Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Boxer Rebellion: The Righteous Harmonious Fists

The Boxer Rebellion (拳亂),Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement (義和團運動),was an armed and violent xenophobic, anti-Christian andanti-imperialist insurrection in China between 1899 and 1901, towardsthe end of the Qing dynasty.

It was initiated by the MilitiaUnited in Righteousness (Yìhéquán), known in English as theBoxers because many of their members had practiced Chinese martialarts, also referred to in the Western world at the time as ChineseBoxing. Villagers in North China had been building resentment againstChristian missionaries. The immediate background of the uprisingincluded severe drought and disruption by the growth of foreignspheres of influence after the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. Afterseveral months of growing violence and murder in Shandong and theNorth China Plain against foreign and Christian presence in June1900, Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreignweapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support theQing government and exterminate the foreigners." Foreignersand Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter.

In response to reports of an invasionby the Eight Nation Alliance of American, Austro-Hungarian, British,French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Russian troops to lift thesiege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported theBoxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on theforeign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians, and soldiers as well asChinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were besieged for 55 daysby the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers. Chinese officialdom wassplit between those supporting the Boxers and those favoringconciliation, led by Prince Qing. The supreme commander of theChinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu (Junglu), later claimed heacted to protect the foreigners. Officials in the Mutual Protectionof Southeast China ignored the imperial order to fight againstforeigners.

The Eight-Nation Alliance, after beinginitially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeatedthe Imperial Army, and arrived at Peking on August 14, relieving thesiege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and thesurrounding countryside ensued, along with summary execution of thosesuspected of being Boxers. The Boxer Protocol of 7 September 1901provided for the execution of government officials who had supportedthe Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing,and 450 million taels of silver—approximately $10 billion at 2018silver prices and more than the government's annual tax revenue—tobe paid as indemnity over the course of the next 39 years to theeight nations involved.

Historical background

Origins of the Boxers

The Righteous and Harmonious Fists(Yihequan) arose in the inland sections of the northern coastalprovince of Shandong, long known for social unrest, religious sects,and martial societies. American Christian missionaries were probablythe first to refer to the well-trained, athletic young men as"Boxers", because of the martial arts and weaponstraining they practiced. Their primary practice was a type ofspiritual possession which involved the whirling of swords, violentprostrations, and chanting incantations to deities.

The opportunities to fight back Westernencroachment and colonization were especially attractive tounemployed village men, many of whom were teenagers. The tradition ofpossession and invulnerability went back several hundred years buttook on special meaning against the powerful new weapons of the West. The Boxers, armed with rifles and swords, claimed supernaturalinvulnerability towards blows of cannon, rifle shots, and knifeattacks. Furthermore, the Boxer groups popularly claimed thatmillions of soldiers would descend out of Heaven to assist them inpurifying China of foreign oppression.