The Boxer Rebellion: The Cause Of The Boxer Rebellion

In 1900, one of the eyewitness to the Boxer Uprising called Ai Sheng said, “At sundown there was a huge commotion along with the sounds of shrieking and wailing. It was discovered that the Boxers had burned several dozen Christian families to death. A workman who went to have a look reported that the men of the families had fled, leaving only the women, who were incinerated in their homes. When one young woman escaped from the flames, her belly was cut open with a sword by the Boxers. One could hear the sound of skin separating from bones. Several Boxers grabbed the woman by the thighs and arms and threw her back into the flames. The savagery was unspeakable.” In 1839 during the Qing dynasty, the Opium Wars commenced due to the trade deficient

For example, England required China to pay $ 22 US dollars for reparations and open up numerous ports in China. After the Opium Wars brought China into imperialism, foreign countries including England came to china. Because ambassadors brought new technologies, mechanisms and religion to China, agriculture became less profitable and lots of peasants lost their occupations. Subsequently, the Boxer Rebellion or the Boxer Uprising, immense and vigorous rebellion against Christianity, took place between 1899 and 1902. Through the Boxer Rebellion, it lingered China lots of casualties, economic damages and influences. Although the Boxers thought that foreigners were deteriorating China’s tradition through westernization, the Boxers deserve a bad rap because they were aggressive, frivolous, and

In the early summer of 1900 in Beijing, the Boxers “burned churches, killed foreign missionaries and slaughtered tens of thousands of 'secondary hair ones'” (Lefeber 13). Through these actions, it led foreigners as well as Chinese citizens to view the Boxers as misguided patriots because they massacred Christian missionaries and foreign officials as well as Chinese citizens who were converted to Christianity. To prevent foreign powers spreading their faith, mechanisms and technologies to Chinese citizens, Boxers cut off the communication among the cities. Cutting off food resources, foreigners ate by denominations. Furthermore, the Boxers destroyed foreign compounds and spread the rumors about the foreigners to Chinese citizens. While the Boxers were ferocious to the foreign powers through the massive genocide, spreading rumors and cutting off the communication, they were not thinking about the other perspectives and the aftermath of their