Historians both in China and abroad have debated her contentious legacy. The general consensus is that she was a ruthless despot whose reactionary, self-interested policies were an attempt to prolong her own power and that of the ailing Qing dynasty, but instead ultimately led to its humiliation and utter downfall in the Wuchang Uprising. However, some revisionists claim that Nationalist and Communist revolutionaries scapegoated her for trying her utmost regarding problems beyond salvage, lauding her maintenance of political order as well as some effective, if belated reforms such as the replacement of the ancient examination system by institutions such as the newly built Peking University.