Tan Sitong (film)

Tan Sitong (, March 10, 1865 – September 28, 1898), courtesy name Fusheng (), pseudonym Zhuangfei (), was a well-known Chinese politician, thinker, and reformist in the late Qing dynasty (1644–1911). He was executed at the age of 33 when the Hundred Days' Reform failed in 1898. Tan Sitong was one of the six gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform, and occupies an important place in modern Chinese history. To many contemporaries, his execution symbolized the political failure of the Qing dynasty's reformation, helping to persuade the intellectual class to pursue violent revolution and overthrow the Qing dynasty.

Early life

Tan Sitong was one of nine siblings and was born in Beijing, although his family originally came from Liuyang, Hunan Province. His father, Tan Jixun (), was the governor of Hubei, and his mother, a traditional Chinese housewife named Xu Wuyuan (), was very strict with her children.

Tan spent his childhood in Beijing and his youth in Liuyang. He began his formal education at 5 and was tutored by a famous scholar called Ouyang Zhonggu () when he was 10. Although he was talented at essay writing, he objected to the conventional form of the essay that was required for examinations. As a result, he only achieved the title of "student member" (s''hengyuan''; 生員), a very low educational level.

At the age of 12, Tan's mother, eldest brother, and second eldest sister died within a span of five days due to diphtheria that had spread during a visit to a cousin. He also fell gravely ill but recovered three days later, which many people deemed to be a miracle. After Tan lost his mother, his father’s concubine treated him badly.

In 1879, Tan studied under another scholar, Xu Qixian (), with whom he began a systematic study of representative works in Chinese, as well as natural science.

In 1884, he left his home and traveled to several different provinces of China, including Hebei, Gansu, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, and Shanxi. He composed more than 200 poems during the trip.

At the age of 19, Tan married a woman named Li Run () and had a son named Tan Lansheng (), who died within a year of being born.

Reforming campaign

Background

National isolationism began in the early 19th century, corruption had grown beyond control, inherited from the previous Ming dynasty. The technological gap between China and western states had widen a lot, no longer was China the more technologically advanced polity. The widening technological gap was because imperialist and colonialist western states had exploited weaker states' resources for themselves while depriving these weaker states the resources. The disproportionate amount of resources that westerners can use to develop technologically is why between 1500 to the 20th century were they able to conquer the world.

The First Opium War between China and Britain resulted because British merchants wanted to sell opium in China instead of using silver to pay for goods they wish to buy in China, which ushered in a period of foreign invasion and colonization in China, at the time ruled by the Qing dynasty. During this time, Chinese intellectuals and officials sought ways to improve Chinese life and national prospects.

In 1895, after a defeat by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War, China was forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki, under which Taiwan was occupied and 250 million taels

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