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Modern East Asia Tribune

Spotlight: The Boxer Rebellion

Savannah Ortiz

Dylan Bergmann

Morgan Leannah

Jessie Stillings

Joe Fredericks

Background

Gender Roles

Warfare

Identity

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Inside this issue

Background & Timeline ............... 6-7

Identity ....................................... 8-9

Religion ....................................... 10

1. Schoppa, R. Keith. East Asia: Identities and Change in the Modern World, 1700-present. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pear-

son/Prentice Hall, 2008. 62.

2. Schoppa, pp. 72.

3. Schoppa, pp. 73.

4. Szczepanski, Kallie. "Boxer Rebellion Timeline | China." Accessed April 10, 2015. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/

modernchina/a/Timeline-Of-The-Boxer-Rebellion.htm.

5. Schoppa 6. "A Life of Remarkable Faith - VanceChristie.com." VanceChristiecom. October 04, 2013. Accessed April 11, 2015. http://

www.vancechristie.com/2013/10/04/life-remarkable-faith/. 7. "A Critique of Marx’s View of the Taiping Rebellion and Its Origins." A Critique of Marx's View of the Taiping Rebellion

and Its Origins. Accessed April 11, 2015. http://www.armstrong.edu/Initiatives/history_journal/history_journal_a_critique_of_marxs_view_of_the_taiping_rebellion_and_its_o.

8. Christianity. Dictionary.com. The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/christianity. (accessed: April 12, 2015).

9. Joseph, Esherick. "The Boxer Uprising." The Boxer Uprising. Accessed April 10, 2015. http://chronicles.dickinson.edu/studentwork/engage/china/boxer.htm.

10. Szczepanski, Kallie. "Boxer Rebellion Timeline | China." About Education. Accessed April 4, 2015. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/modernchina/a/Timeline-Of-The-Boxer-Rebellion.htm.

11. Lynch, George. A Chinese Account of the Boxer Rebellion [Excerpted from The War of the Civilizations, Being the Rec-ord of a "Foreign Devil's" Experiences with the Allies in China. London: Longmans, 1900]

12. Schoppa, pp. 73

13. Schoppa, pp. 74

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Written by Savannah Ortiz

Events leading to the

Boxer Rebellion “This meant the

government had lost

a great deal of their

power.”

This imperialism cartoon appeared in August 15, 1900 issue of the literary magazine Puck.

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The Boxer Rebellion itself began it 1898 but

in the years leading up to it China had strug-

gled with many different problems. These

included imperialism from the western world,

a weakening of the Qing dynasty, and shortag-

es of food. All of these events created an at-

mosphere of unrest which led to the rebellions

origins in the Shandong Province.

Imperialism was a common happen-

ing at the time and China had to suffer through

it as well. The difference is that China was

used to being the Nation in charge and even

commanding other places.1 This meant that the

people of China did not like being considered

below anyone especially since in their view it

meant they had fallen from glory. They had to

deal with the Russia to the north, the French in

the south, and Britain coming into their ports.

These powers managed to gain concessions

from the government which granted them a

say in the running of the country and took

money from China. This also meant that mis-

sionaries from different places were coming in

to spread their message but they also spread

racist remarks along with their religion.2 This

served to anger the people who they were try-

ing to preach to and created an atmosphere of

condescension. This and the other ways in

which outsiders acted superior to the Chinese

people helped lead them towards rebellion.

Due a decline in popularity caused

by the people seeing the Qing dynasty as al-

lowing outsiders in the government became

weakened. They had debts that needed to be

paid and their regular sources of income such

as Vietnam were no longer under their control.

This meant the government had lost a great

deal of their power. They couldn’t fund an

army so they had no way of expelling the out-

siders but they also did not have the means to

increase their technology. This meant that the

people were the ones who would have to do

any fighting and that was exactly what hap-

pened in the rebellion.

Another event was the drought in

1898 which caused many of the Chinese work-

ing class to participate in a rebellion they oth-

erwise would not have had the time to.3 This

drought brought on even more unrest and

made the people angry because foreigners for

the most part still had access to food.

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Chinese Identity Problem Adds Fuel to

Boxer Rebellion Fire

“The Chinese became

conflicted as to what it

meant to be ‘Chinese’.”

Photo Caption

Spotlight: The Boxer Rebellion

One of the more arguable main causes for the start of the Boxer Rebellion can be connected to

an identity problem going on in 19th century China. During the years preceding the Boxer Rebellion,

China was facing cultural influences from foreign nations, in particular Western nations. China’s

neighboring nation of Japan also had some influence in China after China’s defeat in the First Sino-

Japanese War. The Western nations were forcing in their religion, culture, and political influences to

‘Westernize’ the Chinese. The Chinese became conflicted as to what it meant to be ‘Chinese’. Western

influence and control was the dominant force in several parts of China and that only led to more identi-

ty confusion and anti-foreigner resentment.

Western Christian missionary, Hudson Taylor (1832-1905), in China.[3]

Written by Joe Fredericks

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Statue of Hong Xiuquan in

Guangdong, China. [4]

Illustration from French tabloid Le Petit Journal demon-

strates how foreign powers sought to carve up China.5

One of the arguable main

causes of the Boxer Rebellion that

should be seen as a major hidden factor

is the confusion of identity in 19th cen-

tury China. The Chinese citizens were

having a difficult time dealing with the

adversity of their alternating identity.

Conservative Chinese looked to keep

society as it had always been. Other

Chinese looked for answers from the

foreign nations that had gained control

of territory in China. The Boxer Rebel-

lion was led by the secret organization

called the Society of the Righteous and

Harmonious Fists. They sought to

bring about the end of foreign influ-

ences in China by killing foreigners,

Chinese Christians, and destroying

foreign property. If the Boxers had

been successful in removing foreign-

ers, perhaps China could have solved

its identity problem. However, the

Boxers were crushed by their heavily

despised foreigners and forced to pay

reparations of $330 million in their

agreement settlement called the Boxer

Protocol. The Boxer Protocol was the

official end of the Boxer Rebellion but

China would still be plagued by a prob-

lem with their finding their identity for

years to come.

Christianity was not the only contributing fac-

tor that caused the identity problem in China leading up

to the Boxer Rebellion. Foreign nations waged several

wars against China and humiliated China every time with

their more modern technology. The First Opium War

started in 1839 and ended in 1842. The war broke out

when the Daoguang emperor’s appointed official, Lin

Zexu, seized opium from the British and disposed of it.

The British treated the seizure “as a national affront and a

cause for war.”7 The First Opium War ended with signing

of the Treaty of Nanjing. Great Britain ended up a huge

winner in the war and China was forced to make some

demeaning concessions.

This paved the way for an increase in the traffic

of foreigners. China became divided up with every pow-

erful nation trying to get a piece of the Chinese pie. For-

eigners were practically everywhere spreading their cus-

toms and traditions to the Chinese and adding to the Chi-

nese identity confusion. Chinese citizens would be

plagued with their identity confusion for several decades

leading up to the Boxer Rebellion.

Christianity was the

dominating religion of the Western

world and spread throughout all

areas in contact with the West:

China was no exception. The “first

Protestant Christian missionary

arrives in China from the London

Missionary Society” in 1807.4 In

the 1840s, Christianity rapidly grew

through the foreign occupied

coastal cities due to Western mis-

sionaries. The spread of Christiani-

ty meant an abandonment of tradi-

tions to the Chinese. Christian mis-

sionaries sought out Chinese con-

verts. Converting to Christianity

meant losing some of the traditions

that made a person give up some of

their Chinese heritage. Those that

converted adopted Christian prac-

tices and gave up their identities as

Chinese citizens. Christianity even

played a role in a revolution against

the Qing government.

The Taiping Rebellion

lasted from1850 to 1864 and was

led by Hong Xiuquan. Hong was a

Christian convert and claimed to

have special links to the divine.

Hong had received a vision and

concluded that the message from

his vision was to slay the Manchus.

Hong’s armies gained victories one

after another and he announced the

establishment of a new dynasty that

he called the Heavenly Kingdom of

Great Peace. Hong’s Taiping socie-

ty created another identity that add-

ed to the identity problem in China.

The Taiping society was seen as

more advantageous to some such as

women. “The social roles and posi-

tion of women in Taiping society

were markedly superior to those of

women in Qing society.” 5

The Taiping Revolution

also went up against the traditional

Chinese Confucian system. The

Taiping Revolution also undercut

traditional Chinese norms. For in-

stance, “the centrality of the family

disappeared, replaced by the twenty

-five-family unit; the power of the

father was taken by the sergeant,

and the family lost its economic and

social preeminence.”6 The Taiping

were eventually defeated by the

Manchu emperor’s Chinese armies

and their influence faded.

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Many of the people associated with/during

the Boxer Rebellion (1898-1901), were pri-

mary connected to one of 2 belief systems.

Those 2 belief systems being Christianity

(based on the life and teachings of Jesus

Christ)8 and an Anti-Christian Group-The

Boxers (of which believed in supernatural

powers) called I-ho ch'üan, or "Righteous

and Harmonious Fists."9 The boxers were

mostly peasants (farmers) from the locations

of Shandong and Zhili in northern China.

The first of the “attacks on Christian-

ity (performed by the Boxers) happened in

October of 1898 at a Catholic Church in the

village of Liyuantun-located in Hebei, Chi-

na, approximately 200 miles south of Bei-

jing-But north of Shandong (of which was

originally a temple to the Jade Empire).10

Within 2 years of this first attack (1900), the

Boxer then raided the country side by burn-

ing churches, and killing missionaries and

Chinese Christians. This was not enough,

the Anti-Christian Group (“The Boxers”)

moved on to Beijing and burned churches in

response to a boy’s murder, of whom was

thought to be a Boxer, was performed by a

German minister (Clemens von Ketteler).10

The reason the boxers were so

against the Christians, was primarily be-

cause the Western Christians “challenged”

old Chinese Traditions-therefor affecting the

Chinese Society.

The Boxer Rebellion and Religion

Written by Jessie Stillings

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The Righteous and Harmonious Militia, termed

“Boxers”, led a violent pushback against foreign

influences and occupation in any form they could

find it. Starting with Christians, both foreigners

missionaries and even converts, the conflict de-

volved into a free-for-all that lashed out against

anyone seen as foreign. An American professor

recounted in her journal at a group of Boxers attack-

ing a Muslim bank.11

Though anti-foreign sentiment was a ma-

jor driving force, the mystique and prowess of the

Boxers was another. People heard about the miracu-

lous deeds and attributes, and their numbers swelled

as the stories spread. One recalls the stories of the

Ghost Dance religion of the western United States,

as both professed a distinct invulnerability to bul-

lets. The Boxers believed that, through practice of

ancient martial arts, the guns of the “Foreign Dev-

ils” would have no power over them.

They may genuinely have believed this, or

may only have fabricated the fantastic stories to gain

the support of the people. That was another major

tactic. Anti-Christian and anti-Foreign sentiments

were powerful enough to stir up feelings of what

may have amounted to pride. Even the Dowager

Empress hesitated to officially repress them. The

Boxers were very nationalistic, and that suited her

just fine.12

Warfare of the Boxers

Written by Dylan Bergmann

As far as hands-on tactics, the Boxers were quite fond of burning

things. Churches were a major target, as well as every other foreign building.

This later could apply to anyone who was openly against the Boxer movement.

Because of this policy and the more ceremonial aspects of the Boxer move-

ment, fires raged out of control for the better part of the uprising.

In the days before Western military powers came to intervene,

groups of Boxers would frequently kill any Christians they came across, fre-

quently wiping up into a frenzy before going out to look for victims.

But for all their zealotry and purported abilities, the Boxers proved

to be woefully ineffective against the tactics of Western military. Armed with

swords, spears, or fists, any pitched battle ended with scores of Boxers being

cut down by rifle fire. The militants all but melted away as foreign powers

poured into the country to shore up the besieged legations.13

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