Boxer Uprising / Movement (1900) 義和團邉尹p>
Causes and background

A. Anti-foreign ideas and activities in society

i. China's anti-foreign tradition and presence of Western missionaries in China since 1860

China had a strong anti-foreign tradition. Foreigners were considered barbarians. After 1860, Western missionaries were given the right to preach Christianity throughout China and to rent or buy land for the construction of churches. The unwanted presence of these foreigners aroused Chinese anger.

ii. Anti-missionary attitude among the scholar-gentry - The scholar-gentry (those who had successfully passed government-held examinations and become China's social leaders) hated Western missionaries. There were four reasons for this:

a. Foreign missionaries seemed to be challenging the scholar-gentry's social leadership:

* Firstly, the missionaries taught Western things, thereby competing with Chinese scholars as teachers.
* Secondly, the missionaries carried out social welfare measures, which were originally conducted by the Chinese scholar-gentry.
* Thirdly, the missionaries could talk to Chinese officials as equals and demand to see high Chinese officials at any moment, a privilege that only the scholar-gentry enjoyed.
* Fourthly, the missionaries enjoyed special rights in law which previously only the Chinese scholar-gentry possessed.

b. Foreign missionaries told the Chinese people not to worship ancestors and not to take part in local festivals. In the eyes of the scholar-gentry, missionary teachings attacked China's tradition and culture.

c. Confucianism as a system of thought and religion was challenged by Christianity, since Western missionaries forbade Chinese believers to respect Confucius. d Western missionaries represented the products of foreign imperialism and national humiliations.

As a result, the scholar-gentry often secretly and indirectly supported anti-foreign activities in society. They distributed books with anti-Christian ideas and created an anti-foreign atmosphere.

iii. Anti-missionary attitude among the ordinary people

The ordinary people hated as well as feared foreign missionaries. There were three reasons:

a. As the missionaries used money to attract believers, many locally recruited Chinese Christians were bad people who joined the church just for a living. These Chinese Christians bullied the local people and committed crimes. In the eyes of local Chinese people, the Western church protected these crimes.

b. Superstition among the people increased antiforeign feelings. For example,

* It was rumoured that missionaries raped Chinese women and took out children's hearts and eyes in the church.

* Fortune-tellers and taoist magicians in Shantung announced that because the foreigners disturbed the local feng-shui natural disasters and the end of the world would come.

c. The ordinary people did not understand and were fearful of Western things in general. For example, Western engines were called the "devil's fire carts".

iv. Anti-foreign attitude among a few Chinese nationalists

A small but growing number of Chinese nationalists were shameful of national humiliations that China suffered. Western missionaries were unwelcomed because they came to China together with greedy merchants and aggressive foreign officials.

B. Anti-foreign feelings in the Qing government

i. Anti-foreign attitude of the Empress Dowager

The Empress Dowager hated foreigners:

a. She remembered how she had been forced to leave the capital when Anglo-French forces invaded Peking in 1860.

b. After 1895, there was the Scramble for Concession that threatened to partition China.

c. After the Hundred Day Reform of 1898, K'ang Yu-wei and Liang Ch'i-ch'ao were helped to escape by the British and the Japanese respectively. And when the Empress tried to choose a new emperor to replace Kuang-hsu, foreign ministers checked her from doing so. By 1898 the Empress Dowager had decided to resist foreign imperialism. For example, Italy's request for a concession was flatly turned down.

ii. Anti-foreign attitude among the Manchu conservatives

On the other hand, die-hard and ignorant Manchu conservatives like Kang-i and Prince Tuan had re established their influence at the Ch'ing court after the failure of the Hundred Day Reform. They feared that Western reform would weaken their power and destroy Chinese culture.

iii. Anti-foreign attitude among the Chinese officials

Chinese officials seldom cooperated with foreigners and often deliberately prevented Western missionaries from fully enjoying treaty rights in China. This was because:

a. These Chinese officials belonged to the scholar gentry class and were therefore themselves anti-foreign.

b. These Chinese officials needed the support of the scholar-gentry to run local administration in society. They therefore dared not anger their fellow Chinese scholars. As a result, local Chinese officials often turned a blind eye to anti-foreign uprisings in society. With the Qing court taking a strong position against foreign aggression, these local officials were encouraged to resist foreigners.

C. Growing aggressive attitude toward China. among the Western powers

From 1870 to 1894, the Western powers adopted a "gunboat" policy in dealing with China: they used force to get what they wanted. After 1895, foreign imperialism in China grew quickly. In 1897, for example, the Germans occupied Kiaochow in Shantung, which aroused great fear among the local Shantung people.

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D. Growing aggressive attitude toward China among the missionaries

On the social level, Western missionaries, especially the Catholics, often misused their treaty-rights in China. There were many occasions when Western missionaries interfered in local Chinese official affairs, either on behalf of the Chinese Christians or in order to win more believers. Some missionaries once went so far as to demand the transfer of two Qing provincial governors!

E. Economic hardship and natural disaster

i. By 1900, the value of China's imports was four times that of her exports. There were two effects:

a. First, China's industries and commerce were destroyed by the inflow of cheap foreign goods like cotton clothes, which were sold 2/3 cheaper. Consequently, unemployment was great in society. The people suffered economically.

b. Secondly, as the Qing dynasty was poor (as a result of foreign economic exploitation), it was forced to increase taxes, which therefore made the economic conditions of the people even worse.

ii.. The traditional Grand Canal in North China lost its function of transport after railways had been built. Consequently, many workers, innkeepers and boatmen, who were left unemployed, rushed into Shantung. It was in Shantung that the Boxers originated.

iii. There were many natural disasters in late 19th century China:

a. The Yellow River flooded in 1898. Shantung was hard hit. Hundreds of Shantung villages were badly affected.

b. Then, in 1900, there was a serious drought in most of North China.

c. As it was believed that all these natural disasters were caused by the presence of the foreigners, anti-foreign feelings spread further.