ABSTRACT
On May 29, 1898, Prince Gong died after a lingering disease. At his deathbed, his nephew, Zai Tian - the young Emperor Guangxu of China was told by his old uncle, 'Beware of the Cantonese scum'. The young Emperor did not, however, listen to his uncle's last advice. Thirteen days later, he announced far-reaching reforms that would disturb the very delicate body politic of the Manchu Empire and draw strong reactions from the conservative elements of the regime. The first and most delicate line of division at the Court and the country at large was between the Bannermen caste and the Chinese Mandarins. The Chinese Mandarins were a totally different kind of people. For ethnic Chinese, the Chinese Bannermen aside, there was only one way to access a government career: by passing the imperial examinations. Thus, to the deep concern of Prince Gong on his deathbed, the Court lost the self-adjusting mechanism he had so carefully nurtured for decades.
