| Imperial decree of declaration of war against foreign powers | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 宣戰詔書 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 宣战诏书 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Edict declaring war | ||||||||
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The Imperial Decree of declaration of war against foreign powers (Chinese :宣戰詔書) was a simultaneous declaration of war by the Qing dynasty in 1900 against eleven foreign powers which held varying degrees of influence in China:Russia,the United States,the United Kingdom,Japan,France,Germany,Italy,Spain,Austria-Hungary,Belgium,and the Netherlands. The declaration of war was one of the direct causes of the Boxer Rebellion and the Eight-Nation Alliance's formation,which then led to Boxer Protocol. This Imperial decree was officially issued in the name of Guangxu Emperor,bearing his official Imperial seal. The Emperor of China was in effect under house arrest,ordered by Empress Dowager Cixi at that time,and the full administrative power was in the hand of the Empress Dowager. [1] [2]
Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao were helping the young Guangxu Emperor to start the Hundred Days' Reform,which was "too fast,too ambitious,and lacked any sense of political reality" [3] and they approached Yuan Shikai's help to stage a military coup to topple the conservative forces of the Manchu Court. Yuan Shikai instead of taking side with the reformers,revealed the plot which included the executions of top conservative powers. Empress Dowager fought back by putting the young emperor under house arrest and regained the power at the Court. The Great Powers then showed their support for the emperor,Dowager Cixi fearing that the Guangxu Emperor might fight back with the help of foreigners,issued a royal decree of declaration of war against all eleven of the then Great Powers. [3]
Up until the last minute, the Empress Dowager remained hesitant. The decision to go to war was essentially a passive one. The official declaration of war was worded in such a strange manner that it indicated nothing more than the strongest form of a persona non grata note... In effect it was designed to bluff and deter. [4]
Yuan Shikai was a Chinese politician who served as the second provisional president of the Republic of China and head of the Beiyang government from 1912 to 1916. A major political figure during the late Qing dynasty, he spearheaded a number of major modernisation programs and reforms and played a decisive role in securing the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in 1912, which marked the collapse of the Qing monarchy and the end of imperial rule in China.
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists. The rebels were known as the "Boxers" in English because many of its members had practised Chinese martial arts, which at the time were referred to as "Chinese boxing".
Empress Dowager Cixi ; born Yehe Nara Xingzhen, was a Chinese noblewoman of the Manchu Yehe Nara clan, concubine and later regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for almost 50 years, from 1861 until her death in 1908. Selected as a concubine of the Xianfeng Emperor in her adolescence, she gave birth to a son, Zaichun, in 1856. After the Xianfeng Emperor's death in 1861, the young boy became the Tongzhi Emperor, and she assumed the role of co-empress dowager, alongside the Emperor's widow, Empress Dowager Ci'an. Cixi ousted a group of regents appointed by the late emperor and assumed the regency along with Ci'an, who later died. Cixi then consolidated control over the dynasty when she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor at the death of her son, the Tongzhi Emperor, in 1875. This was contrary to the traditional rules of succession of the Qing dynasty that had ruled China since 1644.
The Guangxu Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the tenth emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign, which lasted from 1875 to 1908, was largely dominated by his aunt Empress Dowager Cixi. Guangxu initiated the radical Hundred Days' Reform but was abruptly stopped when the empress dowager launched a coup in 1898, after which he was held under virtual house arrest until his death.
The Hundred Days' Reform or Wuxu Reform was a failed 103-day national, cultural, political, and educational reform movement that occurred from 11 June to 22 September 1898 during the late Qing dynasty. It was undertaken by the young Guangxu Emperor and his reform-minded supporters. Following the issuing of the reformative edicts, a coup d'état ("The Coup of 1898", Wuxu Coup was perpetrated by powerful conservative opponents led by Empress Dowager Cixi.
Zaifeng, also known as Tsai Feng, Prince of Ch'ün, formally known by his title Prince Chun, was a Manchu prince and regent of the late Qing dynasty. He was a son of Yixuan, the seventh son of the Daoguang Emperor, and the father of Puyi, the Last Emperor. He served as prince regent from 1908 to 1911 during the reign of his son until the Qing dynasty was overthrown by the Xinhai Revolution in 1911.
Sheng Xuanhuai was a Qing dynasty Chinese tycoon, politician, and educator. He founded several major banks and universities and served as Minister of Transportation of the Qing Empire. He was also known as Sheng Gongbao.
Yikuang, formally known as Prince Qing, was a Manchu noble and politician of the Qing dynasty. He served as the first Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet, an office created in May 1911 to replace the Grand Council.
Yehe Nara Jingfen, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Yehe Nara clan, was the wife and empress consort of Zaitian, the Guangxu Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1889 until her husband's death in 1908, after which she was honoured as Empress Dowager Longyu. She was posthumously honoured with the title Empress Xiaodingjing.
Ronglu, courtesy name Zhonghua, was a Manchu political and military leader of the late Qing dynasty. He was born in the Guwalgiya clan, which was under the Plain White Banner of the Manchu Eight Banners. Deeply favoured by Empress Dowager Cixi, he served in a number of important civil and military positions in the Qing government, including the Zongli Yamen, Grand Council, Grand Secretary, Viceroy of Zhili, Beiyang Trade Minister, Secretary of Defence, Nine Gates Infantry Commander, and Wuwei Corps Commander. He was also the maternal grandfather of Puyi, the last Emperor of China and the Qing dynasty.
Cen Chunxuan, courtesy name Yunjie, was a Zhuang Chinese politician who lived in the late Qing dynasty and Republic of China.
Zaiyi, better known by his title Prince Duan, was a Manchu prince and statesman of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known as one of the leaders of the Boxer Rebellion of 1899–1901.
The Hushenying were a unit of 10,000 Manchu Bannermen under the command of Zaiyi during the Boxer Rebellion. Zaiyi himself created the unit in 1899, but it was decimated at the Battle of Peking in 1900 when the Eight-Nation Alliance captured Beijing to lift the Chinese siege of the foreign legations during the Boxer Uprising.
The Imperial Decree on events leading to the signing of Boxer Protocol is an imperial decree issued by the government of the Qing dynasty in the name of the Guangxu Emperor, as an official imperial statement on historical events such as Boxer Rebellion, Eight-Nation Alliance and Battle of Peking and Siege of the International Legations, detailing instructions given to Prince Qing and Li Hongzhang as the full representatives of the imperial court in negotiating a peace treaty with the foreign powers, prior to the official signing of the Boxer Protocol on 7 September 1901. This Imperial Decree was officially issued in the name of the Guangxu Emperor and with his official Imperial Seal. The Emperor was actually under house arrest at the time, ordered by Empress Dowager Cixi who held full administrative power.
Zaixun, formally known as Prince Zhuang, was a Manchu prince of the Qing dynasty. He is best known for his involvement in the Boxer Rebellion.
The Wuwei Corps or Guards Army was a modernised army unit of the Qing dynasty of China. Made up of infantry, cavalry and artillery, it was formed in May or June 1899 and trained by western military advisers. The guard took responsibility for the security of Peking (Beijing) and the Forbidden City, with Ronglu as its supreme commander. This move was an attempt by the Qing imperial court to create a western-style army equipped with modern weaponry following the Qing Empire's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War. Three out of the five divisions of the Wuwei Corps were disbanded after two years due to attrition caused by the Boxer Rebellion.
Towards the Republic, also known as For the Sake of the Republic and Zou Xiang Gong He, is a Chinese historical television series first broadcast on China Central Television (CCTV) in China from April to May 2003. The series is based on events which occurred in China in the late 19th century and early 20th century, and led to the collapse of the Qing dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China. Because the series portrayed historical issues to which the current Chinese government remains politically sensitive, the series has been subjected to censorship in mainland China.
Imperial Noble Consort Xianzhe, of the Manchu Bordered Blue Banner Hešeri clan, was a consort of the Tongzhi Emperor.
The Mutual Defense Pact of the Southeastern Provinces was an agreement reached in the summer of 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion by Qing dynasty governors of the provinces in southern, eastern and central China when the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded northern China. The governors, including Li Hongzhang, Xu Yingkui, Liu Kunyi, Zhang Zhidong and Yuan Shikai, refused to carry out the imperial decree promulgated by the Qing imperial court to declare war on 11 foreign states, with the aim of preserving peace in their own provinces.
The Imperial Edict of the Abdication of the Qing Emperor was an official decree issued by the Empress Dowager Longyu on behalf of the six-year-old Xuantong Emperor, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty of China, on 12 February 1912, as a response to the Xinhai Revolution. The revolution led to the self-declared independence of 13 southern Chinese provinces and the subsequent peace negotiation between the rest of Qing China and the collective of the southern provinces.