Opposition to the reform is intense among…

Opposition to the reform is intense among the conservative ruling elite, especially the Manchus, who, in condemning the announced reform as too radical, propose instead a more moder-ate and gradualist course of change.

Supported by ultraconservatives and with the tacit support of the political opportunist Yuan Shikai (1859-1916), Empress Dowager Cixi engineers a coup d'etat on September 21, 1898, forcing the young reform-minded Guangxu into seclusion.

Cixi takes over the government as regent.

The Hundred Days' Reform ends with the rescindment of the new edicts and the execution of six of the reform's chief advocates.

The two principal leaders, Kang Youwei (1858-1927) and Liang Qichao (1873-1929), flee abroad to found the Baohuang Hui (Protect the Emperor Society) and to work, unsuccessfully, for a con- stitutional monarchy in China.