In recent years,the proposition that the abolition of consular jurisdiction was the start of the late Qing legal reforms was challenged.According to the arguments of scholars engaged in subverting the traditional mainstream view,the "Mackay Treaty" was signed on September 5,1902,but Empress Cixi issued the "Law Reform Decree" on her way back from Xi'an after the Gengzi Event,then the Qing government's decision for law reform was not a consequence of Article 12 of the "Mackay Treaty."