Guangxu

“ Those bandits, using evil speech and twisted theory, incited and seduced uneducated people, even among princes and ministers. Some were young and wanton, some were ignorant. They were jealous of the military might of the foreigners, did not understand their own shortcomings, were taken in by the devils and the fake. Believing in the magic power of the Boxers, they began to practice at their own homes as well as in the streets and the market places. Once they were supplied with rations and weapons, Boxers began with two or three people and now they have tens of millions followers. ”

“ Under heaven, people with righteousness are not murderers and arsonists; national policy should not lean towards bandits and breaking up international alliance at will. At the moment when the foreign legations were being surrounded, several decrees were directed at the Zongli Yamen, requesting ministers to go and stop any aggressive attacks and offer solace to the diplomats, but the Royal Decrees were never delivered, no ministers went. ”

“ This upheaval and chaos was initiated by the Boxer bandits and their supporters who went into rebellion. Certainly there were reasons behind this. Foreign nations had been preaching Christianity in China for a long time. In dealing with disputes between locals and the Christian churches, the local magistrates did not always act impartially: those who tried to avoid controversy would favor the Churches, causing harm to the locals; those who are into making a big name of themselves would do the opposite. ”