Boxer Rebellion

The Boxer Rebellion
	; Boxer forces in Tianjin.
Date	November 1899 - September 7, 1901
Location	China
Result	Alliance victory
Belligerents
Eight-Nation Alliance (ordered by contribution): File:Flag of Japan - variant.svg Japan; Russia; United Kingdom; France; United States; Germany; Italy; Austria-Hungary	Righteous Harmony Society; Qing China
Commanders and leaders
Edward Seymour; Alfred Gaselee	Ci Xi
Strength
20,000 initially 49,000 total	Over 100,000
Casualties and losses
230 foreigners, thousands of civilians	Unknown

The Boxer Uprising (simplified Chinese: 义和团起义; traditional Chinese: 義和團起義; pinyin: Yìhétuán Qǐyì; lit. 'The Righteous and Harmonious Society') 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 Qing Dynasty.^[1] By August 1901, over 230 foreigners, tens of thousands of Chinese Christians, an unknown number of rebels, their sympathizers and others had been killed in the ensuing chaos. The uprising crumbled on August 14, 1900 when 20,000 foreign troops entered the Chinese capital, Peking (Beijing).

This article is about The Boxer Rebellion Uprising. For the Boxer society, see Righteous Harmony Society. For the band, see The Boxer Rebellion (band).

Patriotic Defence Movement

In 1839, the First Opium War broke out, China was defeated by the United Kingdom. In view of the weakness of the Qing government, the United Kingdom and other nations such as France, Russia and Japan started to exert influence over China. Due to their inferior army and navy, the Qing Dynasty was forced to sign many agreements which became known as the "Unequal Treaties". These include the Treaty of Nanking (1842), the Treaty of Aigun (1858), the Treaty of Tientsin (1858), the Convention of Peking (1860), the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), and the Second Convention of Peking (1898).

Anti-Foreign pamphlet, circa 1899

Such treaties were regarded as grossly unfair by many Chinese, as foreigners received special treatment compared to Chinese. Rumours circulated of foreigners committing crimes as a result of agreements between foreign and the Chinese governments over how foreigners in China should be prosecuted. In Guizhou, local officials were reportedly shocked to see a cardinal using a sedan chair decorated in the same manner as one reserved for the governor. The Catholic Church's prohibition on many Chinese rituals and traditions were another issue of contention. Many Chinese Christians used the cloak of foreign protection to mask criminal activity^{[citation needed]}. When pursued by Chinese authorities these Christians conveniently hid in foreign enclaves, escaping the hand of Chinese law. Thus in the late 19th century such feelings increasingly resulted in civil disobedience and violence towards both foreigners and Chinese Christians.

The rebellion was initiated by a society known as the Righteous Harmony Society or in contemporary English parlance, "Boxers", a group which initially opposed, but later reconciled itself to, China's ruling Manchu Qing Dynasty. The Boxer rebellion was concentrated in northern China where the European powers had begun to demand territorial, rail and mining concessions. Imperial Germany responded to the killing of two missionaries in Shandong province in November 1897 by seizing the port of Qingdao. A month later, a Russian naval squadron took possession of Lushun, in southern Liaoning. Britain and France followed, taking possession of Weihai and Zhanjiang respectively.

The Uprising

Boxer activity developed in Shandong province in March 1898, in response to German occupation in the Jiao Zhou (present day Qingdao) region, British seizing of the city Weihai, and the failure of the Imperial court's "self-strengthening" strategy of officially-directed development, whose shortcomings had been shown graphically by China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). 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 decades previously after the Kangxi Emperor banned Christianity in China. The local court ruled in a favor of the Church, angering the villagers who claimed they needed the temple for various rituals and had traditionally used it to practice martial arts. After the local authorities seized the temple and gave it to the Catholics, villagers attacked the church under the leadership of the Boxers.

Also, due to the fact that Christian missionaries were exempt from many Chinese laws, Christian enclaves attracted many Chinese fleeing the law, claiming to be Christian and hiding behind foreign powers. This further demonized the image of Christians in China.

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 at the behest of his powerful aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi. After a mauling at the hands of loyal Imperial troops in October 1898, the Boxers dropped their anti-government slogans, turning their attention to foreign missionaries (such as Hudson Taylor) and their converts, whom they saw as agents of foreign imperialist influence. The Empress Dowager Cixi, who credited the Boxers' claim of magical imperviousness to both blade and bullet, decided to use the Boxers to remove the foreign powers from China. The Imperial Court, now under Cixi's firm control, issued edicts in defence of the Boxers, drawing heated complaints from foreign diplomats in January, 1900.

A Boxer rebel. His banner says "欽令義和團糧臺", "Boxer Commissariat".

The conflict came to a head in June 1900, when the Boxers, now joined by elements of the Imperial army, attacked foreign compounds within 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, built there so that Chinese officials could keep an eye on the ministers - the legations themselves were strong structures surrounded by walls. The legations were hurriedly linked into a fortified compound and became a refuge for foreign citizens in Peking. However the Spanish, Belgian, and German legations were not in the same compound. Although the Spanish and Belgian legations were only a few streets away and their staff were able to arrive safely at the compound, the German legation was on the other side of the city and was stormed before the staff could escape. When the much hated ^{[citation needed]} Envoy for the German Empire, Klemens Freiherr von Ketteler, was murdered on June 20 by Enhai, a Manchu bannerman, the foreign powers declared open war against China. The Chinese Court, in turn, proclaimed hostilities against those nations, who began to prepare military forces to relieve the besieged embassies. In Peking, 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) and small arms.

Stories appeared in the foreign media describing the fighting going on in Peking as well as alleged torture and murder of captured foreigners.^{[citation needed]} Chinese Christians suffered even more greatly, as there were more of them and most were not able to seek refuge in the legations, having to seek shelter elsewhere.^{[citation needed]} Those that were caught were raped as well as tortured and murdered.^{[citation needed]} As a result of these reports, a great deal of anti-Chinese sentiment was generated in Europe, America, and Japan.

Despite their efforts, the 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.

First intervention

Foreign navies started to build up their presence along the northern China coast from the end of April 1900. Upon the request of foreign embassies in Beijing, 750 troops from five countries were dispatched to the capital on May 31.

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 Tianjin to Beijing on June 10th. They met however with stiff resistance from Chinese governmental troops. They were finally rescued by allied troops from Tianjin, where they retreated back on June 26, with the loss of 350 men.

Second intervention

Countries	Warships (units)	Marines (men)	Army (men)
Forces of the Eight-Nation Alliance Relief of the Legations Troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1900 (Russia excepted); left to right: Britain, United States, Australia, India, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Japan
Empire of Japan	18	540	20,300
Russian Empire	10	750	12,400
British Empire	8	2,020	10,000
France	5	390	3,130
United States	2	295	3,125
German Empire	5	600	300
Kingdom of Italy	2	80	2,500
Austria-Hungary	4	296	unknown
Total	54	4,971	51,755

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 17th, 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 Lt-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^{[citation needed]}.

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 center, 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.

In general, the march, about 120 km, from Tianjin to Beijing by about 20000 allied troops, on August 4, was not particularly harsh despite approximately 70,000 Imperial troops and anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Boxers along the way. They only encountered minor resistance and a 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 degrees Fahrenheit (43 Celsius).

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 because of the large number of American ships and troops deployed in the Philippines as a result of the U.S. conquest of the islands during the Spanish American War (1898) and the subsequent 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 to "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." This 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.

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 undertaking to execute ten high rank officials linked to the outbreak, and other officials who were found guilty for the slaughter of western people in China.

China has to pay war reparations of 450,000,000 tael of fine silver (around 74,062,500 pounds, or 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. The sum of reparation was estimated by the Chinese population (roughly 450 million in 1900) and to let each Chinese to pay one tael. Chinese custom income and salt tax were enlisted as guarantee of the reparation. Russia got 30% of the reparation, Germany got 20%, and the US share was 7%.

China has 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. ^[2]

Aftermath

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.

American troops in China during the Boxer Rebellion.

The foreign privileges which had angered Chinese people were largely cancelled in the 1930s and 1940s.

Russia had meanwhile been busy (October 1900) occupying much of the north-eastern province of Manchuria, a move which threatened Anglo-American hopes of maintaining what remained of China's territorial integrity and an openness to commerce (the "Open Door Policy") to all comers, but paid the concept only lip service.

This behavior led ultimately to a disastrous Russian defeat (conflict) at the hands of an increasingly confident Japan (1904-1905), as they maintained garrisons and improved fortifications between Port Arthur and Harbin along the southern spur line of the Manchurian Railway constructed on their leased lands.

Results

Martyred China Inland Mission missionaries Duncan, Caroline and Jennie Kay.

Signature page of the Boxer Protocol.

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.

The effect on China was a weakening of the dynasty, although it was temporarily sustained by the Europeans who were under the impression that the Boxer Rebellion was anti-Qing. China was also forced to pay almost $333 million in reparations. China's defenses were weakened, and the aunt (Dowager Cixi) of the reigning Guangxu Emperor, who was the actual person in command of the country at that time, realized that in order to survive, China would have to reform, despite her previous 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"-and the U.S. 6th Cavalry Regiment each 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.

Controversy in modern China

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, that criticised the way in which the Boxer Rebellion and 19th century history about foreign interaction with China is now portrayed in Chinese textbooks and taught at school. [1]

Nevertheless, Chinese formerly were very sensitive towards the history of foreign imperialism in the late 19th and the early 20th century. A kind of anti-foreign prejudice still persists under the surface. It may be due to this, together with the view imposed by the Communist Government, that many Chinese today do not regard this simply as a rebellion.

In fiction

File:55 Days.jpg

Lobby Card for 55 Days at Peking

The events were made into the 1963 film, 55 Days at Peking. The film, which was shot in Spain, needed thousands of Chinese extras, and the company sent scouts throughout Spain to hire as many as they could find. The result was that many Chinese restaurants in Spain closed for the duration of the filming because the restaurant staff--often the restaurant's owners--were hired away by the film company. The company hired so many that for several months there was scarcely a Chinese restaurant to be found open in the entire country.^[3]

In 1975, Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers studio made a movie, titled Pa kuo lien chun (八国联军）, of the events, giving director Chang Cheh one of the highest budgets up to that time to tell a sweeping story of disillusionment and revenge. [2] It depicts followers of the Boxer clan being duped into believing they were impervious to attacks by firearms. The fight sequences were choreographed by Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Kar Leung) and it starred Alexander Fu Sheng as well as Wang Lung-Wei.

The popular film series, Once Upon a Time in China, starring Jet Li as the legendary martial artist/Chinese doctor Wong Fei Hung, conveys the ambience and tumult of this time period, with many historic events woven into the plotlines.

In the movie, Shanghai Knights, which takes place before the actual Boxer rebellion, the Boxers, led by Wu Chow and backed by British Lord Nelson Rathbone, killed Chon Wang and Chon Lin's father, attempt to assassinate Queen Victoria, and unite the Emperor's enemies and storm the Forbidden City in order for their leaders to become King of the United Kingdom and Emperor of China, but they fail.

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, Los Impostores (The Impostors), by Colombian fiction author Santiago Gamboa, deals with a modern day Boxer sect and its members' efforts to recover a sacred Boxer text held by Catholic priests in China.

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.

Neal Stephenson, in his award-winning sci-fi novel The Diamond Age, refers to Boxer's 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 novel follows the unexpected experiences of his thirteen-year-old son, and also those of a middle-aged English woman and her young Chinese lover, tracing the events leading to the imprisonment of the trio in a Buddhist monastry in Tibet, and their extraordinary new learning experiences during their incarceration.

In the cult television series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vampires Spike, Darla,and Drusilla wreak havoc during the Boxer Rebellion. They are joined by the souled vampire, Angelus.

External links

References

^ Boxer Rebellion (Third China War) 1900
^ Broomhall, Marshall. Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission with a record of the Perils and Sufferings of Some Who Escaped. London: Morgan and Scott. Retrieved 2006-06-21.
^ 55 Days at Peking at IMDb

The Boxer Rebellion by Diana Preston, Berkley Books, New York, 2000 ISBN 0-425-18084-0
Dragon Lady: The Life and Legend of the Last Empress of China by Sterling Seagrave, Vintage Books, New York, 1992 ISBN 0-679-73369-8 This book challenges the notion that the Empress-Dowager used the Boxers. She is portrayed sympathetically.
The Dragon Empress The Life and Times of Tz'u-hsi, 1835-1908, Empress Dowager of China by Marina Warner, Vintage, UK, US 1993, ISBN 0-09-916591-0

[start-1] Boxer Rebellion (Third China War) 1900

[2] Broomhall, Marshall. Martyred Missionaries of the China Inland Mission with a record of the Perils and Sufferings of Some Who Escaped. London: Morgan and Scott. Retrieved 2006-06-21.

[days-3] 55 Days at Peking at IMDb

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