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李端棻徐致靖子仁鑄陳寶箴黃遵憲曾鉌楊深秀楊銳劉光第譚嗣同唐才常林旭康廣仁李端棻，字苾園，貴州貴筑人。 同治二年進士，選庶吉士，授編修，為大學士倭仁、尚書羅敦衍所器。 十年，出督雲南學政。 值回寇亂後，荒服道亙，前使者試未遍，端棻始一一按臨，文化漸振。 光緒五年，轉御史，以叔父朝儀官京尹，迴避，改故官。 累擢內閣學士。 十八年，遷刑部侍郎。 越六年，調倉場。 前後迭司文柄，四為鄉試考官，一為會試副總裁，喜獎拔士類。 典試廣東，賞梁啟超才，以從妹妻之，自是頗納啟超議，娓娓道東西邦制度。 維時康有為上書請變法，兼及興學。 二十二年，端棻遂疏請立京師大學，凡各省府、州、縣遍設學堂，分齋講習； 並建藏書樓、儀器院、譯書局，廣立報館，選派遊歷生。 二十四年，密薦康有為及譚嗣同堪大用。 又以各衙門則例，語涉紛歧，疏請刪訂，上尤善之，詔趣各長官定限期革前敝。 擢禮部尚書。 未幾，有為等敗，端棻自疏檢舉，詔褫職，戍新疆。 中道遘疾，留甘州。 二十七年，赦歸，主講貴州經世學堂。 三十三年，卒。 宣統元年，從雲南、貴州京朝官請，復官。 徐致靖，字子靜，江蘇宜興人，寄籍宛平。 光緒二年進士，選庶吉士，授編修。 累遷侍讀學士。 父憂服闋，二十三年，起故官。 致靖嘗憂外患日迫，思所以為獻納計。 子仁鑄，時以編修督湘學，倡新學，書告致靖舉康有為。 致靖遂上言：「國是未定，請申乾斷示從違。」 藉以覘上意。 未幾，詔果求通才，於是致靖奏有為堪大用，並及梁啟超、黃遵憲等。 又連上書請廢製藝，改試策論，省冗官，酌置散卿。 復以邊患棘，宜練重兵，力荐袁世凱主軍事。 上皆然其言，敕依行。 罷斥禮部尚書許應騤等阻遏言路，遂命致靖權右侍郎。 二十四年八月，太后復出訓政，參預新政諸臣皆獲罪。 致靖褫職坐系，尋定永遠監禁，仁鑄亦罷官。 庚子，聯軍陷京師，致靖始出獄待罪，詔赦免。 卒，年七十五。 陳寶箴，字右銘，江西義寧人。 少負志節，詩文皆有法度，為曾國籓所器。 以舉人隨父偉琳治鄉團，禦粵寇。 已而走湖南，參易佩紳戎幕，軍來鳳、龍山間。 石達開來犯，軍飢疲，走永順募糧，糧至不絕，守益堅，寇稍稍引去。 寶箴之江西，為席寶田畫策殲寇洪福瑱，事寧，敘知府，超授河北道。 創致用精舍，遴選三州學子，延名師教之。 遷浙江按察使，坐事免。 湖南巡撫王文韶薦其才，光緒十六年，召入都，除湖北按察使，署布政使。 二十年，擢直隸布政使，入對，時中東戰亟，見上形容憂悴，請日讀聖祖御纂周易，以期變不失常。 他所陳奏語甚多，並稱旨。 上以為忠，命治糈台，專摺奏事。 馬關和約成，泣曰：「殆不國矣！」 明年，以榮祿薦，擢湖南巡撫。 撫幕有任驎者，植黨私利，至即重治之。 直隸布政使王廉為關說，據以上聞，廉獲譴。 覆按史念祖被劾事，盡暴其任用非人狀，念祖遂褫職。 繇是有伉直聲。 湘俗故闇僿，寶箴思以一隅致富強，為東南倡，先後設電信，置小輪，建製造槍彈廠，又立保衛局、南學會、時務學堂。 延梁啟超主湘學，湘俗大變。 又疏請釐正學術及練兵、籌款諸大端，上皆嘉納，敕令持定見，毋為浮言動，並特旨褒勵之。 是時張之洞負盛名，司道咸屏息以伺。 寶箴初綰鄂籓，遇事不合，獨與爭無私撓，之洞雖不懌，無如何也。 久之，兩人深相結，凡條上新政皆聯銜，而鄂撫譚繼洵反不與。 會康有為言事數見效。 寶箴素慕曾、胡薦士，因上言楊銳、劉光第、譚嗣同、林旭佐新政。 上方詔求通變才，遽擢京卿，參新政，於是四人上書論時事無顧忌。 寶箴又言四人雖才，恐資望輕，視事過易，原得厚重大臣如之洞者領之。 疏上而太后已出訓政，誅四京卿，罪及舉主，寶箴去官，其子主事三立亦革職，並毀湘學所著學約、界說、劄記、答問諸書。 初，寧鄉已革道員周漢，以張揭帖攻西教為總督所治。 寶箴至，漢復刊帖傳布，寶箴令毀之，漢毆毀帖者，寶箴怒，下之獄。 舊黨恨次骨，然喜新之士，亦以此翕然稱之。 既去，諸所營構便於民者，雖效益已著，皆廢毀無一存雲。 卒，年七十。 黃遵憲，字公度，嘉應州人。 以舉人入貲為道員。 充使日參贊，著日本國誌上之朝。 旋移舊金山總領事。 美吏嘗藉口衛生，逮華僑滿獄。 徑詣獄中，令從者度其容積，曰：「此處衛生顧右於僑居邪？」 吏謝，遽釋之。 歷湖南長寶鹽法道，署按察使。 時寶箴為巡撫，行新政，遵憲首倡民治於眾曰：「亦自治其身，自治其鄉而已。 由一鄉推之一縣、一府、一省，以迄全國，可以成共和之郅治，臻大同之盛軌。」 於是略仿西國巡警之制，設保衛局，凡與民利民瘼相麗，而為一方民力能舉者，悉屬之，領以民望，而官輔其不及焉。 尋解職，奉出使日本之命，未行而黨禍起，遂罷歸。 著有人境廬詩草等。 曾鉌，字懷清，喜塔臘氏，滿洲正白旗人。 父慶昀，寧夏將軍。 以任子為工部主事，累遷郎中，充軍機章京，轉御史。 光緒九年，出為陝西督糧道。 西、同各屬農民納糧例繳省倉，道塗艱遠，多弊竇，設法清釐之，民稱便。 三輔士風樸僿，藝事苦窳，延長安柏景偉、咸陽劉光蕡主關中書院，督課實學，士論翕然。 又設蠶桑局，聘織師教以煮湅織染法，歲出絲帛埒齊、豫。 十三年，遷按察使。 明年，母憂解職。 服除，起故官，俄遷甘肅布政使。 二十四年，調直隸，迴避，留本任。 擢湖北巡撫，慨然曰：「時艱至此，猶可拘成法不變耶？」 於是假陝甘總督印上陳補官、掣籤、度支、訟獄四事，宜變通成例，厚植國本。 侍讀學士貽穀、光祿寺少卿張仲炘彈其亂政，詔褫職。 始，曾鉌官京朝，家綦貧，僦居陋室。 及任外台，孜孜民事，不顧問有無。 既閒廢，出入皆徒步，民恆歲醵金濟之。 後益困，至敝衣鬻卜都市。 未幾，卒。 宣統改元，總督端方為奏復原官。 楊深秀，字儀村，本名毓秀，山西聞喜人。 少穎敏，諳中西算術。 同治初，以舉人入貲為刑部員外郎。 假歸，值晉大饑，閻敬銘銜命籌賑，深秀條上改革差徭法，困少蘇。 十五年，成進士，就本官遷郎中，轉御史。 嘗言：「時勢危迫，不革舊無以圖新，不變法無以圖存。」 二十四年，俄人脅割旅順、大連灣。 深秀力請聯英、日拒之，詞甚切直。 時朝廷銳意行新政，而大臣恆多異議。 深秀乃與徐致靖先後疏請定國是，又以取士之法未善，請參酌宋、元、明舊制，釐正文體，下其議於禮部，尚書許應騤心非之，未奏也。 會議經濟特科務減額，於是深秀合宋伯魯彈其阻撓。 上令應騤自陳，奏上，劾康有為夤緣要津，請罷斥，詞連深秀，上不之詰也。 御史文悌劾深秀傳布有為所立保國會，並暴有為交通內外狀，德宗責以代人報復，反獲咎。 深秀益感奮，連上書請設譯書局，派王公遊歷各國，並定遊學日本章程，皆報可。 又請試庶官，日番二十人，料簡貞實，而汰其庸愚罷老不諳時務者，繇是廷臣益側目。 湖南巡撫陳寶箴圖治甚急，中蜚語，深秀為剖辨之，上以特旨褒寶箴，寶箴乃得行其志。 八月，政變，舉朝惴惴，懼大誅至，獨深秀抗疏請太后歸政。 方疏未上時，其子黻田苦口諫止，深秀厲聲叱之退。 俄被逮，論棄市。 深秀性鯁直，嘗面折人過，以此叢忌。 官臺諫十閱月，封事二十餘上，稿不具存，惟獄中詩三章流傳於世。 著有虛聲堂稿、聞喜縣新志。 楊銳，字叔嶠，四川綿竹人。 少俊慧，督學張之洞奇其才，招入幕。 肄業尊經書院，年最少，嘗冠其曹。 優貢朝考得知縣。 之洞督兩廣，從赴粵。 光緒十一年，舉順天鄉試，考取內閣中書。 二十四年，之洞薦應經濟特科。 又以陳寶箴薦，與劉光第、譚嗣同、林旭並加四品卿，充軍機章京，參新政。 召見，銳面陳興學、練兵為救亡策，稱旨。 七月，禮部主事王照上封事，尚書許應騤等格不奏。 上聞，震怒，盡褫尚書侍郎六人革職，朝臣皆不自安。 上手詔密諭云：「近日朕仰觀聖母意旨，不欲退此老耄昏庸大臣而進英勇通達之人，亦不欲將法盡變。 朕豈不知積弱不振，非力行新政不可？ 然此時不惟朕權力所不及，若強行之，朕位且不能保。 爾與劉光弟、譚嗣同、林旭等詳悉籌議，必如何而後能進用英達，使新政及時舉行，又不致少拂聖意，即具奏，候朕審擇，不勝焦慮之至！」 銳復奏言：「太后親挈大位授之皇上，皇上宜以孝先天下，遇事將順。 變法宜有次第，進退大臣不宜太驟。」 上是之。 已而太后再訓政，諸言新政者皆予重誅。 銳既下獄，自揣實無罪，謂即訊不難白，次日，遽詔與光第等同棄市。 宣統改元，銳子慶昶繳手詔於都察院，請代奏，始傳於世。 劉光第，字裴村，四川富順人。 光緒九年進士，授刑部主事。 治事精嚴，因讞獄忤長官，遂退而閉戶勤學，絕跡不詣署。 家素貧，而性廉介，非舊交，雖禮饋弗受。 獨與楊銳善。 通周官、禮及大小戴禮記。 其應召也，亦以陳寶箴薦，然非其素志，將具疏辭，川人官京朝者力勸之。 一日，召見，力陳時危民困，外患日迫，亟宜虛懷圖治，上稱善。 惟時言路宏啟，臣民奏事日數百計，竟日批答，簽識可否，以待上裁。 退語所親曰：「吾終不任此，行當亟假歸矣！」 未一月而禍作，光第自投獄。 臨刑，協辦大學士剛毅監斬，光第詫曰：「未訊而誅，何哉？」 令跪聽旨，光第不可，曰：「祖制，雖盜賊，臨刑呼冤，當復訊。 吾輩縱不足惜，如國體何！」 剛毅默不應，再詢之，曰：「吾奉命監刑耳，他何知？」 獄卒強之跪，光第崛立自如。 楊銳呼曰：「裴村，跪！ 跪！ 遵旨而已。」 乃跪就戮。 著有介白堂詩文集。 譚嗣同，字復生，湖南瀏陽人。 父繼洵，湖北巡撫。 少倜儻有大志，文為奇肆。 其學以日新為主，視倫常舊說若無足措意者。 繼洵素謹飭，以是頗見惡。 嗣同乃遊新疆劉錦棠幕，以同知入貲為知府，銓江蘇。 陳寶箴撫湖南，嗣同還鄉佐新政。 梁啟超倡辦南學會，嗣同為之長。 屆會期，集者恆數百人，聞嗣同慷慨論時事，多感動。 光緒二十四年，召入都，奏對稱旨，擢四品卿、軍機章京。 四人雖同被命，每召對，嗣同建議獨多。 上欲開懋勤殿，設顧問官，令嗣同擬旨，必載明前朝故事，將親詣頤和園請命太后。 嗣同退謂人曰：「今乃知上絕無權也！」 時榮祿督畿輔，袁世凱以監司練兵天津。 詔擢世凱侍郎，召入覲。 嗣同嘗夜詣世凱有所議。 明日，世凱返天津。 越晨，太后自頤和園還宮，收政權。 啟超避匿日本使館，嗣同往見之，勸嗣同東遊。 嗣同曰：「不有行者，無以圖將來； 不有死者，無以酬聖主。」 卒不去。 未幾，斬於市。 著有仁學及莽蒼蒼齋詩集等。 唐才常，字佛塵。 少與嗣同齊名，稱「瀏陽二生」，兩湖學堂高材生也。 聞嗣同死，憂憤，屢有所謀，每言及德宗，常泣下。 二十六年，兩宮出狩，才常陰結富有會謀舉事，號勤王，將攻武、漢。 被獲，慷慨言無所隱，請就死，遂殺之。 林旭，字暾谷，福建侯官人。 年十九，舉本省鄉試第一。 後試禮部，值構釁，糾同試者上書論時事，不報。 入貲為內閣中書。 時康有為倡言變法，先於京師立粵學會，以振厲士氣，而蜀學、浙學、陝學、閩學諸會繼之。 旭為閩學會領袖，又充保國會會員。 榮祿先為福州將軍，雅好閩士，及至天津，延旭入幕。 俄以奏保人才召見，操土語，上不盡解。 退繕摺，上稱善，遂命與譚嗣同等同參機務，詔諭多旭起草。 及變起，同戮於市，年二十有四。 著有晚翠軒詩集。 妻沈葆楨孫女，聞變，仰藥不死，以毀卒。 康廣仁，名有溥，以字行，有為弟。 少從兄學。 有為上書請改革，廣仁謂當先變科舉，庶人才可出。 其後罷鄉會試、製藝，而歲科試未變，廣仁激勵言官抗疏論之，得旨俞允。 於是廣仁語有為：「今科舉既廢，宜且南歸興學專教育，俟養成多數有用才，數年後乃可云改革也。」 有為不忍去。 及初聞變，廣仁復趣有為歸。 有為走，廣仁被逮。 在獄言笑自若，臨刑猶言曰：「中國自強之機在此矣！」 論曰：戊戌變法，德宗發憤圖強，用端棻等言，召用新進。 百日維新，中外震仰，黨爭遽起，激成政變。 銳、光第、嗣同、旭及深秀、廣仁同日被禍，世稱「六君子」，皆悲其志。 內爭不已，牽及外交。 其後遂釀庚子排外之亂，終致危亡。 此亦代興衰一大關鍵也。
Li Duanfen, Xu Zhijing, Zi Renzhu, Chen Baozhen, Huang Zunxian, Zeng He, Yang Shenxiu, Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, Tang Caichang, Lin Xu, and Kang Guangren. Li Duanfen, whose courtesy name was Biyuan, came from Guizhu in Guizhou. In Tongzhi 2 he took his jinshi degree, entered the Hanlin as a junior compiler, was appointed a compiler, and won the regard of Grand Secretary Woren and Minister Luo Dunyan. In year ten he was sent out as Educational Commissioner of Yunnan. This was after the Muslim uprising, when frontier routes were still broken and the previous commissioner had not been able to hold examinations throughout the province. Duanfen toured each district in person, and learning gradually revived. In Guangxu 5 he was made a censor, but when his uncle Chaoyi served as metropolitan magistrate of Beijing, he withdrew under the kinship rule and resumed his former office. He rose step by step to junior grand secretary of the Grand Secretariat. In the eighteenth year he was moved to vice minister of the Ministry of Punishments. Six years later he was reassigned to oversee the grain depots. On several occasions he held charge of the civil examinations, serving four times as provincial examiner and once as associate chief examiner for the metropolitan examination, and he took pleasure in recognizing and advancing promising scholars. While conducting examinations in Guangdong he admired Liang Qichao's ability, married a younger female cousin to him, and thereafter often took Liang's counsel, speaking at length about the political systems of East and West. About this time Kang Youwei submitted memorials calling for reform and for the expansion of education. In year twenty-two Duanfen memorialized to establish a national university in the capital and schools in every province, prefecture, department, and county, with separate halls for study; and to set up libraries, instrument halls, and translation bureaus, to open newspapers widely, and to select students to travel abroad for study. In the twenty-fourth year he secretly recommended Kang Youwei and Tan Sitong as men capable of high responsibility. He further observed that the regulatory precedents of the various offices were inconsistent in wording and asked that they be revised; the emperor was especially pleased and ordered each department head to fix a deadline for removing old abuses. He was promoted to minister of the Ministry of Rites. Before long Kang Youwei's party fell; Duanfen submitted a memorial denouncing himself, and an edict removed him from office and banished him to Xinjiang. He fell ill en route and was held at Ganzhou. In the twenty-seventh year he was amnestied and went home, where he lectured at the Guizhou Jingshi Academy. In the thirty-third year he died. In the first year of Xuantong, at the petition of Yunnan and Guizhou officials in Beijing, his former office was restored. Xu Zhijing, whose courtesy name was Zijing, came from Yixing in Jiangsu and was registered at Wanping. In Guangxu 2 he took his jinshi degree, entered the Hanlin as a junior compiler, and was appointed a compiler. He rose in stages to reader-in-waiting in the Hanlin Academy. After completing mourning for his father, in the twenty-third year he was recalled to his former office. Zhijing had long been troubled by the daily tightening of foreign pressure and pondered how he might advise the throne. His son Renzhu, then a compiler serving as Hunan's educational commissioner, promoted the new learning and wrote urging Zhijing to recommend Kang Youwei. Zhijing then memorialized: "The nation's course is still unsettled; I ask that Your Majesty's own judgment be made explicit, showing what is to be adopted and what rejected." In this way he hoped to discern the emperor's intentions. Soon an edict did call for broadly talented men; Zhijing then reported that Kang Youwei was fit for high office, and also named Liang Qichao, Huang Zunxian, and others. He also sent a series of memorials asking to abolish the eight-legged essay, test policy essays instead, cut redundant offices, and appoint honorary grand secretaries as appropriate. He further urged that with border crises pressing, large forces should be drilled, and strongly recommended Yuan Shikai to direct military affairs. The emperor approved all his proposals and ordered them implemented. Minister of Rites Xu Yingkui and others who had obstructed memorials to the throne were removed, and Zhijing was appointed acting right vice minister. In the eighth month of the twenty-fourth year the empress dowager resumed control of government, and every official who had joined the reform movement was punished. Zhijing was stripped of rank and imprisoned; he was soon sentenced to lifelong detention, and Renzhu was dismissed from office as well. In the gengzi year, when the allied armies occupied Beijing, Zhijing was released from prison to await sentence, and an edict granted him amnesty. He died at the age of seventy-five. Chen Baozhen, courtesy name Youming, was from Yining in Jiangxi. From youth he showed strong character; his poetry and prose were disciplined, and Zeng Guofan valued him. While still a provincial graduate, he followed his father Weilin in managing local militia against the Guangdong rebels. He then went to Hunan, entered Yi Peishen’s military staff, and campaigned between Laifeng and Longshan. When Shi Dakai attacked, the troops were hungry and exhausted; Baozhen went to Yongshun to raise grain, supplies kept coming, the defense held firmer, and the rebels gradually withdrew. When Baozhen went to Jiangxi, he planned for Xi Baotian the destruction of the rebel Hong Fuzhen; when matters were pacified, he was recommended as prefect and promoted out of turn to intendant of Hebei Circuit. He founded the Zhiyong Jingshe Academy, selected students from three prefectures, and invited distinguished teachers to instruct them. He was transferred to be judicial commissioner of Zhejiang but was removed because of an affair. Hunan governor Wang Wenshao recommended his ability; in Guangxu 16 he was summoned to the capital, appointed judicial commissioner of Hubei, and made acting provincial administration commissioner. In Guangxu 20 he was promoted to provincial administration commissioner of Zhili. When received in audience, with the Sino-Japanese war pressing and seeing the emperor’s worn and anxious appearance, he requested that the emperor read daily the Kangxi Emperor’s imperially compiled Zhouyi, hoping that amid change he would not lose constancy. His other memorials were many, and all met with the emperor's approval. The emperor judged him loyal and put him in charge of the grain depots with authority to submit memorials directly. When the Treaty of Shimonoseki was signed, he wept and said, "The dynasty is all but finished!" The following year, on Ronglu's recommendation, he was made Governor of Hunan. A man named Ren Lin in the governor's staff had built a clique for private gain; Baozhen punished him severely as soon as he took office. Zhili treasurer Wang Lian pleaded on Ren's behalf; Baozhen reported the matter upward, and Wang was censured. He reviewed the impeachment of Shi Nianzu, fully exposing how Nianzu had appointed unfit men, and Nianzu was dismissed. From this he gained a reputation for uncompromising integrity. Hunan had long been backward and insular; Baozhen hoped to make the province a model of wealth and strength for the southeast. He set up telegraph lines, introduced steam launches, built an arms and ammunition factory, and founded a Public Security Bureau, the Southern Study Society, and the Current Affairs Academy. He invited Liang Qichao to lead Hunan's schools, and local attitudes changed dramatically. He also memorialized on reforming scholarship, drilling troops, and raising revenue; the emperor approved everything, told him to stand by his convictions and ignore loose talk, and issued a special edict of praise. At this time Zhang Zhidong enjoyed great fame, and the provincial officials all held their breath and watched him. When Baozhen first took charge of Hubei’s provincial administration, whenever matters did not accord, he alone argued with Zhang without private compromise; though Zhidong was displeased, there was nothing he could do. In time the two became deeply allied; every memorial setting out new policies bore both their names, while Hubei governor Tan Jixun, by contrast, did not participate. At that time Kang Youwei’s policy proposals had repeatedly shown results. Baozhen had long admired how Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi recommended men, and therefore memorialized that Yang Rui, Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, and Lin Xu should assist the new policies. The emperor had just called for adaptable talent; the four were suddenly raised to high office in the capital to join the reforms, and from then on they spoke on public affairs without restraint. Baozhen also said that though the four were able, their standing was slight and they might treat office too lightly; he asked that a senior figure such as Zhang Zhidong supervise them. By the time the memorial arrived the empress dowager had resumed power; the four capital officials were executed, blame fell on their recommender, Baozhen was dismissed, his son Sanli was stripped of office, and the Hunan school's Xueyue, Jieshuo, Zhaji, and Dawen were destroyed. Earlier the dismissed intendant Zhou Han of Ningxiang had been punished by the governor-general for posting anti-Christian placards. When Baozhen arrived, Zhou Han printed placards again; Baozhen ordered them destroyed, Zhou Han beat those who tore them down, and Baozhen had him jailed in anger. The conservative faction hated him bitterly, yet reform-minded men united in praise for the same act. After he left, every institution he had built for the people, though already proving useful, was abolished until nothing remained. He died at the age of seventy. Huang Zunxian, whose courtesy name was Gongdu, came from Jiaying Prefecture. As a provincial graduate he bought appointment as a circuit intendant. He served as attaché on the mission to Japan and submitted his Record of Japan to the court. He was soon made consul-general at San Francisco. American officials once used public health as a pretext to arrest Chinese residents until the prisons were packed. Zunxian went straight to the jail and had his attendants measure its space, saying, "Is sanitation really better here than where the Chinese live?" The officials apologized and released them immediately. He served as salt controller of Hunan's Changbao Circuit and acted as judicial commissioner. Chen Baozhen was then governor and pursuing reforms; Zunxian first preached popular self-government to the people, saying: "It means governing yourself and governing your own township. Extend that from one township to a county, a prefecture, a province, and then the whole country, and you can reach the ideal of republican government and the great harmony of the Datong age." He then roughly copied the Western police system and set up a Public Security Bureau; everything touching local welfare that the people could manage was placed under respected local leaders, with officials helping where needed. He soon left office and was ordered to Japan as envoy, but before he could depart the reform purge began and he went home. He wrote works including Renjinglu Shicao and others. Zeng He, whose courtesy name was Huaiqing, of the Hitara clan, was a Manchu of the Plain White Banner. His father Qingyun was General of Ningxia. By hereditary privilege he entered the Ministry of Works as a director, rose to bureau director, served on the Grand Council staff, and became a censor. In Guangxu 9 he was sent out as grain transport commissioner of Shaanxi. In the Xi'an and Tongzhou circuits peasants normally paid grain tax to the provincial granary; the routes were long and corrupt. He reformed the system, and the people welcomed the change. Scholarship in the Sanfu region was plain and narrow, and literary work was poor; he brought Bo Jingwei of Chang'an and Liu Guangfen of Xianyang to head the Guanzhong Academy, stressed practical studies, and scholars rallied to him. He also set up a sericulture bureau, hired weavers to teach reeling, weaving, and dyeing, and each year produced silk output rivaling Shandong and Henan. In the thirteenth year he was made judicial commissioner. The next year he left office to mourn his mother. When mourning ended he returned to office and was soon made Treasurer of Gansu. In year twenty-four he was transferred to Zhili but stayed in Gansu on account of the avoidance rule. He was made Governor of Hubei and said with feeling, "Times are this desperate; can we still cling to old rules and refuse to change?" He then used the Shaanxi-Gansu governor-general's seal to memorialize on filling offices, drawing lots for posts, revenue, and litigation, urging flexible change to strengthen the state. Reader-in-waiting Yigu and Guanglu Temple Vice Minister Zhang Zhongxin impeached him for subverting government, and he was dismissed by edict. When Zeng He first served in Beijing his family was very poor and he lived in rented quarters. Once he held office in the provinces, he devoted himself tirelessly to the people's affairs, heedless of his own comfort. After his dismissal he went everywhere on foot; the people of Shaanxi regularly collected money each year to support him. His circumstances worsened until he wore threadbare clothes and sold divination in the city markets. Before long he died. At the Xuantong change of reign era, Governor-General Duanfang memorialized to restore his former rank. Yang Shenxiu, whose courtesy name was Yicun and whose original name was Yuxiu, came from Wenxi in Shanxi. As a youth he was sharp and quick-witted, and thoroughly versed in Chinese and Western mathematics. Early in the Tongzhi reign, as a provincial graduate he bought appointment as an assistant department director in the Ministry of Punishments. While on leave he encountered the great famine in Shanxi; Yan Jingming, charged with organizing relief, received Shenxiu's detailed plan to reform corvée and labor levies, and the people's distress was somewhat relieved. In the fifteenth year of Guangxu he took his jinshi degree, was promoted within his existing office to department director, and then transferred to censor. He once said, "The times are perilously urgent: without overturning the old there is no way to plan the new, and without changing the laws there is no way to plan for survival." In the twenty-fourth year, Russia coerced China into ceding Lüshun and Dalian Bay. Shenxiu urgently petitioned that China ally with Britain and Japan to resist, in language that was forceful and blunt. The court was then eager to enact new policies, but senior ministers constantly raised objections. Shenxiu and Xu Zhijing then submitted successive memorials asking that the national course be fixed; finding the method of selecting talent inadequate, Shenxiu urged that the old systems of Song, Yuan, and Ming be consulted, literary forms standardized, and the matter referred to the Ministry of Rites, but Minister Xu Yingkui privately disapproved and never forwarded the proposal. When the economic special examination came up for discussion with efforts to cut its quota, Shenxiu joined Song Bolu in impeaching Xu Yingkui for obstruction. The Emperor ordered Xu Yingkui to explain himself; in his reply Xu impeached Kang Youwei for currying favor at key posts and asked that he be dismissed, implicating Shenxiu in the wording, but the Emperor did not pursue Shenxiu. Censor Wenti impeached Shenxiu for disseminating the Baoguo Society founded by Kang Youwei and exposed Youwei's dealings inside and outside the court; Emperor Dezong rebuked Wenti for retaliating on another's behalf, and Wenti himself was punished. Shenxiu was all the more stirred to action, and in a series of memorials asked that a Translation Bureau be established, that princes and nobles be sent to tour foreign countries, and that regulations for study in Japan be drawn up; all were approved. He also proposed testing ordinary officials twenty at a time each day, selecting the upright and sincere while weeding out the mediocre, foolish, and aged who did not understand current affairs; from this the court ministers looked upon him with growing hostility. Hunan Governor Chen Baozhen was pressing hard for reform when slander spread against him; Shenxiu defended him in a memorial, and the Emperor issued a special edict praising Baozhen, who was then able to carry out his plans. In the eighth month the coup occurred; the whole court trembled, fearing mass executions, yet Shenxiu alone submitted a bold memorial asking the Empress Dowager to restore power to the Emperor. Before the memorial could be submitted, his son Futian pleaded desperately with him to desist; Shenxiu sharply rebuked him and ordered him away. Soon he was arrested and condemned to execution in the marketplace. Shenxiu was blunt and upright by nature, often rebuking others to their faces over their faults, and for this he accumulated many enemies. In ten months on the censorate he submitted more than twenty sealed memorials; the drafts are not fully preserved—only three poems written in prison survive. He authored Xushengtang gao and Wenxi xian xinzhi. Yang Rui, whose courtesy name was Shuqiao, came from Mianzhu in Sichuan. As a youth he was brilliant and quick-witted; Educational Commissioner Zhang Zhidong was struck by his talent and brought him onto his staff. He studied at the Zunjing Academy; though the youngest in his cohort, he often ranked first among his peers. Selected as an outstanding tribute student, he passed the metropolitan examination and was appointed district magistrate. When Zhidong became governor-general of the Two Guang, Yang Rui accompanied him to Guangdong. In Guangxu 11 he passed the Shuntian provincial examination and was selected as a secretary in the Grand Secretariat. In Guangxu 24, Zhidong recommended him for the special economics examination. Again through Chen Baozhen’s recommendation, he, together with Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, and Lin Xu, was given fourth-rank ministerial title, appointed a Grand Council secretary, and took part in the new policies. When summoned for audience, Rui stated directly that promoting education and drilling troops were strategies for saving the nation, and this pleased the throne. In the seventh month, Ministry of Rites secretary Wang Zhao submitted a sealed memorial, but Minister Xu Yingkui and others blocked it and did not present it. When the Emperor learned of this he was furious and dismissed all six ministers and vice ministers; the court was thrown into unease. The Emperor personally sent Rui a secret hand-edict: "Of late I have observed the Empress Dowager's intent—she does not wish to remove these aged and incompetent ministers in favor of bold and capable men, nor does she wish to change the laws entirely. Do I not know that China has long been weak and enfeebled, and that only vigorous new policies can save it? Yet at this moment my power does not reach that far; if I force the matter, I cannot even keep my throne. You, together with Liu Guangdi, Tan Sitong, Lin Xu, and the others, must deliberate carefully on how to advance able men so that the new policies may proceed in good time without the least offense to the Empress Dowager's wishes. Memorialize at once for my review. My anxiety is beyond words!" Rui memorialized in reply: "The Empress Dowager personally invested the throne in Your Majesty; Your Majesty should put filial piety before all else and accommodate her wishes in every matter. Reform should proceed step by step; the advancement and dismissal of ministers should not be too sudden." The Emperor approved. Before long the Empress Dowager resumed regency, and all who had advocated the new policies were severely punished. Once imprisoned, Rui believed himself innocent and thought he could easily clear his name under interrogation, but the next day an edict suddenly ordered him executed in the marketplace together with Guangdi and the others. At the Xuantong change of reign era, Rui's son Qingchang submitted the hand-edict to the Censorate and asked that it be forwarded to the throne; only then did it become known to the world. Liu Guangdi, whose courtesy name was Peicun, came from Fushun in Sichuan. In Guangxu 9 he took his jinshi degree and was appointed a clerk in the Ministry of Punishments. He handled business with exacting rigor; when a criminal case brought him into conflict with his superior, he withdrew, shut his doors to study, and stopped going to the office altogether. His family had always been poor, but he was incorruptible by nature and would accept no courtesy gift from anyone who was not an old friend. Yang Rui alone numbered among his close friends. He was deeply versed in the Offices of Zhou, the Rites, and both recensions of the Record of Rites. He answered the summons on Chen Baozhen's recommendation too, though it was not what he had wanted; he was preparing a memorial to decline when Sichuan colleagues in the capital pressed him hard to accept. One day he was received in audience and spoke urgently of national peril, popular distress, and the daily tightening of foreign pressure, urging the emperor to govern with an open mind; the emperor was pleased. Memorial channels were then wide open, with hundreds of submissions arriving daily; Guangdi spent entire days drafting replies and marking what should stand or fall, all for the emperor's final ruling. Afterward he told those close to him, “I cannot bear this responsibility to the end; I mean to ask leave and go home at once!” Less than a month later the disaster broke out, and Guangdi surrendered himself to prison. At the execution, Associate Grand Secretary Gangyi supervised the beheading, and Guangdi cried out in astonishment, "To execute a man without trial--why?" He was ordered to kneel and hear the edict; Guangdi refused, saying, "By ancestral law, even a thief who cries injustice at execution must be interrogated again. Even if we are not worth sparing, what of the dignity of the state!” Gangyi was silent and did not answer. When questioned again, he replied, "I am only here under orders to supervise the execution; what else would I know?" The jailers tried to force him to his knees, but Guangdi stood straight and unmoved. Yang Rui called out, "Peicun, kneel! Kneel! It is only to obey the edict." Then he knelt and went to his death. He wrote Jiebaitang shiwenji. Tan Sitong, whose courtesy name was Fusheng, came from Liuyang in Hunan. His father Tan Jixun was Governor of Hubei. From youth he was spirited and ambitious, and his prose was bold and unrestrained. He took daily renewal as the heart of his learning and treated conventional morality and inherited doctrine as hardly worth notice. Jixun was stern and proper by nature, and for this Sitong was much disliked by him. Sitong then served on Liu Jintang’s staff in Xinjiang, purchased appointment as a prefect through the rank of subprefect, and was assigned to Jiangsu. When Chen Baozhen governed Hunan, Sitong returned home to assist the new policies. Liang Qichao initiated the Southern Study Society, and Sitong served as its head. At meeting times, several hundred people regularly gathered, and many were moved when they heard Sitong speak passionately about current affairs. In Guangxu 24 he was summoned to the capital; his audience replies pleased the throne, and he was promoted to fourth-rank ministerial title and Grand Council secretary. Although the four men received the same appointment, at each audience Sitong alone offered especially many proposals. The emperor wished to open Maoqin Hall and establish advisory officials; he ordered Sitong to draft the edict, requiring it to set out former-dynasty precedents clearly, and planned personally to go to the Summer Palace to request the empress dowager’s approval. Sitong withdrew and told others, “Now I know the emperor has absolutely no power!” At the time Ronglu governed the metropolitan region, and Yuan Shikai, as a surveillance commissioner, trained troops at Tianjin. An edict promoted Shikai to vice minister and summoned him for audience. Sitong once went at night to Shikai to discuss something. The next day Shikai returned to Tianjin. The following morning, the empress dowager returned from the Summer Palace to the palace and took back political power. Qichao took refuge in the Japanese legation. Sitong went to see him, and Qichao urged Sitong to travel east. Sitong said, “Without someone who goes on living, there is no way to plan for the future; without someone who dies, there is no way to repay a devoted sovereign." In the end he refused to go. Before long he was executed in the marketplace. He wrote Renxue and Mangcangcangzhai shiji, among other works. Tang Caichang, courtesy name Fochen. From youth he was equally famous with Sitong, and they were called “the Two Students of Liuyang”; he was an outstanding student of the Lianghu Academy. Hearing of Sitong’s death, he was grieved and indignant and repeatedly made plans; whenever he spoke of Emperor Dezong, he would often weep. In Guangxu 26, when the two palaces went out on progress, Caichang secretly organized the Fuyou Society and planned to rise, calling it loyal rescue of the throne, intending to attack Wuchang and Hankou. Captured, he spoke without concealment and asked only to die; he was killed. Lin Xu, whose courtesy name was Tangu, came from Houguan in Fujian. At nineteen he topped the provincial examinations in Fujian. He later took the metropolitan examination; when war broke out with Japan, he joined fellow candidates in a memorial on public affairs, but the court did not reply. He bought appointment as a secretary in the Grand Secretariat. When Kang Youwei began calling for reform, he first founded the Guangdong Study Society in the capital to stir scholarly morale; the Sichuan, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, and Fujian societies followed. Xu led the Fujian Study Society and also joined the Baoguo Society. Ronglu, formerly General of Fuzhou, had long favored Fujian scholars; when he went to Tianjin he brought Xu onto his staff. Soon he was summoned on memorial recommendation; he spoke in his local dialect and the emperor could not fully follow him. He then revised his memorial, which the Emperor praised, and was ordered to join Tan Sitong and the others in confidential duties; many edicts were drafted by Xu. When the coup came he was executed in the marketplace with the others, aged twenty-four. He wrote Wancuixuan shiji. His wife was Shen Baozhen's granddaughter; on hearing the news she took poison but survived, and died of grief. Kang Guangren, whose personal name was Youpu and who went by his courtesy name, was Kang Youwei's younger brother. From youth he studied under his brother. When Youwei memorialized for reform, Guangren urged that the examinations be changed first so talent could emerge. After the provincial and metropolitan examinations and the eight-legged essay were abolished, the annual local tests remained unchanged; Guangren pressed censors to memorialize boldly, and the Emperor approved. Guangren then told Youwei, "With the examinations gone, you should go south and devote yourself to education, train many useful men, and only after several years speak of reform again." Youwei could not bring himself to leave. When news of the coup first came, Guangren again urged Youwei to flee. Youwei escaped; Guangren was arrested. In prison he was calm and even cheerful; at the block he still said, "China's chance to strengthen itself lies in this!" The commentator says: In the Wuxu reforms Emperor Dezong, determined to strengthen the state, took the advice of Li Duanfen and others and called in new men. For a hundred days the reforms awed China and the world, but factional struggle erupted and provoked the coup. Rui, Guangdi, Sitong, Xu, Shenxiu, and Guangren were executed on the same day; the world called them the "Six Gentlemen," and all mourned their purpose. Internal strife continued and entangled foreign relations. This led to the Boxer uprising of 1900 and, in the end, ruin. This was a great turning point in the fate of the Qing dynasty.