of his time reading books worldwide and never stopped learning laws and ideologies from advanced Western countries.

Guangxu Emperor hoped that after Cixi passed away, he could implement his reforms again.

However, this was just his wishful thinking since Empress Dowager Cixi was a more mature, sly, and merciless politician.

Painting Work of Guangxu Emperor

When Cixi was old and sick, the Guangxu Emperor was poisoned to death under her command because of his “rebel” policy and the potentiality to jeopardize Qing’s Manchu aristocratic dominance.

Guangxu Emperor passed away one day before Cixi was gone.

Guangxu Emperor Zaitian was an unlucky and pathos emperor in the history of China.

He was not afraid of wars or losing power or the throne; he tried to implement a fundamental reform that could bring significant changes to his country.

Unlike his ancestors and his aunt, he stepped out of the cage and started to think from a bigger perspective; however, he and his followers’ incapability made the unprecedented reform encounter a complete failure.

Guangxu Emperor never stopped trying and learning but still ended up being a victim of the wheel of history.

Green and Famille Bowl Produced During Guangxu Emperor's Reign — Palace Museum (Photo by Dongmaiying)

Next Story: The Last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty and the Witness of History — Puyi