After the Opium War, China showed weakness regarding both national and foreign affairs. Weakness reached its zenith in 1901 when troops of eight foreign powers, including Japan, occupied Peking. In examining the reasons for China's failure to compete with Japan, historians frequently point to differing patterns of reform in Japan and China. Japan's 1868 Meiji restoration was early and successful, whereas China's 1898 reform came late and failed. Chang Yin-huan's role in the 1898 reform was important. His name headed the list of seven reformers arrested and executed once the Empress Dowager Tz'u-hsi and her clique initiated the coup. Two foreign ministers in Peking, MacDonald and Hayashi, momentarily rescued him from execution, although not long after he too joined the other martyers. The other six reformers along with Chang achieved a state of grace in the eyes of the Chinese people, as manifested in their epitaph, the Six Virtuous Men. Had Chang died with the other reformers he too would have been remembered as a martyr for reform. The 1898 reform was precipitated by many factors, not least of which was Chang's belief in the need for change. Important to note is the trust placed in him by the Emperor Kuang-hsu, leading to the early involvement of K'ang Yu- wei inthe reform, as recommended by Chang who was considered an important initiator of the reform movement. The author emphasizes that Chang's role in accelerating reform ideas was significant and that his advocacy of Western protocol for the Ch'ing palace demonstrates his courage and determination in the reform of Chinese traditional culture. When one studies late nineteenth-century China he should not ignore factionalism. The author points out that Chang was forced into the conflict between the Empress Dowager's faction and that of Emperor's. In addition the antagonism between the Empress Dowager and the Emperor related to the racial conflict between Manchus and the Han Chinese and to the provincialism between northerners and southerners.