The Boxer Rebellion was an armed uprising of Chinese peasants and urban workers against foreign imperialist intruders. It took place in northern China between 1899 and 1901. The revolt was started by the secret religious society called I Ho-Chuan (Righteous Harmony Fists), from which the rebellion would take its name. Because the word Chuan means 'fist', the rebels were called 'boxers' by foreigners, as a result of which the uprising was given the name the Boxer Rebellion. However, these rebel units would later be renamed I Ho Tuan (Righteous Harmony Bands).
This anti-colonialism armed struggle began in Shantung Province, where the presence of foreign armies units was noticeable, and it soon spread throughout other regions of China. Unrest had also grown as a result of a series of natural disasters in 1899 that had left many Chinese people on the brink of starvation. This social predicament stoked up the resentment against European powers' predatory colonialism. Early in 1900 the center of the rebellion shifted to the capital province of Chihli. The rebels destroyed railroad and telegraph lines, religious missions, and some government offices, gaining de facto control over a large area. Gradually, the rebellion spread to Shanhsi Province and to Manchuria as well. Efforts of government troops to oppose the rebel forces proved fruitless, and the governor of Chihli, Yii Lu, was forced to negotiate with the leaders of the revolt, Li Lai-chung and Chang Te-cheng. On June 13-14, the rebels entered Peking and besieged the legation quarter for 56 days. During the attack, the German minister von Ketteler was killed.
Surprised and alarmed at the patriotic armed resistance, the imperialist powers (Great Britain, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Japan, the United States, tsarist Russia, and Italy) organized an intervention in China. On June 17, 1900, their forces captured the Taku forts. Fearing the rebels, the Ching government declared war on the powers but in fact did nothing to defend the country against the interventionists. Instead, it continued its punitive operations against the rebels outside the capital. The governors of the central and southern provinces harshly repressed participants in the anti-foreign outbreaks that occurred in the latter part of the year. In mid-July, the foreign troops overcame the heroic resistance of the rebels and captured T’ientsin; shortly thereafter they began to march on Peking. By this time the interventionist forces numbered about 40, 000. The Manchu government offered only weak resistance, and Peking was captured by mid-August. With the arrival of the foreign commander in chief, the German field marshal von Waldersee, punitive expeditions were begun against various areas of continuing unrest and against the peaceful population. The Ching rulers fled from Peking to Hsian.
By September 1901, the rebellion had violently been quelled, although the people resistance continued in some areas until 1902. The imperialist powers imposed the coercive Boxer Protocol on China. Nonetheless, the Boxer Rebellion (or I Ho Tuan Rebellion) was an important stage in the spontaneous struggle of the Chinese peasantry and urban poor against imperialist intrusion into China.
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| Above, a political cartoon, which appeared in a French newspaper, depicts the insatiable imperial ambitions of the European, American, and Japanese powers. |
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| An old photograph showing soldiers from each one of the foreign armies deployed in China in 1899. |