Boxer Rebellion

“ A member of the useless Tsung-li-Yamen went so far as to taunt the minister by saying that he expected all the army would be Boxers in a day or two. In view of what occurred so soon afterwards, it was a significant statement to make. ”

“ Persecutions have not ceased, but they are only local and often take the form of riots, which are generally fomented by the literati and more or less secretly favoured by the officials. The principal events of the period under review are the great Taeping rebellion, the second European war, the final peace in 1860, the Tientsin massacre of 1870, and the great Boxer outbreak of 1900, when bishops, priests, native Christians of both sexes and all ages met death with a faith, simplicity, and courage, the recital of which brings tears to the eyes. ”

“ As the men passed through the village it was burnt, which completely nullified the possibility of an attack in the rear, and as the houses began to grow fewer, and the open country appeared, the Imperial troops broke and fled. ”

“ On the night of the 4th, a strong body of the enemy arrived from the southward, and proceeded to burn the two magnificent country houses out by the racecourse, which, needless to say, were owned by Europeans, but which had been untouched as yet. The same force formed a camp in the racecourse,—which, with its surroundings, was a very strong natural position,—and continued to harass the concessions from it with artillery. The enemy also closed in on the settlement with their other guns to such an extent, that a determined effort was made on Friday to dislodge some of them. ”

“ English, Russian, and American legations, and begged the foreign ministers to persuade the relief guards that we hope are coming to our aid, to return, assuring them that from this time on the Chinese would prevent any further Boxer outrages on foreigners, and that legation premises should be safe. They also said the Empress was now sure that the Boxer movement was a menace to the government as well as the foreigners, and that the imperial troops would be ordered to shoot every Boxer on sight. ”

“ The origin of the “Boxer” movement is obscure. Its name is derived from a literal translation of the Chinese designation, “the fist of righteous harmony.” Like the kindred “Big Sword” Society, it appears to have been in the first instance merely a secret association of malcontents chiefly drawn from the lower classes. ”

“ Jung Lu, Hsu Tung and Kang Yi have assumed great power, and are constantly [48] with the Empress. The Boer successes in the Transvaal are being used to show the masses that a very little country can defy a big government if only the hearts of the people are in the struggle. British prestige here declining rapidly as a consequence. A Boxer mob has attacked the Germans building the railway in Shantung, and driven the foreigners away from their work. As Baron von Ketteler insists upon their going on with the work, the tsung-li-yamen finds it difficult to please both the throne and the foreigners. ”

“ 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. ”

“ These documents were undoubtedly the means of saving the lives of many missionaries and other foreigners isolated in the interior. In the first a curious passage occurs, wherein, after denouncing the Boxers, he said:
“The creed of the Boxers is no new thing: in the reign of Chia-Ch’ing, followers of the same cult were beheaded in droves. But the present-day Boxer has taken the field ostensibly for the defence of his country against the foreigner, so that we need not refer to the past. ”

“ At each place the furious Boxers, aided by their soldier sympathizers, have murdered, with shocking mutilation, all the gatekeepers as well as any women and children in the neighborhood suspected of being Christians or foreign sympathizers. ”

“ The Boxer movement of 1900, like the great proletarian risings which occurred in Italy in the pre-Christian era as a result of the impoverishment and moral disorder brought about by Roman misgovernment, was simply a socio-economic catastrophe exhibiting itself in an unexpected form. ”

“ It can be of no possible value to any one else. If you address it to X, Bassano’s Library, Broadway, New York, it is sure to come to hand.”
65 THE POT OF CAVIARE It was the fourth day of the siege. Ammunition and provisions were both nearing an end. When the Boxer insurrection had suddenly flamed up, and roared, like a fire in dry grass, across Northern China, the few scattered Europeans in the outlying provinces had huddled together at the nearest defensible post and had held on for dear life until rescue came—or until it did not. ”

“ Lately a telegram arrived saying warships of all nations had arrived, opened war, captured the Taku forts, and Tientsin was in extreme peril. The Boxers are responsible for all this trouble. The whole world has witnessed our sorrowful condition, [244] troubles alike within and without. The hundreds of millions of taels of silver gathered from three provinces to erect the railroads have been wiped out completely in the destruction of the road by the Boxers in the twinkling of an eye. Who is responsible for the Boxers? ”

“ The bad and suspicious part of this affair is that the Boxer outrages are not being punished by the Government, which proves that they either fear the perpetrators or sympathize with them. One hears from all sides that the Chinese soldiers are Boxers at heart, and would not fire on them if ordered to do so. The people who will suffer first from these riotous fanatics, if they get much worse than they are now, will be the Chinese Christians. ”

“ Anti-dynastic and anti-Christian troubles had been rife in China for some time previous to the Boxer Rising of 1900. Little is really known of the Boxers, except that they formed a secret society, having as their object the extermination of all Christians and the overthrow of the existing dynasty. The murder of some English missionaries in the neighbourhood of the capital and a [345] general sense of insecurity led the various foreign Ministers in Pekin to call up a mixed force of Marines and bluejackets from the allied fleets in Chinese waters for the defence of the Embassies. ”

“ In the same 'Gazette' another decree condemns the 'Boxer brigands' who have recently been causing trouble in the neighbourhood of the capital, who have been committing arson and murder and revenging themselves upon the native converts. Soldiers and 'Boxers,' it says, have leagued together to commit acts of murder and arson, and have vied with one another in disgraceful acts of looting and robbery. The 'Boxers' are to disband, desperadoes are to be arrested, ringleaders are to be seized, but the followers may be allowed to disband. ”

“ Thousands of the most notorious villains throng into his official residence, and are freely admitted on presenting a card bearing the title of ‘Boxer.’ These men sit by the side of the Viceroy on his judgment-seat, bringing the authority of the Throne into contempt, and insulting the intelligence of all educated men. Abominable scoundrels like the Boxer chiefs, Chang Te-ch’ang and Han Yi-li, men formerly infamous throughout their province, and now known in Peking itself as a scourge, have actually been recommended for official posts in a public Memorial to the Throne! ”

“ The Boxers are principally of two sorts: the ignorant villager and the city loafer or vagabond. The first easily becomes a fanatical enthusiast; the latter has joined simply to obtain loot. When [40] it became an assured fact that the Empress sanctioned the movement the ranks were rapidly filled, because rewards and preferment were held out as inducements to serve, and the majority of China’s population, being poverty-stricken in the extreme, would join any movement that promised an increased income. The Boxer headquarters was the palace of Prince Tuan in Peking. ”

“ Fate of Paotingfu missionaries unknown, as we can get no telegrams through.
June 6, p.m. United States consul wires from Tientsin that the situation there is growing steadily worse; an attack is imminent. Here in Peking [58] we are all collecting in the legations, but have insufficient arms and ammunition. Nevertheless we will make a determined stand.
June 7. I have overwhelming evidence that government officials are the real causes of the Boxer movement, acting under the direction of the Empress. ”

“ Since our revolution, anti-foreign feelings have been suppressed by us, but anti-foreign spirit lives and may take advantage of the critical time and rise in another Boxer movement with general massacre of foreigners. If war is declared against any country, the ignorant class cannot distinguish one nation from another, and consequences would be more fatal to England, owing to her larger interest in the Orient. ”

“ The Boxer uprising was the most formidable trial to which the mission has so far been subjected. It was organized in the court itself by Toan, the emperor's uncle, General Tong-Fou-Siang and the secretary of state, Kangi-i, and its rumblings were heard for years before the actual outbreak. In Se-tchouan, a third of the churches were destroyed, villages set on fire, missionaries thrown into prison and many Christians massacred. ”

“ It is certainly marvelous that with the information so readily obtainable as to the Boxer movement, its aims and intentions, and after having it forced almost upon them, as the British, American and French ministers certainly have had by their missionaries and others, the diplomatic corps should have blindly allowed themselves to be penned up in Peking with only a handful of guards, to endure treatment as disgraceful as it has been unpleasant. ”

“ All our officials, high and low, are of the same mind, and there have assembled without our call several hundred thousand patriotic militia [Boxers] , with many who are yet but children, glad to carry a spear in defense of their country [young ruffians who looted and murdered all the respectable native residents as well as officials who did not fly from Peking before the Boxers entered in any numbers] . ”

“ The Boxers originally proclaimed that their mission was to pay off old scores against the Christians; they then proceeded to include the Legations in their attacks. From the Legations they have extended their sphere of activity, directing their operations against our officials and the common people. That a mutinous soldiery and mobs of rebels should be permitted to run riot over our Capital, and [317] work their evil will upon the people, is indeed a circumstance unparalleled in our history. ”

“ A law, it is said, then existed, that when a pugilist arrived in any town, He might claim the right to receive the sum of fifty guineas, provided no man in the town could be found to accept his challenge within a given period. A champion, if tradition be true, had the privilege of fixing only the place, not the mode and regulations of battle. Accordingly the scene of contest uniformly selected by the Dead Boxer was the church-yard of the town, beside a new made grave, dug at his expense. ”

“ At first they were submissive to Chinese control, but for the last thirty years they have taken advantage of China’s forbearance to encroach [228] on our territory and trample our people under foot while demanding our wealth.
“Every concession made by China only increased their reliance upon force. They constantly oppressed the people, insulted the gods and sages, and so caused the most burning indignation among the populace. Hence came about the burning of the chapels and slaughter of converts by the patriotic militia [the Boxers] . ”

“ Prince Tuan, supported by Hsu Tung, Kang Yi, and other intensely anti-foreign ministers, is favoring the Boxer movement. A crisis is imminent.
June 3. Church of England missionaries Robinson and Norman killed at Yungching by Boxers, and their chapels looted and burned. Boxers now have entire control of country from Tientsin to Paotingfu, and thence northeastward to Peking; native troops make no effort to suppress them. All religious and missionary work in North China is ended unless treaty powers compel observance of treaty provisions, and demand indemnities for each and every infringement. ”

“ At that moment Bo Peep appeared with Doctor Carey’s letter, and the subject shifted to the problems of the far East.
“We aren’t the only people who are having trouble,” Asher said. “I read in the papers that the Boxer uprising that began in southern China last year is spreading northward and making no end of disturbance.”
“What’s them Boxers wantin’? Are they a band of prize ring fellers?” Darley Champers asked.
“Pryor Gaines writes Jim Shirley that they are a secret order of fanatics bent on stamping out all Christianity and all western ideas of advancement in the Orient. ”

“ The latter at the same time approached me and said, “Tell you what, young ’un, they’re talking of a fight ’twixt you and me; and if so be they’re in earnest, take care of yourself—that’s all.” “But, dear Boxer,” inquired I, wagging my tail in a conciliatory manner, “why should we fight?—surely we have no cause of quarrel?” “No business of mine,” answered he; “pleases my master; likes to see us bite and tear each other; great fun to him; must please him; gr-r-r.” So indeed it was, and I, though scarcely more than a puppy, was pitted against the redoubted Boxer. I was very unwilling to fight ”