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With the help of certain senior officials of the Qing court, who were supporters of reform, Kang Youwei was allowed to speak to the Emperor, and his suggestions were enacted. There were three essential preconditions of reform:
The reformers declared that China needed more than " Self-strengthening " and that innovation must be accompanied by institutional and ideological change. END Opposition to the reform was intense among the conservative ruling elite, especially the , Kang Guangren , Lin Xu , Yang Shenxiu , Yang Rui and Liu Guangdi . The two principal leaders, Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao , fled abroad to found the Baohuang Hui (Protect the Emperor Society) and to work, unsuccessfully, for a constitutional monarchy in China. Another leader of the revolution, Tan Sitong, refused to flee and was arrested and executed . AFTERMATH In the decade that followed, the court belatedly put into effect some reform measures. These included the abolition of the moribund Confucian-based Examination , educational and military modernization patterned after the model of Japan, and an experiment in constitutional and parliamentary government. The suddenness and ambitiousness of the reform effort actually hindered its success. One effect, to be felt for decades to come, was the establishment of the New Army , which, in turn, gave rise to Warlord ism. HISTORICAL VIEWS Views of the Hundred Days' Reform have grown increasingly more complex and nuanced. The traditional view portrayed the reformers as heroes and the conservative elites, particularly the Empress Dowager Cixi as villains unwilling to reform because of their selfish interests. However, some historians in the late 20th century have taken views that are more favorable to the conservatives and less favorable to the reformers. In this view, Kang Youwei and his allies were hopeless dreamers unaware of the political realities in which they operated. This view argues that the conservative elites were not opposed to change and that practically all of the reforms that were proposed were eventually implemented. SEE ALSO REFERENCE
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