Everything about The Gongche Shangshu Movement totally explained
The
Gongche Shangshu movement (
Traditional Chinese: 公車上書, Simplified Chinese: 公车上书) was a political movement in late
Qing dynasty China, seeking reforms and expressing opposition to the
Treaty of Shimonoseki in
1895. It is considered the first modern political movement in
China. Leaders of the movement later became leaders of the
Hundred Days' Reform.
Events
In
1895,
China was defeated by
Japan in the
First Sino-Japanese War and was forced to signed the
Treaty of Shimonoseki, which ceded
Taiwan and
Liaodong to
Japan in perpetuity, and imposed reparation obligations of 200 million taels of silver on China. At the time, the imperial civil service examination was in progress in
Beijing. When news reached the candidates, they became agitated, especially candidates from
Taiwan whose province was about to become Japanese.
Five days after the signature of the treaty, on
April 22, civil examination candidates led by
Kang Youwei signed a ten-thousand-word petition to the Emperor, against the
Treaty of Shimonoseki. The petition had 5 main points:
- Cancellation the Treaty of Shimonoseki
- Refusal of peace talks with Japan
- Movement of the capital to Shanghai
- Modernization of Qing Imperial Army
- Implementation of Reforms
After the Qing Government refused, on
May 2, thousands of Beijing scholars and citizens protested against the Treaty of Shimonoseki in front of the Ducha Yuan.
Name
The name of this incident, Gongche Shangshu, literally means "Public Vehicle Petition". Gongche, or "Public Vehicle", was a poetic name for civil service candidates from various provinces, and is an allusion to the practice in the
Han dynasty where candidates would be transported to the capital by publicly funded transport.
Legacy
Although the movement was unsuccessful in asking the Qing Government to start reforms, many people in the traditional Chinese community began to realise the importance of reforms. Leaders of the movement such as
Kang Youwei,
Liang Qichao,
Tan Sitong and
Yan Fu started published newspapers in
Beijing,
Shanghai, and other cities, rised attention to the emperor, who later invited them to enter the government to implement reforms. Although both the movement and later the reforms in
1898 failed, many scholars in big cities swifted from supporting the traditional thinking to support reforms or revolution.
Further Information
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