Document – “Proclamation of the Boxers United in Righteousness” (1900)

Abstract and Keywords

The nineteenth century saw an accumulation of disasters for China. In two Opium Wars in the 1840s and 1850s, British invasion forced the trade concessions demanded earlier. These conflicts helped to prompt the immensely destructive Tai-ping Rebellion (1850–1864). Various official reform movements encountered too many internal obstacles to effect much change. China lost a war to Japan in 1894 and was forced to accept a series of “unequal treaties” and agreements that granted “spheres of influence” to European powers. In 1899 internal disorder escalated. This time a portion of the imperial court headed by the Empress Dowager backed the opponents of western domination. The Boxers, drawing recruits from throughout the north China plain, killed western and Chinese Christians and besieged the embassies of foreign powers in Beijing itself. In July 1900 an unprecedented multinational army of British, German, American, Russian, French, Japanese, Austrian, and Italian troops entered Beijing to restore order and rescue the hostages. The International Expeditionary Force smashed the native army, looted Beijing, and, under the watchful eye of the international press, engaged in “punitive picnics” to exterminate opposition in the countryside.

China had a long tradition of secret societies and popular support for “social banditry” to help the poor. The Boxers United in Righteousness, who arose in Shandong province during the famines described earlier, followed ancient forms of aid and famine relief for their recruits. But the Boxers combined their appeals for social justice with calls to “Support the Qing, destroy the Foreign.” Like resistance movements in other parts of the world, they saw their country’s disasters as caused by its toleration of foreigners, especially the Christian missionaries whose numbers were increasing as western control of China became more pronounced. Recruits to the Boxers undoubtedly believed the terrible rumors of bizarre western religious practices requiring mutilation of women and children. They used magical charms and physical exercise rituals to invite the gods to inhabit their bodies, making them invulnerable to the guns and explosives of western armies. As with other resisters, this faith proved illusory. The Boxers were easily dispatched by the soldiers of the West, as were countless Chinese peasants who were innocent of any role in this conflict between cultures.

Joseph Esherick, The Origins of the Boxer Uprising. University of California Press (1987): 299–300.

Document

  • Divinely aided Boxers,
  • United-in-righteousness Corps Arose because the Devils Messed up the Empire of yore.
  • They proselytize their sect, And believe in only one God,
  • The spirits and their own ancestors Are not even given a nod.
  • Their men are all immoral; Their women truly vile.
  • For the Devils it’s mother-son sex That serves as the breeding style.
  • And if you don’t believe me, Then have a careful view: You’ll see the Devils’ eyes Are all a shining blue.
  • No rain comes from Heaven. The earth is parched and dry. And all because the churches Have bottled up the sky.
  • The gods are very angry. The spirits seek revenge.
  • En masse they come from Heaven To teach the way to men.
  • The Way is not a heresy,
  • It’s not the White Lotus Sect.i The chants and spells we utter, Follow mantras, true and correct.
  • Raise up the yellow charm, Bow to the incense glow. Invite the gods and spirits
  • Down from the mountain grotto.
  • Spirits emerge from the grottos; Gods come down from the hills, Possessing the bodies of men, Transmitting their boxing skills.
  • When their martial and magic techniques Are all learned by each one of you,
  • Suppressing the Foreign Devils Will not be a tough thing to do.
  • Rip up the railroad tracks! Pull down the telegraph lines!
  • Quickly! Hurry up! Smash them—
  • The boats and the steamship combines.
  • The mighty nation of France Quivers in abject fear,
  • While from England, America, Russia And from Germany nought do we hear.
  • When at last all the Foreign Devils Are expelled to the very last man, The Great Qing, united, together, Will bring peace to this our land.

Notes

Review

  1. 1. Outline the criticisms that the Boxers have of Westerners. Why would the items they mention make a powerful appeal to Chinese peasants suffering poverty and dislocation?

  2. 2. What role do religious beliefs play in the political actions of the Boxers?

  3. 3. The Boxers claim to be “united in righteousness.” How would they define this term? Why is it significant in their strategy?

  4. 4. Why would the Boxers wish to destroy such benefits of western technology as railroads and telegraphs?

Notes:

(i) White Lotus believers were part of a centuries-old, unauthorized group of sects that combined aspects of Buddhism, Taoism, and other religious faiths. Their “millenarianism” (belief in the coming of an ideal society accompanied by the arrival of a deity) was not shared by the Boxers.

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