Six gentlemen of the Hundred Days' Reform

The six gentlemen of Wuxu (Chinese: 戊戌六君子; pinyin: Wùxū liù jūnzǐ) were a group of six Chinese intellectuals whom the Empress Dowager Cixi had arrested and executed for their attempts to implement the Hundred Days' Reform. The most vocal and prominent member in the group of six was Tan Sitong. Kang Guangren was notable as the younger brother of the reformist leader Kang Youwei. These executions were a part of the large purge in which about 30 men were arrested, imprisoned, dismissed from office, or banished. In many cases the family members of these men were arrested as well.[1]

Beheaded bodies on the ground in Caishikou Execution Grounds 1905, the Qing dynasty execution grounds where the six gentlemen were beheaded.

On September 21, 1898, after growing intolerance of the Guangxu Emperor's hundred days' reform, Cixi and Ronglu successfully attempted a coup d'état in which all substantive power was taken from the Guangxu Emperor and assumed by Ci Xi, and the six troublesome reformers influencing Guangxu were arrested.[2] The traditional view is that Cixi was the main instigator of these executions. However, evidence has surfaced that the conservative "Iron Hat" faction might have threatened her by having a Chinese-Muslim army close to Beijing.[3] The six stood trial on September 28 and were beheaded at Caishikou in Beijing. The six were beheaded in the following order: Kang Guangren (Chinese: 康廣仁), Yang Shenxiu (Chinese: 楊深秀), Yang Rui (Chinese: 楊銳), Lin Xu, Tan Sitong, and Liu Guangdi.