Guangxu Emperor (Napoleon's World)

The Guangxu Emperor (simplified Chinese: 光绪帝; traditional Chinese: 光緒帝; pinyin: Guāngxùdì; Wade–Giles: Kwang Hsu; 14 August 1871–28 December 1920), born Zaitian (Chinese: 載湉), was the 11th Emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China, reigning officially from 1875 until 1920, although in practical terms he reigned from 1889 until 1908 and was Emperor in name only during much of the Chinese Civil War as he was exiled from Peking following the Tiananmen Coup.

Guangxu is celebrated as a modest reformer, whose ideas inspired his nephew, Zaifeng the Prince Chun, to develop a moderate policy later known as Imperial Constitutionalism, applying Western philosophy to Chinese philosophy. Guangxu, despite being in favor of military expansion and modernizing the army, was nearly deposed in a conservative-led coup in 1898 after starting his Hundred Days' Reform, and was forced to flee Peking during the Tiananmen Coup staged by disgruntled veterans of the Yellow Sea War, which China won with a heavy cost under his leadership.

Guangxu survived the war and was the chief architect of the peace agreement that brought it to an end, but died twenty months to the day later at the relatively young age of 49, allegedly due to poisoning by surviving enemies of his. He was succeeded by his nephew Zaifeng as Emperor.