The Boxer Rebellion was an uprising led by the Yihequan ("Righteous and Harmonious Fists"), known to Westerners as the "Boxers," a movement that emerged in Shandong province in the late 1890s. Its members practiced martial arts and spirit-possession rituals and directed violence at foreign missionaries, Chinese Christian converts, and symbols of Western and Japanese influence such as railways and telegraph lines. The movement grew against a backdrop of economic dislocation, natural disasters, and resentment over the "scramble for concessions" that followed China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1895).
In June 1900, Boxers entered Beijing and, with tacit and then open backing from the Qing court under Empress Dowager Cixi, besieged the foreign legation quarter for roughly 55 days. The Qing government formally declared war on the treaty powers on 21 June 1900. An Eight-Nation Alliance — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Japan, the United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary — assembled an expeditionary force that captured Tianjin and then Beijing in August 1900, prompting the imperial court to flee to Xi'an. Allied troops, particularly Russian forces in Manchuria and German units arriving later, were widely documented to have carried out looting and reprisal killings.
The conflict was settled by the Boxer Protocol, signed on 7 September 1901. Its principal terms included:
- An indemnity of 450 million taels of silver, payable over 39 years with interest.
- Execution or punishment of named officials who supported the Boxers.
- A two-year suspension of civil-service examinations in cities where foreigners had been killed.
- Permanent foreign legation guards in Beijing and the demolition of the Dagu forts.
The rebellion accelerated the decline of the Qing dynasty, which fell in 1912, and shaped subsequent Chinese nationalism. The United States later redirected a portion of its indemnity share to fund scholarships for Chinese students, contributing to the founding of what became Tsinghua University.
Example
In August 1900, troops of the Eight-Nation Alliance entered Beijing and lifted the siege of the foreign legation quarter, a turning point that led to the Boxer Protocol signed on 7 September 1901.
Frequently asked questions
Members of the Yihequan, a north-Chinese movement combining martial arts and folk-religious practice that targeted foreigners and Chinese Christians from the late 1890s.
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