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The Boxer RebellionWhat was the Boxer Rebellion?

Nationalist movement (late 19th century) Boxer war (1900-1901) Contact with Western countries

Img source: http://www.sacu.org/boxers.html

What started it?

Christian missionaries - entered China in the early 19th century

Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism - favoured religions

‘The Society of Righteous Fists’, or ‘Boxers’

Pressure from foreign powers

Opium trading

Boxer War:

Confrontation b/w 'Eight Nation Alliance' (Russia, Japan, USA, Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Italy) and the Boxers.

21st of June 1900 - The Qing government declared war on all Christians and allied foreigners

The 'Siege of Peking'

Img source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/china-postcard/4510532354/sizes/o/in/photostream/

Who were the Boxers?

• Also known as “Righteous fists of fury”• Formed in the Shandong province• Spiritual & ritualistic

Esherick, J. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising p292

What they stood for• Wanted westerners and Christians out• They were not permitted to kill non-foreigners• Followed these rules:

Do not covert wealth Do not lust after women Do not disobey your parents Do not violate Imperial laws Eradicate the foreigners Kill corrupt officials When you walk on the streets, keep your head lowered, looking neither left

nor right When you meet a fellow member, greet him with hands clasped together

Establishment of a nationalism in China

Background…Background…

• China in the year 1985 had been defeated by Japan and lost power over Korea.

– Severe humiliation: always been considered a stronger nation to Japan and Korea.

• Blaming Game: A large sector of the community, including some parts of the government,

believes that this defeat was the blame of the Europeans.

– Dominant in China at the time and controlling most aspects of Chinese welfare

• Politically, economically, and socially.

– Europeans were seen to be driving China’s domestic and foreign policy into a ‘black hole’

• By the end of the 19th century, nationalism swept across the country in the determination

that they could reclaim China for the Chinese people (Ch'ên, Jerome, 1960).

Three main incentives…Three main incentives…

1. Society: Humiliation and Pride

2. Politically and Economically: Government Strength

3. Elimination of religion: Christianity

Society..Society..

• A sense of nationalism had been within history for centuries– Ironically all nationalistic idealism had been acquired and influenced by

foreign cultures (Marxism, American progressivism) and traditional Chinese Thinking.

• A Multi-ethnic state.• Chinese Thinking developed into a strong sense of community and

nationalistic pride.– Tested when Japan overthrew Chinese power in 1985, and soon after, its loss

of control over Korea. • Blaming Game: Ultimately the Western powers were blamed. • Government was also to blame - Weak and unable to tell the foreign

powers to leave.

• Division in state between the people, the government, and the foreign powers.

Politically and Economically…Politically and Economically…

• Politically and economically China was weak during the 19th century– Allowed foreign powers domination of its economy

• Great Britain and the United States had successfully pressed the Chinese imperial government into providing various economic and political concessions which were more to the advantage of the western powers than they were the Chinese.

• Resulting in a growth of patriotic force to regain the economy and establish a political power.

ChinaChina’’s Religious Historys Religious History

•Inability to accept extensive foreign influence• -Politically• -Religiously• -Economically

•Christianity:• -Threatening• -Western concept/ideology

““Fear of Westernization” Fear of Westernization”

Successful?Successful?

• -To begin with, the missionaries were successful.

• -As the Government stepped in, influence was dampened

• -Influence eventually stamped out completely through executions and exile

Post-Rebellion Religion in ChinaPost-Rebellion Religion in China

• -The religion of the majority was Daoism and Buddhism, to a larger extent than before

• -Religion is still a key issue in modern Chinese society and politics; Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism

Bibliograpy• Beals, Z.C., 1901. China and the Boxers. Toronto: William Briggs.

• Bickers R.A. 2007. The Boxers, China, and the World, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield.

• Ch'ên, Jerome, 1960. The Nature and Characteristics of the Boxer Movement--A Morphological Study: Cambridge University Press (Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London, Vol. 23, No. 2 (1960), pp. 287-308.

• Edward J.M. Rhoads, 1975, China's republican revolution: the case of Kwan Tang 1895-1913, Harvard University Press.

• Esherick, J. 1987. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising, California: University of California Press.

More• Lynn Bodin, 1979, The Boxer Rebellion, Osprey Publishing.

• Xiang Lanxin, 2003, The Origins of the Boxer War: A Multinational Study, Routledge.

• Xiao, Cheng, 1983. "Minjan Zongiao Yu Yilutan Jietie" [Popular Religion & Boxer Posters]: The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 51, No. 2 (Feb., 1992) (pp. 147-163).

• Xu, Guoqi, 2001. Nationalism, Internationalism and National Identity: China from 1895 to 1919. In: Wei, George C.X., Liu, Xiaoyuan ed. Chinese nationalism in perspective: historical and recent cases, Westport: Greenwood Press.

• Xu Xudian & Li Jinsheng, 1981, Modern China: The 1980 Conference on the History of the Boxer Movement, Sage Publications.