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Breaking the Bonds of Precedent: The 1905–6 Government Reform Commission and the Remaking of the Qing Central State

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2003

Richard S. Horowitz
Richard S. Horowitz
Affiliation:
California State University, Northridge
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Abstract

On January 29, 1901, in the grim aftermath of the Boxer Uprising and the humiliating foreign invasion of north China that followed, the Empress Dowager Cixi issued a famous edict that initiated the New Policy (xinzheng) reforms.

The weakness of China is caused by the strength of convention and the rigid network of regulations. We have many mediocre officials but few men of talent and courage. The regulations are used by mediocre men as the means of their self-protection, and taken advantage of by government clerks as sources of profit. The government officials exchange numerous documents but they never touch reality. The appointment of capable men is restricted by regulations so rigid that even men of exceptional talent are missed. What misleads the country can be expressed in one word, selfishness, and what suffocates all under heaven is precedent.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 37 , Issue 4 , October 2003 , pp. 775 - 797
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

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