The Boxer Rebellion: the death knell of the Qing dynasty

The early 1900s were turbulent times in China. The entire country was swept in a wave of xenophobia, which turned into general hostility towards everything Western. The events collectively known as the Boxer Rebellion were a crystallization of the indignance of the Chinese people towards the imperialistic ambitions of Japan and the West. It also represented a last attempt by the conservative Manchu rulers to restore the glory of the Qing dynasty and to save it from doom. The violent outbursts were also motivated by sheer ignorance and superstition.

By 1900, following a number of humiliations and defeats in the 1800s, the 2,000-year-old Chinese empire had reached a serious state of decline. The situation was largely blamed on foreigners, and for good reason. The Opium Wars had forced China to commit to unfair terms, which allowed foreign states to establish colonies on its territory and granted special privileges to citizens of foreign nations. In the view of the Chinese, the conditions of trade imposed by foreign countries and growing Western influence presented real threats to their nation's own culture and prosperity.

The plight that ensued natural disasters, such as the flooding of the Yellow River in 1898, was construed by many as a sign that the foreigners' actions and attempts to convert local people to Christianity had angered the spirits and disrupted the balance between man and nature. Foreigners were blamed for numerous misdeeds, including damaging the "dragon's vein" by building railways around the country and banishing the "precious spirits" of the mountains with their mining activities.

The fists of justice and harmony

Boxers in Tianjin. (Image: Wikipedia)The unrest that came to be known as the Boxer Rebellion originated in the impoverished north, and specifically in Shandong province. The rebellion was spearheaded by a secret society which called itself Yihequan or "the fists of justice and harmony." Foreigners called the members of the society Boxers, because they practiced traditional Chinese martial arts. The goal of the Boxers was to overthrow Manchu rule and restore the Ming dynasty. In the 1890s, their feelings of hostility shifted from the Qing dynasty towards all foreigners and any Chinese who associated with them. Their prime goal became to destroy all the enemies they called "hairy men," which not only included foreigners, but also those countrymen who had converted to Christianity and who contributed to wealth accumulation overseas by buying foreign-made goods.

Missionaries, who were the only foreigners in many parts of northern China, became the main targets of attacks by the rebels. Foreign governments demanded the stifling of the Boxer movement, but local Chinese authorities were either uninformed of their activities or unwilling to put an end to them. The turmoil peaked when a large number of returning soldiers, villains and poor farmers joined the group. The hatred was fueled even more by rumors of the mystical powers the foreigners possessed. The Boxers performed special rituals which they believed would give them supernatural powers and protect them from the invaders' bullets.

Attack against foreign power

China could have succeeded in suppressing the Boxer movement, had the imperial court so decided. Empress Dowager Cixi, however, supported the rebellion, hoping it would help reduce Western and Japanese influence in China. A couple of years earlier, Cixi, with the support of conservatives imperialists, had seized power from Emperor Guangxu and put an end to his reforms. The now conservative imperial court pledged even more support for the Boxers, whose attacks grew more violent day by day.

Empress Dowager Cixi. (Image: Wikipedia)In early summer of 1900, the Boxers were invited to Beijing, where the situation flared up quickly. Empress Cixi used the Boxers to wage war against foreign states and ordered all Chinese to turn against the Western invaders. In Beijing, boxers killed missionaries and Chinese Christians, burned down churches and houses owned by foreigners and publicly humiliated officials in the city streets. Foreign embassies were attacked and held under siege for eight weeks.

News of the barbaric attacks carried out by the Boxers spread in Europe, fueling anti-Chinese sentiment. At least 250 foreigners were killed during the rebellion. Nevertheless, the greatest suffering was borne by Chinese Christians, who had been labeled traitors and had nowhere to hide.

End of the Qing dynasty

Had the Chinese been united in their desire to vanquish foreign power in their country, the conservative imperial court might have been able to expel all foreigners from China. This, however, was not to be. Local leaders in China's southern and eastern provinces refused to obey the order to attack and negotiated their own separate peace treaties with foreign countries.

Eight foreign nations moved to suppress the Chinese rebellion with the help of over 50,000 troops. The Chinese defense was weak despite the great number of militants and in August, the multinational foreign forces invaded and pillaged Beijing.

After the Boxer Rebellion, China could no longer be spoken of as a unified country. The West and Japan were not able reach an agreement on how to divide the Chinese territory, but ordered the country to pay substantial reparations. Taking the side of the Boxers constituted the final attempt of the conservative imperial court to turn back time. For the Qing dynasty, the doomed efforts signaled the expiry of the mandate of heaven.