Guangxu

Guangxu was the tenth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the ninth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. He ascended the throne at the age of four, after the death of his cousin, the Tongzhi Emperor, in 1875. His reign was largely controlled by his aunt, Empress Dowager Cixi, who acted as his regent until 1889, and then continued to influence state affairs behind the scenes. Guangxu was a progressive ruler who attempted to modernize and reform the Qing government and society in the late 19th century. He initiated the Hundred Days' Reform in 1898, which aimed to introduce sweeping changes in the political, legal, educational, and military systems, based on the models of Western countries. However, his reform efforts faced strong opposition from the conservative Qing bureaucracy and were ultimately aborted by Cixi, who launched a coup in September 1898 and placed Guangxu under house arrest. Guangxu remained a prisoner for the rest of his life, while Cixi resumed power as the de facto ruler of China. Guangxu died in November 1908, a day before Cixi, under suspicious circumstances. It was later confirmed by forensic tests that he was poisoned by arsenic, but the identity of his murderer remains unknown. Guangxu was succeeded by his nephew, Puyi, who was the last emperor of the Qing dynasty and China. Guangxu is remembered as a reformist emperor who tried to save the Qing dynasty from collapse, but was thwarted by the conservative forces and the foreign powers that exploited China's weakness.