The Boxer Rebellion
by Marci RanzerThe beginning of the 20th century found the 2,000-year-old Chinese empire in decline, causing the first major war to erupt in the new century. This war was called the Boxer Rebellion. In China, hostilities that had been simmering for decades exploded when they declared war against the foreign powers of France, Russia, England, Japan, Austria, Italy, Germany, and the United States. Foreign powers shattered what was left of the dying Manchu Dynasty. The once powerful Chinese people fumed as they saw their land and protectorates taken over by foreigners.
Cause of the Boxer Rebellion
As the power structure within the Manchu court struggled to maintain its strenuous control within China, foreign encroachment intensified internal political conflicts. Hong Kong and Burma were lost to England, Korea to Japan, and Vietnam to France. What had been an ancient closed society was threatened by the corruption of progress and foreign influence. The Chinese became distressful of foreigners and were greatly concerned by the influx of Christian missionaries who converted an increasing number of Chinese to an alien religion.
One of the initial signs of unrest in China developed in a small village in Shandong province. In this region there had been great controversy over the property rights of a temple between local Chinese citizens and the Catholic authorities. The local court ruled in a favor of the Church, angering the villagers who claimed they needed the temple for their ancient and commonly practiced rituals such as martial arts.
A campaign of tour had begun the previous year when a secret organization called the Boxers began killing Christian missionaries and their converts in the northern provinces of China. The Boxers were a covert social society that had been in existence since the early 1700s. The group preached a mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist ideas and was rabidly opposed to any change in ancient culture. Members practiced a form of shadow boxing and believed that followers of the cult were invulnerable. After the local authorities seized the temple and gave it to the Catholics, villagers attacked the church under the leadership of the Boxers.
The Rebellion in China
In May of 1900, the Boxers killed four French and Belgian railway engineers. This was followed by the murder of the Japanese chancellor in Peking. The foreign powers responded by sending ships and troops to China. The Imperial Court had initially condemned the violent Chinese Boxer Rebellion and had sent government troops to suppress the uprising. On June 20th, the Boxers invaded the city of Peking, brandishing spears topped with the heads of murdered missionaries. They laid siege to the foreign legations where almost a 1,000 foreigners and 3,000 Chinese Christians had taken refuge.
On August 4th, an international force of 20,000 people headed for Peking to rescue the besieged legations. Although the Boxer troops in the Peking area were estimated at 360,000, the international force broke through the lines after two weeks of heavy fighting. Fifty-four days after the siege began, the foreign legation was rescued. The Imperial Court fled Peking and the Boxers were eventually forced to surrender.
The Boxer Rebellion causalities included the deaths of 18,000 Chinese Catholic citizens and 48 Catholic missionaries. Also, 182 Protestant missionaries and 500 Chinese Protestants were murdered due to the rebellion. China was required to pay over $300 million in compensation.
The Boxer Rebellion revealed to the people the basic weakness and ineptitude of the Manchu Dynasty and opened the floodgates of modern Chinese nationalism that twelve years later would sweep the Chinese dynasty into history. The Chinese Boxer Rebellion shifted the internal power structure in China and increased Chinese resentment of foreigners. The Boxer Rebellion in China set the stage for the rise of Mao Tse-Tung and the Chinese communist revolution.
