1 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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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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3
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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