The Righteous Harmony Society (simplified Chinese: 义和团; traditional Chinese: 義和團; pinyin: Yìhétuán), translated as Righteous Fists of Harmony or Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists, or Fists of Righteous Harmony, known in English as Boxers, was a village sect founded in the Northern Shandong province of China that spread to many parts of North China and executed the unsuccessful Boxer Uprising in the closing years of the 19th century. Westerners came to call well-trained, athletic young men "Boxers" due to the martial arts and calisthenics they practiced. Despite the obvious differences between Chinese Wushu and Western pugilistic boxing, the training for unarmed combat took on the same name to the Europeans. The Boxers believed that they could, through training, diet, martial arts, and prayer, perform extraordinary feats, such as flight and could become immune to swords and bullets. Further, they popularly claimed that millions of "spirit soldiers," would descend from the heavens and assist them in purifying China from foreign influences. Eventually forces from the West marshaled as the Eight-Nation Alliance ended the rebellion and destroyed the short-lived Society. [1]
Notes
- ^ "Sects, Boxers, and Popular Culture," Joseph Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987): 38-67.
External links
 |
This article related to the History of China is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
