Yi-he-quan
As
Western intrusions like railroads threw more
Chinese out of work in the late 19th century, they started getting really pissed. In response to the parsing-up of China into
"spheres of influence" many
Chinese joined various
secret societies. The
Yi he quan, an off-shoot of the
White Lotus Society, became active among the peasants in
Shandong in 1898.
Originally opposed to the
Qing dynasty and foreigners, later just foreigners, they practiced
kung fu (boxing) and had
Buddhist magic amulets that protected them from bullets.
Ci-xi was forced to replace the governor of Shandong with
Yuan Shi-kai in December 1899.
The Boxers (as they were known in the
West moved their activities to
Zhili (
Beijing), burning churches and railway stations, then took over
Beijing in June, 1900. About 70 western troops defended the legation for 55 days against thousands of boxers. The ineffectiveness of their magic amulets was immortalized forever in the classic
Chuck Heston flick,
55 Days in Peking.
Multinational forces arrived to defend the foreign legations. They trashed joint
Boxer/Imperial forces from the coast to
Tientsien and entered
Beijing, looting and raping all the way. The treaty ending the war legalized the stationing of
foreign troops within
China.
Foreign and
Chinese governments perpetuated the
myth that the
boxers were an
anti-dynastic rebellion. The
Communist-controlled official press of China says they were
nationalists. In reality, they were just
anti-foreign peasants, lashing out against the intrusions of an alien culture they were unprepared for.