In 1865 (the fourth year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty), Tan Sitong was born in Ximian Hutong, south of Xuanwu City, Beijing. His father, Tan Jixun, was the governor of Hubei at the time.
In 1870 (the ninth year of Tongzhi), when Tan Sitong was five years old, he fell seriously ill and fainted for three days. He miraculously came back to life, hence the name "Resurrection".
In 1875 (the first year of Guangxu), when Tan Sitong was 10 years old, he became his disciple Ouyang Zhonghu, a famous scholar in Liuyang. Under the influence of Ouyang Zhonghu, he became interested in Wang Fuzhi's thoughts and was inspired by patriotism. He strives to read extensively and is good at talking about the knowledge of managing the world and benefiting the people, and writes very talented articles. He was very disgusted with the traditional stereotypes of Shiwen and wrote the words "This is unreasonable" in his textbook. He admired those reckless heroes who fought against the strong and helped the weak. He once made friends with Da Dao Wang Wu, a "righteous knight" in Beijing at that time, and the two became close friends throughout life and death. In 1877 (the third year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong made friends with Tang Cichang in Liuyang. He also studied under Tu Qixian, systematically studied Chinese classics, and began to get in touch with natural sciences such as arithmetic and style. After that, he went to Lanzhou and studied in his father's Taoist school.
In 1884 (the tenth year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong ran away from home and traveled to Zhili (now Hebei), Gansu, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Henan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Shandong, Shanxi, etc. Province, observe the local customs, and make friends with famous people.
In 1888 (the fourteenth year of Guangxu), under the guidance of the famous scholar Liu Renxi, he began to seriously study the works of Wang Fuzhi and others, absorbing the democratic essence and materialistic thoughts in them, and at the same time collecting widely And enrich yourself by reading books that introduced Western science, history, geography, and politics at that time. On April 17, 1895 (the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), China and Japan signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Tan Sitong, then 30 years old, was full of worry and anger in his hometown. He worked hard to promote new learning, called for reform, and organized a math club in his hometown. The comrades pay attention to research, and at the same time, new courses such as history, anecdotes, and geography are established at Nantai College.
On May 2, 1895 (the 21st year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Kang Youwei and more than 1,000 candidates who participated in the joint examination in Beijing wrote to the Qing government, demanding the rejection of peace, relocation of the capital, and reform. The profound national disaster worried Tan Sitong. He was filled with righteous indignation against the imperialist aggression, resolutely opposed the signing of the peace treaty, and was extremely disgusted with the Qing government's compromising behavior of "having to abandon it in one fell swoop at the expense of the wealth and lives of 470 million people." indignation. Under the influence of the reform trend, he began to "carefully examine the changes in the world over the past few decades and study their rationale", and worked hard to study the fundamental plan to save the nation from peril. He felt that "the trend of great change and the influence of social customs cannot be restored by keeping the old tradition." The decadent feudal autocracy must be reformed in order to save the nation.
In February 1896 (the 22nd year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong went to Beijing and made friends with Liang Qichao, Weng Tonghe and others. In 1896 (the 22nd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Tan Sitong followed his father's orders and became the candidate governor of Jiangsu. On his way from Beijing to Jiangsu to take up his post, he traveled to Tianjin, Hunan, Hubei and other places. Later, while waiting for his post in Nanjing, he began to create. Author of "The Study of Renxue".
On January 17, 1897 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Tan Sitong wrote his important work "The Study of Renxue", which was the first philosophical work of the Reform School. In February 1897 (the 23rd year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Tan Sitong returned to Hunan. With the support of the governor Chen Baozhen, the inspector Huang Zunxian, and the academician Jiang Biao, he and Tang Cichang and others initiated the establishment of the Current Affairs School. He first strengthened the power of the reformists in the Current Affairs School. He served as a sub-teacher, and arranged for Tang Cai to be a permanent Chinese instructor. He assisted Liang Qichao, who was the chief instructor, and vigorously promoted the theory of reform and innovation in teaching. ". From this, Confucius's theories on restructuring, equality, and civil rights took advantage of the situation and became more and more widespread. He also distributed books containing nationalist consciousness to students such as "Interviews with Ming Yi" and "Ten Diaries of Yangzhou" to instill revolutionary consciousness in them, making the Current Affairs School truly an institution for cultivating reformers. He also advocated the opening of mines and railway construction, promoted reforms and implemented new policies, making Hunan the most vibrant province in the country.
At the beginning of 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong founded the Nanxing Society and ran the "Xiang Daily" to promote the reform, criticize the old government, and became a radical faction of the reform movement.
On June 11, 1898 (the twenty-fourth year of Guangxu's reign), Guangxu promulgated the "Edict to Decide the Country" and decided to reform. In August of the same year, Tan Sitong was recruited to Beijing by Emperor Guangxu on the recommendation of Xu Zhijing, a bachelor at the Hanlin Academy.
On September 5, 1898 (the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu), Guangxu issued an edict to grant Tan Sitong, Lin Xu, Liu Guangdi, and Yang Rui the rank of military commander Zhang Jing to participate in the reform. The next day, Guangxu summoned him again and said: "Any changes you want can be made at will, and I will comply. Even if I make a mistake, and you blame me face to face, I will change it quickly." Emperor Guangxu's determination to reform Tan Sitong was very moved by his trust in the reformists and felt that the opportunity to realize his ambition was already within his grasp.
When Emperor Guangxu went to Tianjin for a military parade at the end of September 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), Empress Dowager Cixi and others had already conspired to launch a mutiny, depose Emperor Guangxu, and wipe out the New Deal in one fell swoop. Tan Sitong secretly met with Yuan Shikai and asked Yuan to lead troops to Beijing to get rid of the diehards. Yuan Shikai hypocritically stated that he would first return to Tianjin to get rid of Ronglu, and then lead his troops into Beijing. Yuan Shikai rushed back to Tianjin on the evening of the 20th and reported the matter to Ronglu, who reported it to the Queen Mother of the West.
On September 21, 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), the Queen Mother of the West launched a coup. Cixi issued a series of edicts to arrest the reformers. Tan Sitong did not panic after hearing the news of the coup. He ignored his own safety and made various activities to plan to rescue Emperor Guangxu. But they were caught off guard and all their plans came to nothing. Under this circumstance, he was determined to sacrifice his life for the cause of political reform and use his own sacrifice to make the last resistance to the stubborn feudal forces. He said to those who persuaded him to leave: "Reforms in various countries are all caused by bloodshed. Today, China has not heard of anyone who shed blood due to reforms. This is why this country is not prosperous. If there is, please start from the same heir."
< p>On September 24, 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong was arrested in Liuyang Guild Hall. In 1898 (the 24th year of Guangxu), Tan Sitong participated in the Reform Movement of 1898. After the failure of the reform, he died heroically at the Caishikou execution ground outside Xuanwu Gate in Beijing on September 28, 1898 (the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu). He was only 33 years old. Among the reformers who were killed at the same time were Lin Xu, Yang Shenxiu, Liu Guangdi, Yang Rui, and Kang Guangren, who were collectively known as the "Six Gentlemen of 1898".In 1899 (the twenty-fifth year of Guangxu), his remains were transported back to his hometown and buried under the stone mountain outside Liuyang City, Hunan.