Background
Chen Baochen was born on October 19, 1848, he was a native of Minhou, Fujian.
Chen Baochen was born on October 19, 1848, he was a native of Minhou, Fujian.
Chen Baochen passed the jirtshi examination and became a Hanlin academician at the age of eighteen. He soon distinguished himself in the imperial court for his fervid attacks on the weaknesses of his colleagues.
In foreign affairs, he advocated a patriotic and militant policy. Together with Zhang Zhidong and Zhang Peilun, they constituted the qingliudang (purist party) in the government during the 1870s and 1880s.
When the Sino-French War broke out in 1884, Chen Baochen was sent to Jiangsu to assist Zeng Guoquan in the strenthening of coastal defenses. He was Zeng assistant in the negotiation with Jules Patenotre, French minister to China, for terms of peace at Shanghai. War resumed as both sides failed to reach an agreement. The next year Zeng successfully concluded a peace treaty with the French. Chen's insistence on war antagonized Zeng Guoquan and other senior officials. For his severe criticism of the establishment，he was demoted five ranks in 1891，and went into retirement shortly after.
As a retired official, Chen Baochen enthusiastically promoted educational development in his home province. In 1895 he was one of the founding members of the Qiangxuehui (Society for the Study of National Strengthening) in Shanghai, an organization sponsored by Zhang Zhidong for the promotion of reform through lectures and publications. In the following years, he founded the Dongwen Academy at Fuzhou and the Fujian Normal School.
Under the recommendation of Zhang Zhidong, Chen Baochen was recalled to service in 1908. The next year he was appointed to a seat reserved for eminent scholars in the National Assembly. In the first session of the National Assembly from October 1910 to January 1911, Chen took the lead in the controversy over the draft of a new criminal code because he thought that some of the provisions disregarded traditional Chinese values. On the eve of the 1911 Revolution, he became the Chinese tutor of Puyi, Emperor Xuantong.
After the emperor’s abdication in 1912, Chen Baochen continued to serve Puyi as his tutor and adviser until 1931. According to Puyi，“of all the Qing Dynasty officials, he was considered one of the most stable and cautious.
To him, Chen was the most loyal man he ever knew. For his loyalty, Chen Baochen was awarded the title of Grand Guardian in 1916. In the abortive restoration of 1917, he helped arrange the enthronement of Puyi, and was made a member of the Regency Board. On the occasion of the deposed emperor's marriage in 1922, he was honored with the title of Grand Tutor.
In 1924 Chen Baochen stayed with Puyi in the Japanese embassy after their expulsion from the Forbidden City. Later they moved to the Japanese concession in Tianjin. Chen, Zheng Xiaoxu, and Luo Zhenyu were the three advisers whom Puyi saw daily. While Zheng and Luo were seeking Japanese help for restoration, Chen opposed it. Puyi soon felt that Chen was a hindrance to his restoration. In November 1931, he went with Zheng Xiaoxu to Manchuria to plot for the establishment of Manchukuo. Chen paid a visit to Puyi at Port Arthur the next January. Disappointed, he returned to Beiping (Beijing) and died there in 1935, at the age of eighty-seven.
