IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : History Of China and Japan (1840-1949) - The Boxer Uprising

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

History Of China and Japan (1840-1949)

The Boxar Uprising

Structure

14.0 Objectives
14.1 Introductiont
14.2 Socio-Economic Conditions in China
14.3 Imperialism
14.4 The Yi Ho Tuan
14.4.1 Why Shantung?
14.4.2 The Upris~ng
14.4.3 Imperialist Intervention
14.4.4 The Boxer Protocol
14.5 Academic Debate
14.6 Let Us Sum Up
14.7 Key Words
14.8 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

14.0 OBJECTIVES

After reading this Unit you will be able to explain :
the deteriorating socioeconomic conditions of late 19th century China,
the extent of imperialist encroachment upon China,
the emergence of the Boxers, their activities and efforts to curb them, and
the features of the ~oxer Protocol which concluded the movement.

14.1 INTRODUCTION

The Boxer Rebellion or the Yi -Ho Tuan movement of 1900\was a major peasant
uprising against imperialism. Yi Ho Tuan means a society of Righteousness and
Harmony. This organization emerged and grew in China's Shantung province. What
the Chinese officially call the Yi Ho Tuan movement, Western scholars call the Boxer
Rebellion. 'Boxer' is derived from boxing as many of the activists and revolutionaries
practised Chinese martial arts, boxing being one of them. .
'ilthough this movement's first targets were missionaries who preached Christianity,
the real aim was to fight imperialism. This violent, dramatic and earth shaking
movement was the result of both the enslavement of the Chinese nation by foreign
powers and also the deteriorating socioeconomic conditions, which reforms at the
political level could ndt prevent. As if Western imagFialist encroachment on China
was not enough, Japanese imperialism too er'nefged as a new force to crush China
further. The ruling Manchu or Chiang dynasty had weakened considerably on all
fronts due to its own internal conditions as well as imperialist domination of China.
The Boxer uprising gave a crushing blow to both the imperialist and Manchu rulers.
The movement was contained by the government eventually with the help of
imperialist forces and resulted in the signing of the Boxer Protocol in 1901 - most
humiliating of all the unequal treaties. The indemnities the Chinese had to pay to the
foreigners were so massive that the Chinese populace was squeezed to derive it. This
further aggravated the internal problems of China, ultimately leading to more I revolutionary uprisivg and culminating in the downfall of monarchy in 19A 1.
I Practically all the aspects related to the Yi Ho Tuan (Boxer Movement) have been
dealt with in this Unit.