BOXER REBELLION

Introduction
The Boxer Rebellion of 1900 was a major peasant uprising against
imperialism. It was also called Yi Ho Tuan movement, a society of
Righteousness and Harmony, which emerged and grew in Chinas
Shantung province. 'Boxer' is derived from boxing as many of the
activists and revolutionaries practised Chinese martial arts, boxing being
one of them.
Although this movement's first targets were missionaries, who preached
Christianity, the real aim was to fight imperialism. This violent, dramatic
and earth shaking movement was the result of both the enslavement of the
Chinese nation by foreign powers and also the deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, which reforms at the political level could not
prevent.
Nature
Scholars have used a variety of sources to understand the real nature of
Boxer uprising, its impact and the response it evoked. These include:
Official publications of the foreign powers involved in China;
Missionary documents and writings;
Manuscripts of historians and other scholars in that period living in
China;
The publication and documents of the Chinese Government
All these put together provide a great deal of information.
The Marxist-Leninist viewpoint regarding the outcome of the uprising is
that a deliberate well planned conspiracy between domestic feudalism
and external imperialism crushed the movement. The non-Marxist
interpretation is that the failure of the Chinese system to modernize kept
it a weak nation.
Causes
China had a strong anti-foreign tradition, whereby the foreigners were
considered barbarians. After 1860, Western missionaries were given the
right to preach Christianity throughout China and to rent or buy land for
the construction of churches. The unwanted presence of these foreigners
aroused Chinese anger. The scholar gentry hated the Western missionaries
because of various reasons.

 Firstly, foreign missionaries seemed to be challenging the scholargentry's social leadership. The missionaries taught Western things,
thereby competing with Chinese scholars as teachers. They carried out
social welfare measures, which were originally conducted by the Chinese
scholar-gentry. They could talk to Chinese officials as equals and demand
to see high Chinese officials at any moment, a privilege that only the
scholar-gentry enjoyed. They enjoyed special rights in law which
previously only the Chinese scholar-gentry possessed.
Secondly, the missionaries told the Chinese people not to worship
ancestors and not to take part in local festivals. In the eyes of the scholargentry, missionary teachings attacked China's tradition and culture.
Thirdly, Confucianism as a system of thought and religion was
challenged by Christianity, since Western missionaries forbade Chinese
believers to respect Confucius.
Fourthly, Western missionaries represented the products of foreign
imperialism and national humiliations.
As a result, the scholar-gentry often secretly and indirectly supported
anti-foreign activities in society. They distributed books with antiChristian ideas and created an anti-foreign atmosphere.
The ordinary people hated as well as feared foreign missionaries. As the
missionaries used money to attract believers, many locally recruited
Chinese Christians were bad people who joined the church just for a
living. These Chinese Christians bullied the local people and committed
crimes. In the eyes of local Chinese people, the Western church protected
these crimes. Superstition among the people increased anti-foreign
feelings.
From 1870 to 1894, the Western powers adopted a "gunboat" policy in
dealing with China: they used force to get what they wanted. After 1895,
foreign imperialism in China grew quickly.
On the social level, Western missionaries, especially the Catholics, often
misused their treaty-rights in China. There were many occasions when
Western missionaries interfered in local Chinese official affairs, either on
behalf of the Chinese Christians or in order to win more believers.
By 1900, the value of China's imports was four times that of her exports.
This affected the Chinese economy.
Firstly, China's industries and commerce were destroyed by the
inflow of cheap foreign goods like cotton clothes, which were sold 2/3rd
cheaper. Consequently, unemployment was great in society, whereby the
people suffered economically.

 Secondly, as the Qing dynasty was poor, it was forced to increase

taxes, which therefore made the economic conditions of the people even
worse.
There were many natural disasters in late 19th century China. The Yellow
River flooded in 1898. Shantung was hard hit. Hundreds of Shantung
villages were badly affected. In 1900, there was a serious drought in most
of North China. As it was believed that all these natural disasters were
caused by the presence of the foreigners, anti-foreign feelings spread
further.
Technological advancements also played a role in the discontent which
drove the uprising. Along with an increase of foreign power came the
introduction of western infrastructure and technology, such as railroads
and steam boats. Railroads were built throughout China and in some
cases passed through burial grounds. This blatant disrespect for Chinese
culture and history decreased the tolerance many peasants had for
international interference. Both steam boats and railroads destroyed the
carrying trade by introducing a new form of transportation. In areas on
low employment, such as in Manchuria and Shantung where the carrying
trade was one of the only means of work these advancements in
technology resulted in loss income and livelihoods. The workers couldnt
compete with this faster more efficient transport and the dynamics of
their trades and the economy was completely changed. Although
technological and transportation advancements were crucial for the
western world, when inflicted upon the traditional Chinese society it
resulted in discontent and intolerance.
Nationalism and the use of propaganda influenced the uprising as the
Boxers support increased and the rebellion gained momentum. Things
were spiralling out of control for the peasants especially in the Northern
provinces of China as technological advancements, famine, drought,
flooding and the spread of Christian missionaries increased. For the
Boxers, this was the perfect opportunity to increase support for their
cause through propaganda and nationalism. As their anti-foreign outlook
escalated so did the availability of propaganda posters. The Boxers were
managing to unite a country, from the peasants to the imperial
government and the Empress Dowager.
The Boxer Uprising originated in Shantung, which had to bear the brunt
of the imperialist encroachments. Popular struggles against foreign
churches took place in Shantung in 1896 led by Ta Tao Hui, a secret
society which is also called Big Sword Society. This organization
comprised of peasants, handicraftsmen, urban poor and unemployed wage
labourers; while the basic unit was the tao or shrine and consisted of

young men, teenage boys and many women. Each Boxer squad was
formed of 10 fighters and 10 squads made up a brigade.
In 1900, the Boxer movement spread to the Beijing area, where the
Boxers killed Chinese Christians and Christian missionaries and
destroyed churches and railroad stations and other property. On June 20,
1900, the Boxers began a siege of Beijings foreign legation district. The
following day, Qing Empress Dowager Tzuu Hzi declared a war on all
foreign nations with diplomatic ties in China.
As the Western powers and Japan organized a multinational force to crush
the rebellion, the siege stretched into weeks, and the diplomats, their
families and guards suffered through hunger and degrading conditions as
they fought to keep the Boxers at bay. By some estimates, several
hundred foreigners and several thousand Chinese Christians were killed
during this time. On August 14, after fighting its way through northern
China, an international force of approximately 20,000 troops from eight
nations (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the
United Kingdom and the United States) arrived to take Beijing and rescue
the foreigners and Chinese Christians.
The Boxer Rebellion formally ended with the signing of the Boxer
Protocol on September 7, 1901. By terms of the agreement, forts
protecting Beijing were to be destroyed, Boxer and Chinese government
officials involved in the uprising were to be punished, foreign legations
were permitted to station troops in Beijing for their defense, China was
prohibited from importing arms for two years and it agreed to pay more
than $330 million in reparations to the foreign nations involved.
The Boxer episode ended but it revealed the shallowness of reforms
which the Ch'ing Government had initiated as they could not save China
from humiliation. The Western powers treated China devoid of all
consideration and all understanding.
Impact
The Boxer uprising was a major peasant upheaval in the series of peasant
revolts that had occurred periodically in Chinese history. This was a
patriotic outburst of the North China, peasantry, accompanied by
outbreaks in many other parts which signalled the birth of Chinese
nationalism. It was directed first against Christian missionaries and
converts and eventually a war was waged against the whole imperialist
establishment. It was the result of impoverishment, suffering, untold
miseries and mercilessness of the system. The Manchu Government's
failure to satisfy the needs of the masses and its official and ruthlessness
in dealing with its subjects alienated the people. Along with this,

imperialist encroachment upon China, stipulating it of all the dignity and

prestige the mighty Empire once had contributed in the outburst. The
imperialist powers efforts to curb the movement through the Ch'ing
Government failed as the latter took an ambivalent attitude towards it.
The eight nation plan to initiate a military offensive was responded to by
the Ch'ing Government through a declaration of war which turned out to
be a feeble attempt if not a hoax. Soon peace negotiations started and the
so-called Boxer Protocol was signed between the powers and the Ch'ing
Government. In addition to extracting many concessions from the
Chinese, this humiliating treaty stipulated a huge indemnity payment, an
amount so large that paying it would drain the country of all its resources.
Imperialist powers' disagreement amongst themselves saved China from
partition.
The people of China today hail the Boxer uprising as a revolutionary
struggle. The Yi Ho Tuan was an organization of brave, sacrificing and
patriotic people which inspired the spirit of nationalism.
Bibliography
Peasant Revolts in China 1840-1949 Jean Chesneaux
IGNOU Modern Europe (Mid 18th to Mid 20th Centuries)
Boxer Rebellion Case Study
The Chinese Boxer Rebellion by Shebra Sanders