Sun Jianai (7 April 1827 –29 November 1909) was a Chinese official and educator during the late Qing dynasty,noted as an advisor and tutor to the Guangxu Emperor. Born in Anhui,he passed the imperial examinations and became a jinshi in 1859. After service as an education director in Hubei and at the Palace School for Princes,he was appointed as the tutor of the young Guangxu Emperor alongside Weng Tonghe. He served in various administrative posts during the 1880s and 1890s,including as president of the Censorate,Ministry of Works,Ministry of Rites,and Ministry of Civil Appointments. He was an advocate for the creation of what would become the Imperial University of Peking. Emperor Guangxu appointed Sun the Director of Educational Affairs and the imperial minister of the university. During the Hundred Days' Reform,he managed the university's opening and served as one of the emperor's closest advisors during the period.
A political moderate,Sun survived Empress Dowager Cixi's coup against the reform movement,and continued to manage the university. During the Boxer Rebellion,the university was destroyed and Sun's house was looted by the Kansu Braves. Following Cixi,he fled to Xi'an. After the war,he was promoted to the post of Grand Secretary of the Tiran Ge,and served as an examiner for the metropolitan imperial exams. He returned to managing the university in a triad with Zhang Baixi and Rongqing[zh] in 1904. He was named the prospective chairman of the advisory National Assembly,but died before the body could convene.
Sun served as the vice president of various ministries,some concurrently to his tutoring service;he was the vice president of the Ministry of Works from 1879 to 1883,the Ministry of Revenue from 1883 to 1887,the Ministry of War from 1887 to 1889,and the Ministry of Civil Appointments from 1889 to 1890. He became president of the Censorate in 1890;two years later he was jointly appointed as the president of the Ministry of Works and the governor of Beijing,a post he would hold until 1899. Alongside the general and statesman Li Hongzhang,Sun opposed Weng's advocacy of war against Japan over Korea,believing that China would be unable to defeat the Japanese. Weng's faction was able to push Emperor Guangxu to support the conflict,leading to the First Sino-Japanese War and China's defeat in 1895. After the war,Sun was appointed to establish a state printing office. He served as the president of the Ministry of Rites in 1896–1897 and the Ministry of Civil Appointments in 1897–1899.[1]
In 1895,a group of intellectuals led by Wen Tingshi[zh] organized a study society dubbed the Qiangxuehui[zh] (強學會;'Society for the Study of Self-Strengthening'). On the urging of censor Yang Chongyi[zh],Emperor Guangxu banned the society the following year. Sun approached Guangxu and spoke in favor of the society,echoing Li Hongzhang's proposal that the emperor to fund the establishment of a book depot to house the society's library. In response,the Emperor declared Sun the superintendent of the Official Book Depot to maintain the library.[4][5]
Following the humiliation of the Sino-Japanese War,officials began to advocate for the creation of a national university to strengthen and modernize the Chinese state. In 1896,a memorial ostensibly from the official Li Duanfen[zh] (but likely composed by his relative Liang Qichao) was sent to Emperor Guangxu,requesting the university's establishment. Sun wrote in favor of this document,stating that prior western-style government schools (such as naval colleges or the Tongwen Guan) only taught individual skills,rather than a unified educational framework.[6][7] He sought to combine western and Chinese-style education into a single institution. Sun criticized what he saw as extreme westernization in Japan,writing that "absolutely must not do as the Japanese have done,dispensing with their own learning in favor of Western learning".[8]
Sun stressed that the western powers invested large amount of money and resources into their national universities,and advocated that such an institution should be located in the capital of Beijing,in order to serve as a unifying cultural symbol. He created a draft curriculum for the institution which mixed western and Chinese learning and centered around ten disciplines:astronomy,classics,politics,literature,military science,engineering,commerce,and medicine. The emperor approved the establishment of the university and appointed Sun the Director of Educational Affairs (管學大臣;Guǎnxuédàchén) in order to organize it.[6][7][9] However,the university's establishment was delayed by conservative leaders such as Pujing,Prince Yi[zh] and Gangyi,who stressed the expenses required by the institution.[10]
On 11 June 1898,Emperor Guangxu began the Hundred Days' Reform. Sun emerged as one of his most trusted officials during this period,and was frequently called to weigh in on proposed reforms. However,as Sun was not a member of the Grand Council,he was only able to meet with the emperor six times during the Hundred Days,mainly communicating with him in writing. In July,Sun wrote to the emperor requesting that Feng Guifen's reformist text Jiaobinlu kangyi (校邠廬抗議;'Protest from the Jiaobin Studio') be printed and distributed among court officials. The emperor approved this the same day,and around a thousand copies were distributed on 1 August,with encouragement for bureaucrats to make commentaries and notes.[11][12][13]
During the reforms,Censor Song Bolu[zh] petitioned the government to take over the production of Liang's Shanghai periodical Shiwu bao[zh] and convert it into a reformist government gazette under Liang's leadership. Sun agreed with this proposal,but placed Kang Youwei in charge of the gazette in lieu of Liang,who had already been tasked with translation projects. This greatly upset Kang,who wished to stay in Beijing in order to gain political influence within the central government. Kang attempted to modify Sun's guidelines for the paper to obtain greater control over its content,but was forced to defer to Sun's leadership. Unable to gain control of the paper in Shanghai from its owner Wang Kangnian[zh],Kang attempted to halt its publication. Viceroy Zhang Zhidong wrote to Sun to ask whether this action was officially-sanctioned;Sun responded that Kang was acting on his own initiative and should be ignored.[14]
The opening of the university became a priority for the reformers,with a third of Emperor Guangxu's 11 June edict inaugurating the reform campaign dedicated to the establishment of the institution. Sun was promoted to the post of Assistant Grand Secretary. Sun appointed Kang and Liang to prepare a charter and set of regulations for the university,which were approved on 3 July. Although proposed by more radical reformists,Sun was seen as a moderate and tasked to serve as the first imperial minister of the university,managing its operations and staffing.[1][11][12]
The Imperial University of Peking was officially founded on 9 August.[1] Sun almost exclusively hired administrators from the ranks of senior government officials. He appointed Hanlin Academy compiler Huang Shaoji[zh] as the university supervisor,diplomat Xu Jingcheng as the chief supervisor of Chinese learning,and former Tongwen Guan head W.A.P. Martin as head of faculty and supervisor of Western learning. Sun's appointment of Martin balanced the power between other Chinese officials,allowing Sun greater control over the institution in lieu of its supervisors. This was also likely motivated by the political conflict between Sun and Kang,who was seeking appointment to the supervisor position. As Martin was not a jinshi,Sun petitioned the imperial government to grant him a nominal bureaucratic post.[15][16]
Sun hired a number of foreign instructors at much higher wages than their Chinese peers. They were mainly missionaries,as the government was unwilling to recruit talent from overseas. Western embassies in the capital lobbied for their nationals to be hired as instructors.[17] Sun advocated for the university to establish a translation bureau in order to compile and translate foreign textbooks for use in an envisioned national university system. This,alongside another request to open a medical studies facility,was granted by the emperor.[18][19] He additionally requested that a college be established at the university aimed at officials already holding juren and jinshi degrees,and that university agents should be sent to Japan to study their higher education system.[20][21]
In late September,Empress Dowager Cixi launched a coup d'état,halted the emperor's reforms,and purged many officials.[22] The university was the lone institution established during the reform period to survive,and Sun was able to continue in his position as president of the institution. He scaled back his earlier plans for the institution in the more conservative environment,maintaining that the university's primary purpose was to teach the Chinese classics. However,conservatives within the imperial government continued to oppose the university,and despite political support from Grand Councilor Ronglu,Sun was unable to secure funding to expand it. Rumors of a plot against Emperor Guangxu led Sun to request to retire from his post,citing poor health;this was rejected several times,but he was eventually allowed to retire with full pay in late 1899.[1][23]
During the Boxer Rebellion,Sun's home in Beijing was looted by the Kansu Braves due to his connections with Emperor Guangxu. Rebels destroyed the Imperial University during the fighting. Sun followed Cixi to the provisional capital of Xi'an,where he was again made president of the Ministry of Civil Appointments the following year. In early 1902,he became the Grand Secretary of the Tiran Ge.[1][24] He was one of eight designated examiners for the 1903 and 1904 metropolitan imperial examinations.[24]
In order to mediate conflict,Sun was appointed in 1904 to manage the reestablished Imperial University alongside his initial replacement as president,Zhang Baixi,as well as the bannerman Rongqing[zh]. However,due to Sun's age,most policy decisions were made by Zhang.[1][25] Sun served on a commission alongside Qu Hongji to study foreign governments for possible reforms,producing small-scale proposals due to conservative opposition. In 1908,he was given the honorary title of Grand Tutor of the Heir Apparent. He was named as the presumptive chairman of the National Assembly,but died on 29 November 1909,a year before the assembly could convene. He was given the posthumous name Wenzheng.[1]
Notes
↑The Manchu-led Qing dynasty conquered the Han ChineseMing dynasty during the 17th century,although loyalist activities continued afterwards.[2]
Weston, Timothy B. (2002). "The Founding of the Imperial University and the Emergence of Chinese Modernity". In Karl, Rebecca E.; Zarrow, Peter (eds.). Rethinking the 1898 Reform Period: Political and Cultural Change in Late Qing China. Cambridge: Harvard University Asia Center. pp.99–123. doi:10.1163/9781684173747_006. ISBN9781684173747.
Li Hongzhang, Marquess Suyi was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important positions in the Qing imperial court, including the Viceroy of Zhili, Huguang and Liangguang.
Empress Dowager Cixi was a Manchu noblewoman of the Yehe Nara clan who effectively but periodically controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty as empress dowager and regent 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, his five-year-old son became the Tongzhi Emperor, and Cixi assumed the role of co-empress dowager alongside Xianfeng'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. Cixi then consolidated control over the dynasty when she installed her nephew as the Guangxu Emperor at the death of the Tongzhi Emperor in 1875. Ci'an continued as co-regent until her death in 1881.
The Guangxu Emperor, also known by his temple name Emperor Dezong of Qing, personal name Zaitian, was the eleventh emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, from 1875 to 1908. His reign was largely dominated by his maternal aunt Empress Dowager Cixi, who was his regent for much of his nominal rule except in the time from 1889 to 1898. He initiated the radical Hundred Days' Reform in the summer of 1898 but was abruptly stopped when the Empress Dowager launched a coup on 21 September, after which he was held under virtual house arrest until his death one decade later.
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 was perpetrated by powerful conservative opponents led by Empress Dowager Cixi. While Empress Dowager Cixi supported the principles of the Hundred Days' Reform, she feared that sudden implementation, without bureaucratic support, would be disruptive and that the Japanese and other foreign powers would take advantage of any weakness. She later backed the late Qing reforms after the invasions of the Eight-Nation Alliance.
Empress Xiaozhenxian, of the Manchu Bordered Yellow Banner Niohuru clan, was a posthumous name bestowed to the wife and empress consort of Yizhu, the Xianfeng Emperor. She was empress consort of Qing from 1852 until her husband's death in 1861, after which she was honored as Empress Dowager Ci'an.
Kang Youwei was a political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty. His increasing closeness to and influence over the young Guangxu Emperor sparked conflict between the emperor and his adoptive mother, the regent Empress Dowager Cixi. His ideas were influential in the abortive Hundred Days' Reform. Following the coup by Cixi that ended the reform, Kang was forced to flee. He continued to advocate for a Chinese constitutional monarchy after the founding of the Republic of China.
Yixuan, formally known as Prince Chun, was an imperial prince of the House of Aisin-Gioro and a statesman of the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in China. He was the father of the Guangxu Emperor, and the paternal grandfather of Puyi through his fifth son Zaifeng.
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.
Liang Qichao was a Chinese politician, social and political activist, journalist, and intellectual. His thought had a significant influence on the political reformation of modern China. He inspired Chinese scholars and activists with his writings and reform movements. His translations of Western and Japanese books into Chinese further introduced new theories and ideas and inspired young activists.
Tan Sitong, courtesy name Fusheng (復生), pseudonym Zhuangfei (壯飛), was a well-known Chinese politician, thinker, and reformist in the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911). He was executed at the age of 33 when the Hundred Days' Reform failed in 1898. Tan Sitong was one of the six gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform, and occupies an important place in modern Chinese history. To many contemporaries, his execution symbolized the political failure of the Qing dynasty's reformation, helping to persuade the intellectual class to pursue violent revolution and overthrow the Qing dynasty.
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.
Imperial Noble Consort Keshun, of the Manchu Bordered Red Banner Tatara clan, was a consort of the Guangxu Emperor. She was five years his junior. She was known to foreigners as the Pearl Consort. Legend has it that she was drowned in a well on the orders of Empress Dowager Cixi.
The Grand Council or Junji Chu, officially the Banli Junji Shiwu Chu, was an important policy-making body of China during the Qing dynasty. It was established in 1733 by the Yongzheng Emperor. The council was originally in charge of military affairs, but gradually attained a more important role and eventually attained the role of a privy council, eclipsing the Grand Secretariat in function and importance, which is why it has become known as the "Grand Council" in English.
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.
Weng Tonghe, courtesy name Shuping (叔平), was a Chinese Confucian scholar and imperial tutor who lived in the Qing dynasty. In 1856, he obtained the position of zhuangyuan in the imperial examination and was subsequently admitted to the prestigious Hanlin Academy.
Cen Chunxuan, courtesy name Yunjie, was a Zhuang Chinese politician who lived in the late Qing dynasty and Republic of China.
Lin Xu, courtesy name Tungu (暾谷), was a Chinese politician, scholar, songwriter and poet who lived in the late Qing dynasty. He was also a student of Kang Youwei, a prominent official and one of the leaders of a reform movement in the late Qing dynasty.
Six gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform, also known as Six gentlemen of Wuxu, were a group of six Chinese intellectuals whom the Empress Dowager Cixi had arrested and executed for their attempts to implement the Hundred Days' Reform. The most vocal and prominent member in the group of six was Tan Sitong. Kang Guangren was notable as the younger brother of the reformist leader Kang Youwei. These executions were a part of the large purge in which about 30 men were arrested, imprisoned, dismissed from office, or banished. In many cases the family members of these men were arrested as well.
Liu Guangdi was a Chinese government minister during the late Qing dynasty. He was a leader of the Hundred Days' Reform movement of 1898. After the reforms were reversed in a coup, he and five other leaders were executed. They are now considered as martyrs and are referred to as the Six Gentlemen. Liu was also a reformist patriotic poet of the late Qing Dynasty.
Wang Zhao was a Chinese linguist and advocate of modern phonetic writing. Wang was from Ninghe, Tianjin in the province of Zhili. He created a syllabary for Chinese writing based on Mandarin called the Mandarin Alphabet. While this system is no longer used, Wang was the first to formally suggest the adoption of a national language for China based on Mandarin.
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![Left to right:Wang Wenshao,Mingan [zh],Sun Jianai,and Yu Shi [zh],c. 1903 Wang Wen Shao,Ming An,Sun Jia Nai,Yu Shi .jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cf/%E7%8E%8B%E6%96%87%E9%9F%B6%E3%80%81%E9%8A%98%E5%AE%89%E3%80%81%E5%AD%AB%E5%AE%B6%E9%BC%90%E3%80%81%E8%B1%AB%E5%B8%AB.jpg/220px-%E7%8E%8B%E6%96%87%E9%9F%B6%E3%80%81%E9%8A%98%E5%AE%89%E3%80%81%E5%AD%AB%E5%AE%B6%E9%BC%90%E3%80%81%E8%B1%AB%E5%B8%AB.jpg)
