Italian Police Officer, Beijing (Peking) (1897/1905) by UnknownUSC Pacific Asia Museum
Italian police officer and captured Boxer in Beijing
In the late Qing dynasty, China faced internal turmoil. The Boxer Rebellion, led by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (yihetuan), was a response to Western influence and missionary activity. The Boxer Rebellion was soon crushed by the Eight-Nation Alliance in 1901.
Empress Dowager Cixi's Private Reception Room (1900/1907) by UnknownUSC Pacific Asia Museum
Empress Dowager Cixi
While this began as a grassroots, anti-foreign movement that was initially also critical of the Qing government, the Boxers quickly became entangled in the political ambitions of the Qing imperial court.
Empress Dowager Cixi ultimately lent her support to the uprising, seeing it as an opportunity to reassert Qing power and defy the growing encroachment of Western and Japanese imperialism.
This image depicts a foreigner seated in Empress Dowager Cixi's Private Reception Room after she fled to Xi'an in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion.
The Boxer uprising
In June 1900, the Boxers besieged the foreign legations in Beijing and targeted the Tianjin-Beijing railway, destroying tracks to isolate the foreign legations in Beijing.
Belgian railway engineers' refuge in Tianjin
Belgian railway engineers and their families, who escaped during the Boxer Rebellion, are shown after fleeing the Pao Ting Fu Massacre at the Belgian Consulate. The massacre at the mission station in Pao-ting-fu, now Baoding in Hubei Province, caused significant casualties.
The Boxers burned railroad offices and stations (R.R. Offices) near Beijing after May 28-29, 1900.
A ruined Catholic Cathedral—St. Joseph's Church, also known as Eastern Church, Wangfujing Church, or Dongtang in Beijing, was badly damaged during this uprising and was rebuilt in 1904.
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St. Joseph's Church, Beijing, present day
Shanghai Volunteer Corps (1900/1901) by UnknownUSC Pacific Asia Museum
The Eight-Nation Alliance
The Boxer Rebellion prompted a brutal military response from an eight-nation alliance—including Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, the United States, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.
Left: British H.M.S. Marine Guard posted outside a building. The British Royal Marines of the Royal Marine Light Infantry and ships were sent to China to defend the Peking legations and support relief efforts in Tianjin and Beijing. Right: The Frontier Force consisted of four Sikh infantry regiments of the British Indian Army, which were composed of Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims, etc.
Sir Edward Seymour was a Royal Navy officer who led two expeditions to Beijing during the Boxer Rebellion to protect diplomatic legations and foreign nationals. On the second attempt, they successfully relieved the city.
Japanese Soldier Bringing in Boxer Prisoner (1900/1901) by UnknownUSC Pacific Asia Museum
Boxer protocol
The rebellion was eventually crushed in 1901, leaving tens of thousands dead and resulting in the Boxer Protocol.
U.S. Cavalry
Escorting captured Chinese Boxer rebels from a fight in Tianjin.
Cossacks Searching for Chinese (1900-06-16) by UnknownUSC Pacific Asia Museum
Cossacks searching for Chinese
The Boxer Protocol imposed heavy penalties on China and allowed foreign troops to be stationed in Beijing.
The aftermath
The consequences were far-reaching: while the Boxers failed to achieve their aims, the rebellion exposed the Qing regime's fragility, solidified foreign control and influence in China, heightened nationalist sentiment, and intensified calls for reform.
The final image depicts Yuan Shikai arriving in Tianjin from Beijing. Yuan was a governor who played a role in suppressing the Boxer Rebellion, established the Beiyang Army, and eventually abdicated the last emperor, becoming the first president of the Republic of China.
Funding generously provided by The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation
Photography by Peter Perigo
Curation and writing by Bart Chu and Bridget Zhang
Designed by Annie Lee
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