The first famous case
Like Wang Mang. Wang Mang wants to reform. In fact, the biggest change he made was precisely one of the biggest features in China's history, namely the gate valve. Then Wang Mang failed. Not only failed, but also was trampled to death. Not only was he trampled to death. For thousands of years, no one dared to touch the door valve and family cheese again.
The second most famous case
Such as Wang Anshi. You can say that Wang Anshi's political reform was successful. But that's just the evaluation of him now. During most of the period from Song Dynasty to New China, even now, Wang Anshi's political reform was not necessarily successful. The key is how you evaluate his reform and what do you think is the standard of success. Sima Guang's anti-political reform was extremely fierce, and Wang Anshi's political reform achievements actually only existed for a short time.
Both political reform and reform need to touch on interests. As the new prime minister said, it is more difficult to touch the interests than the soul. This problem has existed since ancient times. Therefore, no matter what reform, it will be evaluated by future generations. There are few reforms that are not considered as failures or unsuccessful. Shang Yang's political reform was criticized for confining all people to their own places, just as they were in prison. It's not just that we can have such an idea now. Even in ancient books, such as Chronicles of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the ancients thought that such reform was not good. Guan Zhong is a great reformer. However, the legalization of prostitutes advocated by him also makes it a criminal evidence of moral impurity. Zhang's whipping was once Daming's method of rejuvenating the country. But with his death. His ancestral graves are also difficult to protect. Reform with Manchu middle school as the main body and western learning as the use. Even using the current history textbooks is not successful. Therefore, the so-called political reform or reform really requires great courage and the persistence of successors. Otherwise, the so-called change in history is almost impossible to succeed.