Chinese Empire Reform Association

The Chinese Empire Reform Association, abbreviated as C.E.R.A (Baojiu Da-Qing Huangdi Hui, Chinese: 保救大清皇帝會; lit. 'Society to Protect the Qing Emperor', or, more often, Baohuanghui, Chinese: 保皇會; lit. 'Protect the Emperor Society') was a worldwide Chinese political association founded by Kang Youwei (1858–1927) in Victoria, British Columbia on 20 July 1899. Its goal was to unite overseas Chinese to restore the Guangxu Emperor to his throne and transform China's autocratic empire into a constitutional monarchy.^[1]

Chinese Empire Reform Association 保救大清皇帝會
Leader	Kang Youwei
Founded	20 July 1899 (1899-7-20)
Dissolved	c. 1911
Succeeded by	Friends of the Constitution Association
Ideology	Constitutionalism Monarchism
Politics of China Political parties Elections

Members of the Chinese Empire Reform Association in Canada in 1903

Kang was a Cantonese scholar, teacher, and constitutional reformer who helped Guangxu enact extensive educational, political, social, military, economic, and administrative reforms during the tumultuous Hundred Days of Reform, June 11 to September 21, 1898.^[2]

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The reforms only lasted 103 days because they threatened the power and position of the conservative Qing court and Guangxu's aunt and former regent, Empress Dowager Cixi. Cixi took back the throne, put Guangxu under house arrest, and abolished the reform program. She executed six of the reform advisors, including Kang's brother, and called for Kang's arrest and execution.^[3]

Warned by the emperor of the impending crackdown, Kang fled into exile, and made it his mission to restore the emperor and his reform program.^[4] Kang turned to Chinese living in the Americas, Australia, Asia, Africa and Europe to join this nationalist movement. The result was a worldwide organization that grew to at least 230 local chapters and 100,000 members.^[5] The Chinese Empire Reform Association appealed to overseas Chinese who hoped to see their homeland modernize and democratize. It remained a strong organization until the end of 1911, when the revolutionaries led by Sun Yatsen were able to topple the Qing dynasty and form a republic. In effect, the Baohuanghui was the first mass Chinese political party.

North America—Canada, the United States, and Mexico—was where the association fulfilled its greatest potential, with at least 160 chapters that managed the full gamut of associated endeavors that Kang believed were necessary to save China: newspapers and schools to propagate reform ideology; military academies to train young Chinese to defend their country; women’s associations to promote gender equality; and businesses to raise funds for reform activities and expand Chinese commercial power in China and abroad. Between 1899 and 1907, Kang spent 29 months in North America, traveling widely both for his education and pleasure; organizing, fundraising, and making speeches to both Chinese and American audiences; and meeting North American leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, and Mexican President José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori.^[4]

Name Changes and Re-organization, 1899–1912

Although the organization was always known in English as the Chinese Empire Reform Association, its Chinese name changed over time, along with its goals and governing documents.

Baohuanghui 保皇會 [Protect the Emperor Society], 1899–1906

During the founding meetings in July 1899, the name Baohuanghui 保皇會was chosen because the Guangxu emperor “had risked his life to save the people.” For Baohuanghui members, the imprisoned emperor symbolized the endangered quest for reform and modernization of China.^[6] Kang wrote the founding document in September 1899, and while he informally called the organization Baohuanghui, the formal name was Baojiu Da-Qing Huangdi Gongsi 保救大清皇帝公司 [Company to Protect the Great Qing Emperor]. This name reflected the dual mission of political and economic reform and encouraged commercial investment by the overseas Chinese merchants who dominated the Baohuanghui leadership.

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It was formed in Victoria, British Columbia - where its named building still stands - who had fled China to escape the death penalty. At its peak the association had chapters in 150 cities worldwide.

In 1900, the Chinese Empire Reform Association plotted with domestic correspondents to engineer an armed uprising in China, taking advantage of the chaos of the Eight-Nation Alliance marching on Beijing. The Association's promised funds were delayed, however, with some (such as Liang Qichao) accusing Kang of deliberately withholding funds due to his disagreement with the more radical co-conspirators such as Sun Yat-sen. This resulted in some cells starting action as originally planned while others stayed put, and the conspiracy was discovered by Qing authorities. Tang Caichang, the designated leader of the uprising in Hankou, was executed by the Qing government.

After suing for peace with the foreign powers, the Qing court softened its resistance to constitutional reform, so the Reform Association's platform shifted to co-operating with the push for top-down reform in China. Its main perceived threat changed to the republican revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen. In 1906, the Qing government adopted the policy of establishing a constitutional monarchy by 1911. Kang Youwei declared that the Association's goals were accomplished, and in 1907 it changed its Chinese name to the "Empire Constitutionalist Association" (帝國憲政會), which was much closer to the association's English name. In its new incarnation, the Association aligned itself with the Qing court and opposed the republicans. In 1910, the Association reorganised itself into the political party "Empire Unity Party" (帝國統一黨), which was the first officially registered political party in China, later renamed the "Friends of the Constitution Association" (憲友會).

After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, some members of Association went on to form new political parties that participated in elections to the republican parliament, while Kang himself agitated for restoration of monarchy, including organising the brief Manchu Restoration of 1917. The bulk of the "Friends of the Constitution Association" became the Democratic Party, which merged into the Progressive Party in 1913.