Emperor Guangxu’s reform of the examination system was part of the Hundred Days’ Reform, an attempt he undertook from June 11 to September 21, 1898, to make China stronger and better able to stand up to the West. The Hundred Days’ Reform–which more precisely spanned 104 days–brought several modernizations to Chinese society, including a reorganization of the Chinese army to more closely resemble Western armies, the provision of improved military arms and equipment, updates to the system of military education, a remodeling of the broader Chinese education system to be more like foreign (both Western and Japanese) education, and the abolition of the literary essay, which had been the basis of the Chinese examination system that had been in effect for over 1,000 years. China felt that it needed to stand up to foreign powers because the West and also Japan had forced treaties upon China that set up leaseholds called “spheres of influence.” While the foreign countries technically did not own Chinese land within these spheres of influence, under the terms of the leasehold they were allowed to operate as if they did, building factories, railroads, telegraph infrastructure, and mines. Under the system of spheres of influence, Germany essentially controlled the Shandong Peninsula, Russia leased Port Arthur (now Lüshun), Japan controlled Formosa (now Taiwan) after its victory in the Sino-Japanese War, Britain controlled Port Edward (now Weihai), and France had a leasehold near modern- day Guangzhou.