ABSTRACT
Editor’s Note: Lu Xiaobo’s introduction is compellingly straightforward and simple. He declares: “The ostensibly sensible notion of ‘public opinion paving the way for political change’ is, in this case, simply not tenable, however, since the bianfa weixin reforms cannot be reduced to this one particular historical process. … The Hundred Days Reform of 1898 did no more than to accelerate the rate of [court-sponsored] reforms of the previous three years.” Again, in Lü’s conclusion: “These three years of reform were the prerequisite and the foundation of the Hundred Days Reform, which is now fully apparent.” Correcting the common historical error of equating the reform movement of 1895–98 with Kang Youwei and his circle is long overdue. One highly recommended study that advances our understanding substantially is Luke S. K. Kwong’s A Mosaic of the Hundred Days: Personalities, Politics, and Ideas of 1898 (Cambridge: Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, 1984).
