3/9/2023 0 Comments The boxer rebellionAmerican missionaries were probably the first to refer to the well-trained, athletic young men as "Boxers," because of the martial arts and calisthenics they practiced. The Righteous and Harmonious Fists or "Boxers United in Righteousness" (Yihequan/I-ho-chuan) was a secret society which arose in the inland sections of northern coastal province of Shandong. The Boxer Protocol of Septemprovided for the execution of government officials who had supported the Boxers, provisions for foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing, and 450 million taels of silver-more than the government's annual tax revenue-to be paid as indemnity over the course of the next thirty-nine years to the eight nations involved Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers. The Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14, lifting the siege of the Legations. The supreme commander of the Chinese forces, the Manchu General Ronglu (Junglu), later claimed that he acted to protect the besieged foreigners. Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days. In response to reports of an armed invasion to lift the siege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 declared war on foreign powers. After several months of growing violence against the foreign and Christian presence in Shandong and the North China plain, in June 1900 Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support Qing government and exterminate the foreigners." Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in theLegation Quarter. The uprising took place against a background of severe drought, and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. The Great Powers intervened and defeated Chinese forces. It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers," and was motivated by proto-nationalist sentiments and opposition to foreignimperialism and associated Christian missionary activity. The Boxer Rebellion, Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-imperialist uprising which took place in Chinatowards the end of the Qing dynasty between 18.
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