Overview
- After China humiliatingly lost to Japan, in 1899, a brand new rebellion started: The Boxer Rising.
- The Boxers swept on Beijing with a strange mix of martial arts and mysticism, calling for the killing of all foreigners, and wiping out the foreign influence.
- The court fled the capital, and a relief army of 20,000 men was sent.
- A lot of looting and massacring happened in Beijing during this time.
- The Boxers were crushed, and huge financial reparations were imposed on China.
Stages of the Boxer Rebellion
Growing unrest
By 1898, North Eastern China faced severe hardships, including starvation, droughts, floods, and local corruption, forcing to be burdened with excessive taxes. The devastating Yellow River flood in the same year triggered a widespread famine that affected 2 million people. Frustration and anger grew among the citizens, leading some to resort to violence. In response to protect villages from looting, a group of Chinese martial artists known as the ‘Righteous and Harmonious Fists,’ or ‘Boxers’ as named by the British, emerged. The Boxers intended on ridding China of all foreign influence, which the viewed as the cause of all their problems.
Anti-western feeling
China’s humiliating defeat in the last wars, and then the consequent spread of foreign influence caused great resentment towards the foreigners, many Chinese blaming them for their misfortune. Many turned to the Boxers in these tough times, believing the Boxers had mystical powers that would enable them to defeat the foreigners. Boxers looked very intimidating with their bright red turbans, yellow sashes, red-tasselled spears and loud cries.
At first the Boxers attacked Christians, killing thousands of Chinese Christians, chanting slogans such as ‘Destroy what is foreign’ and ‘Destroy the foreign devils’.