Electronic Passport to the Boxer Rebellion

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Mr. Dowling's Electronic Passport Chinese History

The Boxer Rebellion

     Throughout the nineteenth century, foreigners took control of China and forced the people to make humiliating concessions. Italy, Japan, and Russia all claimed exclusive trading rights to certain parts of China. They divided the nation into "spheres of influence" where they had exclusive trading rights. The United States proposed an "Open Door Policy" where all nations would share China.

     A secret society in northern China began a campaign of terror against Christian missionaries and Chinese converts. Foreigners called them "Boxers" because they practiced martial arts and calisthenic rituals. The Boxers believed they had magical powers and that the bullets could not harm them. The society wanted to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and expel all foreigners and foreign influences.

     The empress dowager publicly opposed the Boxers, but her ministers quietly convinced them to join forces in order to drive foreigners from China. In the early months of 1900, thousands of Boxers roamed the countryside, attacking Christians. When an international force of 2,100 soldiers attempted to land in China, the empress dowager ordered her imperial army to stop the foreign troops. Throughout the summer of 1900 the Boxers burned churches and foreign residences and killed Chinese Christians on sight.

     The allied foreigners sent in 19,000 more troops and captured Beijing on August 14. Beijing was looted, many Chinese people were tortured, raped, killed. The foreign powers forced China to agree to a treaty that allowed foreign nations to station troops in Beijing.

Chinese History

To cite this page:
Dowling, Mike., "The Electronic Passport to the Boxer Rebellion," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/613-boxer.html; Internet; updated Tuesday, April 30, 2002 11:57 PM