A Qing Empire at the Crossroads

What if a single autumn day in 1898 rewrote the course of modern Chinese history?

At the heart of the crumbling Qing dynasty, a young emperor struggles to pull his nation out of stagnation. Reformers clash with conservatives behind the vermilion walls of the Forbidden City, while foreign powers carve up China’s coasts with ever-growing appetite. The air is thick with urgency: modernize or fall apart.

This is a world teetering on the edge of transformation. In the face of internal decay and external humiliation, visionaries push for radical change—some with pens, others with bayonets. As the palace intrigues unfold and old traditions collide with new ambitions, a question hangs in the air: can an empire built on centuries of Confucian order survive the storm of modernity?

Step into a reimagined past where history doesn’t break the same way. Witness a dynasty’s gamble, a nation’s awakening, and the fragile balance between reform and revolution.