A Comparative Study of the Royal Authorities of Emperor Guangxu and King Chulalongkorn

Abstract

This article aims to compare the royal authorities of Emperor Guangxu of China and King Chulalongkorn of Thailand. By using historical comparative methods, the author analyzes the reasons behind why these two monarchs had immense differences when it came to their ability to successfully govern. The framework of this article contains five sections: 1. The reason why the author selected this topic and the significance of this research. 2. The historical background. 3.  The experiences of Emperor Guangxu and King Chulalongkorn from succeeding to the throne since their childhood to taking over the reign upon coming of age. 4. The Wuxu Reform and the Chulalongkorn Reform. 5. Summary. The author has found that both Emperor Guangxu and King Chulalongkorn succeeded to their thrones since they were very young. Moreover, their experiences and situations were quite similar. Nevertheless, after taking over the reign upon coming of age, the power which they enjoyed during their reigns were vastly different as a result of several factors. This caused the results of the modern reforms of the two countries completely different, whereby one failed, the other succeeded.