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The Boxer Movement (traditional Chinese: 義和團運動; simplified Chinese: 义和团运动; pinyin: Yìhétuán Yùndòng; literally "The
Righteous and Harmonious Society Movement") or Boxer Rebellion (義和團之亂 or 義和團匪亂) was a Chinese rebellion from November 1899 to September 7, 1901, against foreign influence in areas such as trade, politics,
religion and technology that occurred in China during the final years of the Manchu rule
(Qing Dynasty). The Boxers began as an
anti-foreign, anti-imperialist peasant-based movement in northern China. They attacked
foreigners, who were building railroads and violating Feng shui, as well as Christians, who were held responsible for the foreign domination of China. In June 1900, the Boxers invaded
Beijing and killed 230 non-Chinese. Tens of thousands of Chinese Christians, Catholic and
Protestant alike, were killed mostly in Shandong and Shanxi
Provinces as part of the uprising. The government of Empress Dowager Cixi was
helpless as diplomats, foreign civilians, soldiers and some Chinese Christians retreated to the legation quarter and held out for
55 days as a multinational coalition rushed 20,000 troops to the rescue. The Chinese government was forced to indemnify the
victims and make many additional concessions. Subsequent reforms implemented after the crises of 1900 laid the foundation for the
end of the Qing Dynasty and the establishment of the modern Chinese Republic.
Perspective
In traditional Western histories, the Boxers were condemned as a product of uncivilized, irrational and anti-foreignist among
the common people. In Eastern histories, controversy still exists about the significance of the movement. Even today, the Boxers
are praised by the government of the PRC as patriotic and anti-imperialists.
A Boxer rebel. His banner says "欽令 義和團糧臺", "By Imperial Order - Boxer Supply Commissariat".
The Uprising
Boxer activity began in Shandong province in March 1898, in response to German occupation of the Jiao Zhou region, the British seizing of
Weihai city, and the failure of the Imperial court's Self-Strengthening Movement. One of the first signs of unrest appeared in a small village in
Shandong province, where there had been a long dispute over the property rights of a temple between locals and the
Roman Catholic authorities. The Catholics claimed that the temple was originally a
church abandoned for decades after the Kangxi Emperor banned Christianity in China. The local court ruled in favor of the church, and angered villagers who claimed the
temple for rituals. After the local authorities turned over the temple to the Catholics, the villagers attacked the church, led
by the Boxers.
The exemption from many Chinese laws of missionaries further alienated some Chinese. Marshall Broomhall pointed to the policy pursued by the Catholic Church. In 1899, by the help of the
French Minister in Peking they obtained an edict from the Chinese Government granting official rank to each order in the Roman
hierarchy. The Catholics, by means of this official status were enabled to more powerfully support their people and oppose
Mandarins.[1]
The early months of the movement's growth coincided with the Hundred Days'
Reform (June 11–September 21, 1898), during which the Guangxu Emperor of China
sought to improve the central administration, before the process was reversed by several court reactionaries. After the Boxers
were mauled by loyal Imperial troops in October 1898, they dropped their anti-government slogans and turned their attention to
unharmful foreign missionaries (such as those of the China Inland Mission) and their converts, whom they saw as agents of foreign imperialist
influence.
- Veteran missionary Griffith John noted afterward:
| “ |
It is the height of folly to look at the present movement as anti-missionary. It is
anti-missionary as it is anti-everything that is foreign. ..The movement is at first and last an anti-foreign movement, and has
for its aim the casting out of every foreigner and all his belongings.[2] |
” |
A pamphlet promoting the Boxers circa 1899
The Imperial Court, now under the firm control of several conservative reactionaries, forced the Empress to issue edicts in
defense of the Boxers, drawing heated complaints from foreign diplomats in January, 1900. In June 1900 the Boxers, now joined by
elements of the Imperial army, attacked foreign compounds in the cities of Tianjin and
Peking. The legations of the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, the
Netherlands, the United States, Russia and Japan were all located on the Legation Quarter close to the Forbidden City. The
legations were hurriedly linked into a fortified compound, that became a refuge for foreign citizens in Peking. The Spanish and
Belgian legations were a few streets away, and their staff were able to arrive safely at the compound. The German legation on the
other side of the city was stormed before the staff could escape. When the Envoy for the German Empire, Klemens Freiherr von Ketteler, was murdered on June 20 by a Manchu
banner man, the foreign powers demanded redress. Cixi declared war on June 21 against all Western
powers, but regional governors refused to go along. Shanghai's Chinese elites supported the provincial governors of southeastern
China in resisting the imperial declaration of war.[3]
The fortified legation compound remained under siege from Boxer forces from June 20 to
August 14. Under the command of the British minister to China, Claude Maxwell MacDonald, the legation staff and security personnel defended the compound with
one old muzzle-loaded cannon. It was nicknamed the "International Gun" because the barrel was British, the carriage was Italian,
the shells were Russian, and the crew was American.
Foreign media described the fighting going on in Peking as well as alleged torture and murder of captured foreigners. Tens of
thousands of Chinese Christians were massacred in north China. Many horrible stories that appeared in world newspapers were based
on a deliberate fraud[4]. Nonetheless a wave of
anti-Chinese sentiment arose in Europe, America, and Japan. [5]
The poorly armed Boxer rebels were unable to break into the compound, which was relieved by the international army of the
Eight-Nation Alliance in July.
Eight-Nation Alliance
Military of the Powers during the Boxer Rebellion, with their naval flags, from left to right:
Italy,
United States,
France,
Austria-Hungary,
Japan,
Germany,
United Kingdom,
Russia.
Japanese print, 1900.
-
Reinforcements
Foreign navies started building up their presence along the northern China coast from the end of April 1900. On
May 31, before the sieges had started and upon the request of foreign embassies in Beijing, 435
Navy troops from eight countries were dispatched by train from Takou to the capital (75
French, 75 Russian, 75 British, 60 American, 50 German, 40 Italian, 30 Japanese, 30 Austrian). These troops joined the legations
and were able to contribute to their defense.
First intervention (Seymour column)
Contingent of Japanese marines who served under the British commander
Seymour.
As the situation worsened, a second International force of 2,000 marines under the command of the British Vice Admiral
Edward Seymour, the largest contingent being British, was dispatched from
Takou to Beijing on June 10. The troops were transported by train from Takou to
Tianjin (Tien-Tsin) with the agreement of the Chinese government, but the railway between
Tianjin and Beijing had been severed. Seymour however resolved to move forward and repair the railway, or progress on foot as
necessary, keeping in mind that the distance between Tianjin and Beijing was only 120 kilometers.
Admiral Seymour returning to Tianjin with his wounded men, on June 26.
After Tianjin however, the convoy was surrounded, the railway behind and in front of them was destroyed, and they were
attacked from all parts by Chinese irregulars and even Chinese governmental troops. News arrived on June 18 regarding attacks on
foreign legations. Seymour decided to continue advancing, this time along the Pei-Ho river,
towards Tong-Tcheou, 25 kilometers from Beijing. They had to abandon on the 19th due
to stiff resistance, and started to retreat southward along the river. The wounded were so numerous that they had to be carried
in junks along the river, pulled along with ropes by healthy combatants on the banks. The
column managed to take-over the Chinese camps of Hsi-Kou, in which they were surrounded until
June 25 when finally a regiment composed essentially of Russian troops from Port-Arthur arrived. They completed their retreat back to Tianjin on June 26,
with the loss of 350 men.[6]
Second intervention
With a difficult military situation in Tianjin, and a total breakdown of communications between Tianjin and Beijing, the
allied nations took steps to reinforce their military presence dramatically. On June 17, they took the Taku Forts commanding the approaches to Tianjin, and from there brought more and more troops on shore.
The international force, with British Lieutenant-General Alfred Gaselee acting as the commanding officer, called the Eight-Nation Alliance, eventually numbered 54,000, with the main contingent being composed of
Japanese soldiers: Japanese (20,840), Russian (13,150), British (12,020), French (3,520), American (3,420), German (900), Italian
(80), Austro-Hungarian (75), and anti-Boxer Chinese troops.[7]. The international force finally captured Tianjin on July 14 under the command of the Japanese colonel Kuriya, after one day of
fighting.
The capture of the southern gate of Tianjin. British troops were positioned on the left, Japanese troops at the centre, French
troops on the right.
Notable exploits during the campaign were the seizure of the Taku Forts commanding the
approaches to Tianjin, and the boarding and capture of four Chinese destroyers by Roger Keyes. The march from Tianjin to Beijing of about 120 km consisted of about 20,000
allied troops. On August 4 there were approximately 70,000 Imperial troops with anywhere from
50,000 to 100,000 Boxers along the way. They only encountered minor resistance and the battle was engaged in Yangcun, about 30 km outside Tianjin, where the 14th
Infantry Regiment of the U.S. and British troops led the assault. However, the weather was a major obstacle, extremely
humid with temperatures sometimes reaching 110 °F (43Celsius).
Battle scene between Chinese forces and the Eight-Nation Alliance (front: British and Japanese troops).
The International force reached and occupied Beijing on August 14. The United States was
able to play a secondary, but significant role in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion largely due to the presence of American ships
and troops deployed in the Philippines since the U.S conquest of the Spanish American and Philippine-American War. In
the United States military, the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion was
known as the China Relief Expedition.
The end of rebellion
Parade of the foreign armies in Beijing.
A large international expeditionary force under the command of German general Alfred Graf von Waldersee arrived too late to take part in the main fighting, but undertook
several punitive expeditions against the Boxers. Troops from most nations engaged in plunder,
looting and occasionally rape. German troops in particular were
criticized for their enthusiasm in carrying out Kaiser Wilhelm II of
Germany's July 27 order.[citation needed]
| “ |
make the name German remembered in China for a thousand years so that no Chinaman
will ever again dare to even squint at a German." |
” |
Note this quote does not, as the rest of the speech does not, order troops to plunder, loot or rape but to fight bravely and
fiercely.
The speech, in which Wilhelm invoked
the memory of the 5th century Huns, gave rise to the British derogatory name "Hun" for their German
enemy during World War I and World War II.
Reparations
Russian troops in Beijing during the Boxer rebellion.
On September 7, 1901, the Qing court was compelled to sign
the "Boxer Protocol" also known as Peace Agreement between the Eight-Nation Alliance and China. The protocol ordered the execution of ten high-ranking officials
linked to the outbreak, and other officials who were found guilty for the slaughter of Westerners in China.
China was fined war reparations of 450,000,000 tael of
fine silver (around 67.5 million pounds/333 million US dollars) for the loss that it caused. The reparation would be paid within 39 years, and would be
982,238,150 taels with interests (4% per year) included. To help meet the payment, it was agreed to increase the existing tariff
from an actual 3.18% to 5%, and to tax hitherto duty-free mechandise. The sum of reparation was estimated by the Chinese
population (roughly 450 million in 1900), to let each Chinese pay one tael. Chinese custom income and salt tax were enlisted as
guarantee of the reparation. Russia got 30% of the reparation, Germany 20%, France 15.75%, Britain 11.25%, Japan 7.7% and the US
share was 7%[8].
China paid 668,661,220 taels of silver from 1901 to 1939. Some of the reparation was later earmarked by both Britain and the
U.S. for the education of Chinese students at overseas institutions, subsequently forming the basis of Tsinghua University. The British signatory of the Protocol was Sir Ernest Satow.
The China Inland Mission lost more members than any other missionary agency: 58
adults and 21 children were killed. However, in 1901, when the allied nations were demanding compensation from the Chinese
government, Hudson Taylor refused to accept payment for loss of property or life in order
to demonstrate the meekness of Christ to the Chinese.[9]
Aftermath
American troops in China during the Boxer Rebellion.
The imperial government's humiliating failure to defend China against the foreign powers contributed to the growth of
nationalist resentment against the "foreigner" Qing dynasty (who were descendant of the Manchu conquerors of China) and an
increasing feeling for modernization, which was to culminate a decade later in the dynasty's overthrow and the establishment of
the Republic of China. The foreign
privileges which had angered Chinese people were largely cancelled in the 1930s and 1940s.
In October 1900, Russia was busy occupying much of the northeastern province of Manchuria,
a move which threatened Anglo-American hopes of maintaining what remained of China's
territorial integrity and an openness to commerce under the Open Door Policy. This
behavior led ultimately to the Russo-Japanese War, where Russia was defeated at the
hands of an increasingly confident Japan.
Results
Murdered China Inland Mission missionaries Duncan, Caroline and Jennie Kay.
During the incident, 48 Catholic missionaries and 18,000 Chinese Catholics were murdered.
222 Chinese Eastern Orthodox Christians were also murdered, along with 182
Protestant missionaries and 500 Chinese Protestants known as the China Martyrs of 1900.
The effect on China was a weakening of the dynasty as well as a weakened national defense. The structure was temporarily
sustained by the Europeans who were under the impression that the Boxer Rebellion was anti-Qing. Besides the compensation,
Empress Dowager Cixi realized that in order to survive, China had to reform despite
her previous view of European opposition. Among the Imperial powers, Japan gained prestige due to its military aid in suppressing
the Boxer Rebellion and was first seen as a power. Its clash with
Russia over the Liaodong and other provinces in eastern Manchuria, long considered by
the Japanese as part of their sphere of influence, led to the Russo-Japanese War when two years of negotiations broke down in February 1904. Germany, as mentioned
above, earned itself the nickname "Hun" and occupied Qingdao bay, consequently fortifying it to
serve as Germany's primary naval base in East Asia. The Russian Lease of the Liaodong (1898) was confirmed. The American
U.S. 9th Infantry Regiment earned the nickname "Manchus" for its
actions during this campaign. Current members of the regiment (stationed in Camp Casey,
South Korea) still do a commemorative 25 mile (40 km) foot march every quarter in remembrance of the brutal fighting.
Soldiers who complete this march are authorized to wear a special belt buckle that features a Chinese imperial dragon on their
uniforms. Likewise both the U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment, which
calls itself "The Golden Dragons"; the 15th Infantry Regiment (United
States); and the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment also have a
Golden Dragon on their coat of Arms respectfully. Other US Units were involved in the
rebellion were Battery F of the "U.S. 5th Artillery" and US Marine Corps detachments.
The impact on China was immense. Soon after the rebellion the Imperial
examination system for government service was eliminated. As a result, the classical system of education was replaced with
a Westernized system that led to a university degree. Eventually the spirit of revolution sparked a new nationalist revolution, led by a baptized Christian Sun Yat-sen, which
overthrew the Manchu (Qing) Dynasty.
Controversy in modern China
Cohen (1997) considers the ways in which the Boxer Rebellion has been mythologized within modern memories, pointing out not
only the foundations for the myths but also those occasions when the myth had to be modified so as to fit in with changing
intellectual, political, and cultural currents. He looks at mythologizing in the New Culture Movement from 1915 to 1925, which
showed the Boxers as irrational and backward; in the anti-imperialist struggles of the 1920's, which depicted the Boxers as true
patriots; and in the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, which insisted on a
monolithic interpretation of the Boxers, not only stressing the Boxers' patriotic character but also drawing attention to the
numbers of women associated with them.
Though the reaction of the Boxers against foreign imperialism in China is regarded by some as patriotic, the violence that
they caused in committing acts of murder, robbery, vandalism and arson cannot be considered much different from the events of
other rebellions in China, if not worse. Some people in China considered this movement as a
rebellion (亂; disorder; Mandarin Pinyin: luàn), a negative term in Chinese language,
when described by commentators during the years of the Qing dynasty and Republic of China. However, the Chinese Communists
have shifted the perception of the rebellion by referring to it as an uprising (起義; being
upright; qǐyì), a more positive term in the Chinese language. It is frequently referred to as a "patriotic movement" in the
People's Republic of China by Communist politicians.
In January 2006, Freezing Point, a weekly supplement to the China Youth Daily newspaper, was closed partly due to its running of an essay by Yuan Weishi, a
history professor at Zhongshan University, who claimed modern Chinese history
textbooks were glossing over the atrocities committed by the Boxer rebels.[10][11][12]
In fiction
Lobby Card for
55 Days at Peking
- The 1963 film 55 Days at Peking was a dramatization of the Boxer rebellion.
Shot in Spain, it needed thousands of extras, and the company sent scouts throughout Spain to hire
as many as they could find. [13]
- In 1975, Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers studio produced the film Boxer Rebellion(八国联军, Pa kuo lien chun) under director Chang Cheh
with one of the highest budget to tell a sweeping story of disillusionment and revenge[14]. It depicted followers of the Boxer clan being duped into believing they were
impervious to attacks by firearms. The film starred Alexander Fu Sheng, Chi Kuan Chun
and Wang Lung-Wei.
- The popular film series Once Upon a Time in China, starred
Jet Li as the legendary martial artist/Chinese doctor Wong Fei
Hung. The film conveyed the ambiance and tumult of the time period with many historic events woven into the plotlines,
though it is mostly an entertainment, non-historical piece.
- The novel, Moment In Peking by Lin
Yutang, opens during the Boxer Rebellion, and provides a child's-eye view of the turmoil through the eyes of the
protagonist.
- The novel, The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure, by Adam Williams,
describes the experiences of a small group of western missionaries, traders and railway engineers in a fictional town in Northern
China shortly before and during the Boxer Rebellion.
- Parts I and II of C. Y. Lee's China Saga (1987) involve events leading up
to and during the Boxer Rebellion, revolving around a character named Fong Tai.
- Neal Stephenson, in his award-winning sci-fi novel The Diamond Age, refers to Boxers' Rebellion in many ways, including "Fists of Righteous Harmony" as
the name of uprising Chinese xenophobic faction.
- The novel for teenagers Tulku, by Peter
Dickinson begins with a missionary from the United States being killed in the destruction of a village in China.
- The science fiction novel, For More Than Glory, by William C. Dietz, was
inspired by and loosely based on the Boxer Rebellion.
- The adventure/romance novel Monraker's Bride, by Madeleine Brent includes a
spirited defence of a mission station towards the end of the Boxer Rebellion.
- The horror play La Dernière torture (The Ultimate Torture), written by André
de Lorde and Eugène Morel in 1904 for the Grand
Guignol theater (just four years following the events depicted), is set during the Boxer Rebellion, in the French area of
the fortified legation compound, specifically on July 22, 1900, the thirty-second day of the Boxers' siege of the compound.
See also
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
References
- Immanuel C.Y. Hsu, The rise of modern China, Oxford University Press, 1970
- Brandt, Nat. Massacre in Shansi. Syracuse U. Press, 1994.
- Broomhall,
Marshall (1901). Martyred Missionaries of The China Inland Mission; With a Record of The Perils and Sufferings of Some Who
Escaped. London: Morgan and Scott.
- Chen, Shiwei. "Change and Mobility: the Political Mobilization of the Shanghai Elites in 1900." Papers on Chinese
History 1994 3(spr): 95-115.
- Paul A. Cohen; History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event, Experience, and Myth Columbia University Press, 1997
online edition
- Cohen, Paul A. "The Contested Past: the Boxers as History and Myth." Journal of Asian Studies 1992 51(1): 82-113.
Issn: 0021-9118 Fulltext: in Jstor
- Elliott, Jane. "Who Seeks the Truth Should Be of No Country: British and American Journalists Report the Boxer Rebellion,
June 1900." American Journalism 1996 13(3): 255-285. Issn: 0882-1127
- Joseph W. Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising University of California Press, 1987 ISBN 0-520-06459-3
- Harrison, Henrietta. "Justice on Behalf of Heaven." History Today (2000) 50(9): 44-51. Issn: 0018-2753 Fulltext: in
Ebsco; popular account
- George, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, The Boxer Rebellion, The Fifth
Wellington Lecture, University of Southampton, University of Southampton, 1993.
- Diana Preston. The Boxer Rebellion by , Berkley Books, New York, 2000 ISBN 0-425-18084-0 online edition
- Preston, Diana. "The Boxer Rising." Asian Affairs (2000) 31(1): 26-36. Issn: 0306-8374 Fulltext: in Ebsco
- Victor Purcell; The Boxer Uprising: A background study, (1963) online edition
- Sterling Seagrave, Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of
China Vintage Books, New York, 1992 ISBN 0-679-73369-8 Challenges the notion that the Empress-Dowager used the Boxers. She is
portrayed sympathetically.
- Tiedemann, R. G. "Boxers, Christians and the Culture of Violence in North China." Journal of Peasant Studies 1998
25(4): 150-160. Issn: 0306-6150
- Marina Warner. The Dragon Empress The Life and Times of Tz'u-hsi, 1835-1908, Empress Dowager of China , Vintage, UK,
US 1993, ISBN 0-09-916591-0
Primary sources
- Eva Jane Price. China journal, 1889-1900: an American missionary family during the Boxer Rebellion, (1989). ISBN
0-684-19851-8; see Susanna Ashton, "Compound Walls: Eva Jane Price's Letters from a Chinese Mission, 1890-1900." Frontiers
1996 17(3): 80-94. Issn: 0160-9009 Fulltext: in Jstor
Notes
zh-yue:義和團
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