BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 725 From the Hundred Days' Reform (1898) to the New Policies at the End of the Qing Dynasty ----The Imperial University of Peking in a Time of Drastic Change Zichen Cai1, *, Kai Miao2 1Faculty of Humanities, Anqing Normal University, Anhui, China 2Department of Literature, Zhuhai College of Jilin University, Guangdong, China *Corresponding author: 202131120012@mail.bnu.edu.cn These authors contributed equally Abstract. The establishment of the Imperial University of Peking was a major event in the Hundred Days' Reformation and was preserved in the conflict between reformers and conservatives. Before the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the University witnessed the ancient empire's attempts to improve its backwardness. Against the backdrop of imperial reform, the newly established university also experienced the impact of old and new forces from the court itself. The country's new talent training system was modernized by constructing schools at all levels. Changes to the imperial examination system led to a change in the traditional path of upward mobility for students who had previously studied to become officials in the study of science and culture. Meanwhile, the University was faced with a composition of students from different educational backgrounds, from those who received a traditional Chinese education to Chinese students who received westernized knowledge, who together experienced the transformation of the education system and the talent system in modern China and had a significant impact on the modernization process in China. The article also discusses the life experiences of some formerly Jinshi titled intellectuals after the Qing government ceased to exist, mainly in the subsequent Republic of China era. Keywords: The Imperial University of Peking (IUP); the reform of the imperial examination system; the International Student Community; the last Jinshi of the Qing Dynasty. 1. Introduction The Imperial University of Peking plays a vital role in China's history. There is already an extensive research base in the academic community on related issues. In a nutshell, many experts studied the key figures during the establishment of the university and the adjustment of the educational system and the development process of university textbooks and Chinese normal school textbooks. However, academia rarely describes the experiences of the times faced by teachers and students in the university in the context of reform, which is also the original intention of this article. This text mainly adopts literature analysis and database search means to sort out existing research articles and traceability through their citations based on mastery of this information to obtain more original data to find new viewpoint support for this paper. The first section is to introduce the significant influence of the Imperial University of Peking as an important achievement of reform on the traditional imperial examination and official selection system. The establishment of the university during the Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was a major reform of the imperial examination system. In selecting officials, traditional intellectuals who had passed the imperial examinations were gradually transformed into students from the schools founded by a new progression system. With the change of "Ba-gu essay"(a strict standard format of rhyme writing in the exam, using eight special paragraphs to composite a complete essay) to "Ce-lun essay"(a prose genre with a free form for arguing), the reform of examination subjects and forms also promotes the transformation of "ancient classic learning" to "practical and critical learning". The function of the traditional examination was only to select the docile people subordinate to the court. The new examination style focused on selecting technocrats who understood Western learning and practice. These policies also lead to the shift of educational modernization. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 726 Before the establishment of the Imperial University of Peking, China's imperial examination system had existed for 1,300 years. The national educational administration named Taixue and Guozijian (without much research on academia as a training base for imperial reserve officials). Young people from the ruling class gathered to study the ancient classics and receive the moral discipline of the state. The so-called headmaster is "Ji Jiu", a high-ranking official with superior morals and mainly embodies symbolic significance. Such a "university" will not have the germ of modern science. After the First Industrial Revolution, great progress was made in basic science and scientific practice regions. The ancient Qing Empire was powerless in the face of the Western powers that adopted new technologies. From 1840 to 1894, all wars of self-defense were lost, so there was an urgent need to learn advanced technology of the West to enhance national strength. The bankruptcy of the Foreign Affairs Movement (the first self-help movement of the Qing court) confirmed that it was far from enough to change only at the material level. The experience of the rise of Japan brought to the Qing government that it also needed to change at the social level. It can be concretely implemented in the government system, law, education, army and other aspects, although the government still adheres to ancient traditional habits at the ideology level. However, as a reform at the social level, the Imperial University of Peking is already an attempt at a higher stage. The original purpose of the university is to cultivate new policies and talents. The reform of the imperial examination and the abolition of the imperial examination lately was the Qing court's negation of the traditional system of selecting intellectuals. During the period from the establishment of the university to the abdication of the Emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1898-1911), the imperial examination system and the school system greatly changed. A new style of school entrance model replaced the three-level imperial examination system (the three levels of examinations at district, provincial and national grades). University teachers and students were first exposed to changes, and the educational reform of the New Policies from the Hundred Day's Reform (1898) to the end of the Qing Dynasty was reflected in their experiences and had high historical value. The reason why the second part of the article chose the group of international students as the object of discussion is that in light of the educational situation of the Imperial University of Peking at that time, cultivating people who understand "New learning (compared with the traditional Chinese classics)" and "Western learning" is the main expectation of the university and even the imperial court. However, the Qing Empire could not produce such talents alone, so sending international students abroad or inviting foreign nationality teachers and domestic students who had studied abroad to return to teach, this "one(student) out and one(teacher) in" method was to improve the "Western learning" level of the university teachers and students in a short period. The defeat of the First Sino-Japanese War (1894) shook the Qing court. Also, it increased the curiosity of the ruling and opposition parties about the experience of Japan's rise, so "Learn from Japan's reform" became the target of reform at this stage. The earliest Chinese students to study in Japan were mostly spontaneous, and the large-scale study abroad dispatch was sent abroad by the officials of the Imperial University of Peking after Guimao year (a Chinese traditional calender by lunar reference equals A.D.1903). Therefore, these two groups of students who have studied in Japan have a different cognition from the others. Whereas the Jinshi (the highest honorary title for traditional Chinese intellectuals who pass the Imperial examination in the capital) students at the university show some arrogance towards the teaching assistants of international students who are not from the traditional examination system. Moreover, these teaching assistants also showed helplessness to the occurrence of these situations until the university officials sent overseas students to study abroad and return to China after completing their studies and teaching in the university on their own; this embarrassment between teachers and students was fundamentally relieved. This situation causes the traditional Chinese system of grades. As outstanding Chinese international students abroad sent by the university were rewarded with corresponding achievements (honorary Jinshi titles) under the gift of the imperial court, the early cold treatment of international students (without Jinshi honorary titles) no longer appeared. This also reflects that under the historical BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 727 background of the reform and speedy decline of imperial examinations, the new path of graduating and studying abroad gradually replaced the leap of the traditional intellectuals group. The return of overseas students (mainly to Japan) promoted the scientific process of China, and the Qing Court began to switch from the transformation of materials to the transformation of part of the superstructure. The influence of the international student community is also not limited to educational and academic circles. It has played a more critical role in the reform of the political system, such as the preparation of the constitution and the modern institutionalization of the Yamen (the departments of the Qing court). They could be seen from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China. The third part of the article mentions the special groups of students in the Imperial University of Peking, Guimao- and Jiachen-year (A.D.1903-1904) presented scholars, who were the last two classes Jinshi before the abolition of the imperial examination. Their peculiarity is that they learn traditional classics and examination techniques to obtain meritorious titles in adolescence. In the early days' transform of the examination in the Hundred Day's Reform, the Qing government abolished the Ba-gu essay so that these students had to learn new examination materials and skills, eventually becoming the "Ce-lun" Jinshi, which was different from the "Ba-gu" Jinshi in the early Qing Empire period. Because in terms of the form of the examination, the examination method is more flexible, and the knowledge structure is more modern. Many physics, geography, science, and technology questions have appeared in the examination. Guimao (1903) and Jiachen (1904) Jinshi were required to enter the Imperial University of Peking to continue their studies in Jinshi Guan, a special training institution set up for Jinshi students by the university. Because of Jiachen (1904), Jinshi was sent by officials to study in Japan as the international student; meanwhile, Guimao Jinshi stayed at the Jinshi Guan to continue their studies, and they became the only one class of Jinshi students who were developed by Chinese independently due to Qing court collapsed in 1911. After the abolition of the Imperial Examination in 1906, the traditional examination disappeared and was replaced by a variety of new subjects that the Jinshi title rewarded students with academic and study abroad backgrounds, such as law, finance, agriculture, medical, and engineering Jinshi. The new Jinshi honorary title is consistent with the professional degrees. However, when these intellectuals were about to step up to their respective positions to make some difference, the ancient empires were overthrown by revolution. As the last two classes of "Emperor's disciples", Guimao (1903) and Jiachen (1904) year Jinshi groups face complex social shocks. The research on them can be a social epitome of China's re-transformation period. 2. The Students of the Imperial University of Peking 2.1 The Reform of Imperial Examination in the Late Qing Dynasty One of the critical elements of the Hundred Day's Reform (1898) was to cultivate new talents, and Kang and Liang (Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, the official reformist leaders) and other reformists advocated "abolishing the Ba-gu essay, changing the imperial examinations, and promoting Western social science and technical knowledge"[1]. This required reforming the existing imperial examination system and preparing a new education system to achieve. Under the existing imperial examination system, normal students were confined to the traditional scriptures. They were screened by the examination system through the Ba-gu essay writing skills to be qualified for admission to schools and even to become officials. This model is fair in the selection process, but it does not aim to cultivate practical talents, and even if the students pass all the exams, they do not learn any effective knowledge that can save them from ethnic crises [1]. The imperial examinations were the most serious regarding the Ba-gu essay confinement. This artificial writing format to restrict the expression of words made the provincial scholars suffer. Therefore, the Guangxu Emperor abolished the Ba-gu essay at the beginning of the Hundred Days Reform, replacing it with the Ce-lun essay. After the failure of the Reformation, the previous BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 728 examination system, such as the Ba-gu essay, was restored by the conservative forces led by Empress Dowager Cixi, but then came the Boxer Rebellion and the Gengzi year (1900) national tragedy (Western imperialist forces invade Beijing). The political situation stabilized when the two palaces (Cixi and Guangxu) returned to the forbidden city. The New Policies of the late Qing Dynasty (1901) began, replacing the Ba-gu essay in the examination system again. The diary of Zhu Zhisan, who took the Xiucai title (A student who passes the district examination is entitled to. And it is the lowest of the three levels of examinations at district, provincial and national grade) in the last year of the imperial examination before the abolition of the imperial examination in 1904. In the article, he described his experience studying the Ba-gu essay, "I was so embarrassed by the Ba-gu essay that I thought it was extremely embarrassing". However, on August 29, 1901, the Qing court ordered that all subsequent examinations "are not to use the Ba-gu essay program, the curatorial should be practical and perfunctory", Zhu Zhisan recorded in his diary on October 4 of the same year: "the court recently changed the imperial examination system, not to use the Ba-gu essay and poetry to get a scholar ...... " On October 9, it was recorded that "The teacher said to write essays from now on, not to do Ba-gu essay, talking about practice, knowing our country's trend either." It can be seen that the abolition of the Ba-gu essay is only the reform of the examination means, but also the emancipation of the mind, and also has a great impact on the study of private readers to prepare for the examination [2]. The imperial examination system was a guarantee for traditional subjects (Confucian classics as teaching materials) students to achieve a leap in status through examination. Studying had a strong utilitarian tendency under the dominant ideology of "learning is better," and getting rid of the position of "people" meant becoming a member of the ruling class rather than continuing to be oppressed by it. The reform of the imperial examination system would directly impact the career paths of students, who were the link between the "government power" and the "people" in feudal society. 2.2 Some Effects of The Charters of the Imperial University of Peking At the time of the establishment of the Imperial University of Peking, students placed great importance on traditional merit, and to this end, Sun Jianai proposed eight measures to prepare for this establishment [1]. The first two are: Jinshi (an intellectual who passes the national examination can be a candidate for the city magistrate class) and Juren (a student who passes the provincial examination can be a candidate for the county magistrate class) working in the Beijing court, should be re-educated in the university; their advanced way should be taken account of by the court. Moreover, these two articles were perfected in the actual operation process: Firstly, the Imperial University of Peking needed to set up a College to train officials in Beijing court. Secondly, the University graduates must pass the examination presided over by the college minister before being recruited" [2]. This shows that the Imperial University of Peking is crucial to the imperial examination's merit origin. The traditional Jinshi title was chosen, and the educational purpose is to increase Jinshi officials' "new learning of world" cognition to better deal with court affairs [3]. After the third Minister of Education of the University, Zhang Baixi, who rebuilt the Imperial University of Peking, emphasized the training of the group of Jinshi title holders obeying the "Charters of the Imperial University of Peking ", and "in 1902, the statute of the new Jinshi title holders was changed, so that from 1903, the new title holders who had been awarded a position in the court, they would be sent to the Imperial University of Peking to learn new knowledge from the western world such as law and politics". According to this bull issued in1902, the Imperial University of Peking opened in the following year to study in the hall; the year of Guimao (1903) and the year of the year Jiachen (1904) year are required to study in the hall relevant content will be described precisely in Part III of the article. If a student was not a Jinshi, they still had to pass the imperial examinations to qualify for the government relatively early. After the Hundred Day's Reform, the university was preserved. However, funding and teaching could not be guaranteed. Every time the examination period approached, students without Juren or Jinshi titles would take mass leave to take the imperial examination [3]. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 729 There is a record that "at that time, the local new-style schools were not established, and the university was not established also, but the system was slightly existing. Although the ancient intellectuals slightly learned little science knowledge, most of them stayed on the relative subject. Their true purpose is solid for seeking to get the honorary title only" [4]. With the existence of the imperial examination system, the intellectuals and the students said the court's intention did not focus on the academy and new-style school. Therefore, the court's efforts and measures for the new deals are difficult to implement. For this reason, Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Shikai, Zhang Baixi and other ministers successively submitted, please abolish the imperial examination to promote the new-style school. Finally, in November of 1903, the Qing court ordered to reduce the imperial examinations by one- third each year; later, the Qing court was forced by the situation and issued an edict on August 4, 1905, ordering the abolition of the imperial examinations the establishment of new-style schools [5]. In 1906, the 1,300-year-long Chinese Imperial Examinations would be abolished, new schools would be established, and the education and acquisition of talents would be combined in one way. The Qing government also decreed to reward the education of university graduates and international students who completed their studies abroad. They were both ordered to reward to give graduates of domestic and foreign universities at all levels with the old-fashion honorary Juren or Jinshi title and corresponding official rank. It was a disguised imperial examination to award intellectuals and students. After the Xinhai Revolution (1911), the Ministry of Education of the Republic of China government ordered abolishing the honorary Jinshi title reward of university origin. The imperial examination system was abolished entirely then. 2.3 A Witness in the Reform Period of the Late Qing Dynasty The academic experience of Mr. Wang Pijiang(a famous classical Chinese scholar of Jinling University in the Republic of China) can be used as a reference regarding the impact of the abolition of the imperial examination on the students of the Imperial University of Peking. Born on December 17, 1887, in Pengze County, Jiangxi Province, his ancestors were a family of intellectuals and court officials. Wang himself was admitted to the Henan senior Higher School in 1903. After graduating, he was guaranteed admission to the Imperial University of Peking in 1909 and graduated in the summer of 1912. On February 12, 1912, the last Emperor, Xuan Tong, issued an edict of abdication. At the time of Wang's graduation, the Imperial University of Peking had already been renamed Beijing University. The fact that Wang Pijiang was promoted from High School to the Imperial University of Peking proves that the system of further education and school grading had been perfected in 1909. After the abolition of the imperial examinations, the consciousness of obtaining honorary titles and fame faded. However, the consciousness of improving one's status through further education was still widespread, and students' enthusiasm for further education was still maintained even though they could not become officials by competing in the examination. From Wuxu year(1898) to Xinhai year(1911), the Imperial University of Peking was still a shining target in the eyes of the intellectuals, and it also completed the transformation from a place that taught "disciples of the Great Emperors" to a nation-owned university that cultivated "national elites". 3. The International Student Community and the Imperial University of Peking 3.1 The Situation of Early International Students and Their Roles at the University The group of foreign students associated with the Imperial University of Peking can be divided into two categories; one is the Chinese assistant teachers who provided translators for the Japanese instructors when the "Charters of the Imperial University of Peking" was promulgated, such as Cao Rulin, Zhang Zongxiang and other seven people [6]. They all went to Japan after the Sino-Japanese War. However, they did not anticipate the domestic imperial examinations of the country, which also brought trouble to their work at the beginning, for the students from the scholarship did not convince these "teachers" without honorary Jinshi title, which also led to many strikes until the mediation of the officials responsible for the daily school affairs to resolve. The other category was the BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 730 international students prepared to be dispatched by the university. Because of the reform of the imperial examination system, they were granted new-style honorary titles by the court after completing their studies in foreign universities (Europe and Japan). Their situation after returning to China was better than that of the earliest group of international students (mainly those who went to study in Japan without the Chinese imperial exam) who were assistant teachers. Before the dispatch of international students from the Imperial University of Peking, the Qing government also had two large-scale dispatches of international students. The first time dispatch of 30 young children to the United States was in 1872, and the second time dispatch of international students to Europe from the Fuzhou Shipbuilding Academy was in 1875. Although there were talents such as Zhan Tianyou (a famous Chinese engineer who presided over the construction of the railway from Beijing to Zhangjiakou) in this program who made remarkable achievements in the subsequent era, it did not contribute much to the society of late Qing Dynasty in general [7]. The international students dispatched from the Shipbuilding Academy mainly studied the defense industry and navy and participated in constructing the military industry and navy in the late Qing Dynasty. The first two large-scale study-abroad dispatches were made when foreign affairs officials oversaw the government. Since the governance program at that time was still based on "instruments first", they did not learn a series of knowledge in the field of the superstructure (ideology) of Western modern time, so they did not have an obvious impact on the reform of the late Qing Dynasty, but Japan took a more radical reform. On the other hand, Japan adopted more radical reforms and later took the lead, laying the groundwork for the Qing-Japanese victory and defeat Qing court in the Sino-Japanese War. The international students were sent in the name of the Imperial University of Peking. After they went abroad, they were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education to obtain a diploma from foreign universities. When they graduated from China, they were awarded the merit title of related subjects according to the examination of the Ministry of Education, such as the Jinshi (Master) in agriculture and the Juren (Bachelor) in medicine. Those who had excellent results in the court examination were also given the title of official (such as a Hunan student named Liu Mian, who graduated in 1909 and returned to China to become the Jinshi(Bachelor) in law and politics through the examination of the Ministry of Education) [7]. Although the imperial examinations were abolished, students from all over the world could enter the university hall through further studies and then obtain a degree in a foreign university to obtain a title in the related subject. Those with excellent results could still obtain the qualification to be an official, only that they no longer passed the original three-tier examination system of the countryside, national, and temple examinations. This preferential treatment policy for university students was not abolished until the founding of the Republic of China. The first batch of 47 international students sent by the IUP was selected from the Normal School and the Translation School and departed in 1903. Thirty-one of them were sent to Japan and 16 to Europe, and most of them finished their studies and returned home before the Xinhai Revolution (1911) [8]. Of course, many of these foreign students who obtained the status of "foreign bachelor" were employed by the universities (including Peking and other advanced universities such as Shanxi and Beiyang) as instructors, replacing the foreign instructors. Their terms of employment expired after the IUP was reopened in 1902. The first reason is that the international students were graduates or publicly funded students selected and sent by the IUP. They were senior to the students or the honorary title holders themselves. The second point is that after the New policies were launched, the students who graduated from domestic and foreign universities were given the title of traditional merits like Jinshi and Juren. Especially the abolition of the imperial examination and the implementation of the new-style school while further upgrading education and study abroad had become the main way for intellectuals. Moreover, the group of international students expanded rapidly, making the view of qualified international students' instructors more respectful. From the reopening of the IUP in 1902 to the renaming of Peking University in 1912, the increased status of international students also reflected the waxing and waning of the power of the imperial examinations and the power of the new-style school systems [8]. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 731 3.2 The contribution of graduated students study abroad The entry of international students increased the proportion of new academics in the upper echelons of the country's intelligentsia. Further, it reduced the sphere of activity of the stubbornly conservative forces. The permission of international students into the government sector gradually replaced the old-style bureaucrats, making a significant difference to the previously inaccessible and inefficient situation [8]. In the newer government agencies that require modern human resources, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications and the Ministry of the Navy, international students with specialist skills play an essential role in their positions [7]. These students have the expertise to apply science and technology to their work, whereas in the past, the employees of these departments did not know the principles. In addition, some of the Law and Politics students studied international, civil, and commercial law more comprehensively. They provided the theoretical basis for the Qing government's initial constitutional implementation in 1906 regarding the Japanese constitutional monarchy [9]. Another part of the returned students entered the academies at all levels and engaged in researching and teaching work. On the one hand, they trained new scientific talents; on the other hand, they translated various natural science and humanities and social science books from the West and Japan, which played an essential role in promoting the academic modernization of China. 4. The social situation of graduates of the Imperial University of Peking: Take the example of the Guimao-and Jiachen-year Jinshi(presented scholars) of the Jinshi Guan(Imperial Household) 4.1 The Historical Background of Jinshi Title and the Imperial Examination In ancient China, being an official meant enjoying glory and wealth. The imperial examination system, established in the Sui Dynasty, has continued in use since then. The system has closely linked the achievement of merit with becoming an official. The imperial examination has always been the only path for students and intellectuals from low-grade families to rise to the high top and stand out. However, the 2,000-year-old law that "excellence in learning will lead to an official position" was abolished in 1905, accomplished by the end of the imperial examination system, meaning that learning no longer had the only aim of achieving official status. The upgrading of schools in line with it has created conditions. The opportunity to gain status in Imperial Examinations was lost. Meanwhile, the demand for western knowledge prompted the Qing court to find universities and a new school system. The last Jinshi selected from the imperial exam was suggested to receive modern education at the new- founded university. That is why the Qing court opened the Jinshi Guan (Academy of presented scholars) in IUP. During the New Policy period of the late Qing Dynasty, there were three main social situations of the Guimao-and Jiachen-year (1903-1904) Jinshi: Entered the political career, taught in the education and academic regions, and lived in seclusion to express their attitude [10]. 4.2 Jinshi Groups of Guimao(1903) and Jiachen(1904) in the Official Career To explore the development of the career path of the Guimao-and-Jiachen-year presented scholars, the first necessary is to study the starting point of their appointment. In terms of the number of Beijing officials and officials from outside the capital appointed since then. There were 186 Beijing officials and 131 officials from outside the capital, a ratio of 3/2. Moreover, the number of Beijing officials the presented scholars in the Jiachen year (1904) is 181, and the number of officials from outside the capital is 93; the ratio of the two is about 2/1. By comparison, it can be found that there were more foreign officials in the presented scholars in Guimao year (1903) than in the presented scholars in Jiachen year (1904) because many local officials in North China were dismissed during the Boxer Rebellion. At the same time, the Boxer Rebellion had just taken up some of County Zhili Province (todays Hebei Province) in the first half of the year, and there were not many vacancies for officials BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 732 from outside the capital. Therefore, there were more officials from outside the capital reserving for Jinshi in Guimao year (1903) than the Jinshi in Jiachen year (1904). In addition to holding the senior official position, the newly established official positions were also occupied by the Guimao and Jiachen year-presented scholars. On the judicial side from 1907, the newly established courtrooms at all levels needed a large number of talents with relevant knowledge, and the Guimao-and Jiachen-year Jinshi was able to take up their post because they had studied new management knowledge in the Jinshi Guan. In the winter of 1907, Xu Qian, a Jinshi of Jiachen year (1904), took the post of director of the Beijing Judicial Department and was then promoted to the chief procurator of the Beijing Division's Higher Supervision Department [11]. Before the regime was replaced in the financial region, in the former Ministry of Finance, the number of the Guimao-and-Jiachen-year Jinshi groups was the largest and dominant. Most of them remained in office after the Republic of China's establishment because they had specialized knowledge in taxation, salt administration, and accounting and had a considerable influence on the ministry. So they continue to stay in the finance department. Moreover, with the Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China, most of the Guimao-and Jiachen-year Jinshi did not want to continue to be officials and gave up their positions and returned to their hometowns. However, in addition to a large number of people who had lost their posts or giving up their posts, there were also some Jinshi who took advantage of the situation, especially those who had close ties with Yuan Shikai and his Beiyang Groups (The largest warlord group in the late Qing). Lv Diaoyuan was particularly significant when Yuan Shikai was appointed provisional president of the Republic of China. Lv Diaoyuan was also quickly promoted. In just a few months, he was promoted from Southern Henan Province Observation Envoy in Southern Henan to the Civil Affairs Minister of Hubei [12]. Here is a way for intellectuals to achieve their advancement through dependence on the power classes. 4.3 To Participate in the Humanities Cause of Setting up Schools After the abolition of the imperial examination in 1905, private classic training (mainly using Confucianism textbooks) schools were gradually forced to stop. The great demand for professional teachers follows new-style schools all over the country. In this trend, a large number of the group of the Guimao-and-Jiachen-year Jinshi threw themselves into the wave of schools established in the late Qing Dynasty. Most of them serve as school supervisors, provosts, and teachers, presiding over academic affairs and teaching courses. At that time, the IUP was China's highest institution of advanced learning. Because of their deep knowledge and high social status, many of the group of the Guimao-and-Jiachen-year presented scholars entered the stage of university teaching or managing it. Liu Chunlin, a member of the Jiachen year (1904) Jinshi who returned from his studying in Japan, was appointed to the Zhili Higher Education School in 1908 and then served as the supervisor of the Baoding Beiyang Women's Normal School [11]. He was also the last Zhuangyuan who won first place in the last Imperial Examination. Generally, there were quite a few of the group of Jinshi in the Gui-mao year(1903)and Jia-chen year(1904)who studied Western education at universities graded in the Jinshi Guan and then studied abroad in Japan. When they returned to China, some old doctrines of classics, history, and Chinese subjects remained in teaching, but the new western knowledge acquired by foreign Jinshi provided them with the basis for opening new relative courses in universities. As the first generation of college students, they still originally used textbooks compiled by foreigners, but now, the new textbooks in native languages are gradually being translated. Since the twice industrial revolutions, the large-scale introduction of western science and technology has finally been implemented in China. Apart from these public officials, Jinshi, who serve the government and educational institutions, some Jinshi who had been officials chose to withdraw from politics after the founding of the Republic of China. Their inner psychology was also worth exploring. The Revolution of 1911 and the founding of the Republic of China changed the situation of some of the Guimao-and-Jiachen-year Jinshi groups. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 733 Some refused to be loyal to the Republic of China, so they had to give up their position and end their careers. Some of them returned to their hometowns and lived in seclusion. For example, during the late Qing dynasty, a Jinshi in Jiachen year(1904)named Zhang Qin compiled the "Records of Emperor Guangxu" at the National History Museum of the imperial academy. After the Revolution of 1911 broke out, Zhang Qin declined his official career and closed doors to author books for thirty years. During this period, Zhang Qin successively completed much literature, such as "Political records of Kangxi period" and other academic works. Another person worth mentioning is Zhang Li'an, who was also a Jinshi of the Jiachen year (1904); when he achieved the qualification for official, he held a position as a county magistrate. However, after the establishment of the Republic of China, Zhang Li'an gave up his official position and returned to his hometown, specializing in writing and no longer serving as an official. He did some educational public welfare undertakings in his hometown and Lin Sanzhi, one of the most famous calligraphers in modern China, was Zhang's student in his hometown [11,12]. 5. Conclusion Becoming the only remaining achievement of the Reform Movement of 1898, the Imperial University of Peking has been cultivating new talents after the failure Reform Movement of 1898. In the 29th year of Empire Guangxu (1903), with the establishment of the Jinshi Guan (Academy of presented scholar), an affiliated institution of the IUP, all the Guimao-and Jiachen-year Jinshi(presented scholars) were required to enter the Jinshi Guan to study new-knowledge of politics, law and finance. Therefore, most Jinshi who graduated from the Jinshi Guan was infiltrated by Western academics. As the last group of Jinshi in the history of China's imperial examination----the Guimao-and-Jiachen-year presented scholars experienced the drastic period wave, such as abolishing the imperial examination, reforming the official system, and preparing for the constitution. They were not only the last literati of the old age but also the representation of the new-time intellectuals. As Tocqueville mentioned in his book The French Revolution: Reform often intensifies the contradiction with the ruling group, thus accelerating the collapse of the whole organization. The disappearance of the Qing Dynasty resulted from internal and external factors, including the aggression of industrialized western powers and its severe financial crisis. Many knowledgeable intellectuals in this country thought about how to make an old loose country armed into a united combination, and they came to the way that there was a need to learn the government management system of modern countries and advanced experience in productivity development. Establishing a well-developed education system can train many people for this cause, which is why it is vital to find the Imperial University of Peking. As for the students trained in the University, the fate of the individuals is hardly free from the external environment as the country and society are in a period of turmoil. They had the privilege of engaging in the reform process as participants in the country's transformation, and even though they encountered stubborn forces and strong external obstacles, they persevered in their belief in self-improvement and showed the face of the intellectuals of the new era, acting as pioneers in the modernization and transformation of the ancient empire. They are also the Sisyphus of China. The discussion of the final Jinshi is not yet finished but is limited in volume; in fact, there are many aspects of the Jinshi and the university as points of study in the period of change in the old and new China are still to be explored. Such things as their inner psychological journey, intellectual structure, and power distribution at the time of the transformation of the Chinese Empire into a republic are worth investigating. References [1] Wang Xiaoqiu. The Hundred Day's Reform and The Imperial University of Peking, Journal of Beijing University (Philosophy and Social Sciences), 1998. BCP Social Sciences & Humanities ASSSD 2022 Volume 21 (2023) 734 [2] Tian Zhengping. Another Interpretation of Abolishing Imperial Examination and Initiating Schools in the Late Qing Dynasty---Reading Notes on Zhu Shisan's Diary (1893-1919, Education Research, 2012. [3] Chen Ruiteng, Ran Chun. Exploring causes Failure of 1898 Reform from Education Perspective--analysis of the impact of Regulation of the Imperial University of Peking on the gentry, Education Research Monthly, 2013. [4] Li Huaxing. The Hundred Day's Reform and Modernization of Chinese Education, Quarterly Journal of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, 1998. [5] Dong Zhuoran.Generalized analysis of Education Reform in three times New Deals of the late Qing Dynasty, Xinjiang Local Chronicles, 2011. [6] Han Ce. Teachers? Students? Japan-educated Students as Teachers in Jinshiguan of the Imperial University of Peking, Journal of Tsinghua University(Philosophy and Social Sciences),2013. [7] Wang Biao. Studying on the Group of Foreign Graduates Joined in the Final Imperial Examination in the Late Qing Dynasty, Northeast Normal University, 2014. [8] Sang Bing, Students of New-style schools in Late Qing Dynasty and Social Change, Beijing Normal University Publishing Group, 2020. [9] Feng Lisheng,Niu Yahua.The Textual Research of the First Batch of International Students Dispatched by The Imperial University of Peking Historical Archives, 2007. [10] Han Ce, The Imperial Examination Reform and The Last Jinshi, Social Sciences Academic Press (CHINA), 2017. [11] Han Ce, Investigation of the Careers of the Guimao-and Jiachen-Year Presented Scholars before and after the Xinhai Revolution, Research in the Traditions of Chinese Culture, 2018. [12] Li Shuo, Chen Peng, An Investigation on Graduates from Jinshi Guan of Imperial University of Peking, Historical Research, 2015.