The Boxer rebellion in China in 1900 has many interesting parallels to events in the early 21st century. It saw an uprising in a non-western country against what was seen as the corrupting influence of western practices and ideologies. In some respects a foretaste of the current war against terrorism, in that a basically grass roots organisation fought what they saw as a holy war against a technologically superior collection of foreign powers to preserve their values and beliefs.
On one side of the rebellion were the so-called Boxers known as the I Ho Ch'uan or Righteous Harmonious Fists. This was originally a secret society that dated back before 1700 and whose origins are cloaked in myths and legends. What is clear is that in 1747 a group of Jesuits were expelled from China due to Boxer influence. A series of bad harvests, plagues, and harsh sanctions imposed by the Western powers and Japan (after the war of 1894-5) had caused much bad feeling. There was a growing fear that the Chinese would be reduced to servants of the western powers, into this environment the Boxers started preaching anti western beliefs. The Boxers saw anything Western as evil and practiced traditional martial arts and used Chinese weapons such as curved halberds and spears. All foreigners were 1st class devils and Chinese who had converted to Christianity were 2nd class devils, those who worked for the foreigners were 3rd class devils. The Boxers were very superstitious, believing in spells and magic that would mean they were immune to western bullets and such incantations would be used to create a trance like state among the followers. The Boxers were not above using printing presses to publish huge numbers of leaflets spreading their propaganda accusing the catholic church of abusing Chinese women and children.
By 1900 the Boxers had many powerful sympathizers in the Chinese court although little official recognition. Their most notable supporter was the Dowager Empress Tzu His. China was at this time very vulnerable, struggling to bring an almost feudal society into the 20th century without destroying the traditions upon which Chinese society was based. The Western powers had virtually taken over some areas seeking to exploit China in her weakened state. Military technology for the Chinese army was very slowly improving but it was still far too weak to mount any kind of opposition to the Western powers. For the Empress it was a difficult political situation. It was in her best interest to appease the Western powers for fear that they would just resort to force to take what they wanted and to gain trade income and access to new technology. On the other hand she had to recognise the growing anti western feeling among all levels of Chinese society. She would be well aware that traditionally a ruler only held the mandate of heaven if they were seen to be able to rule. To allow Christianity and western beliefs to flourish would undermine the traditional authority that the power of the Chinese court was based on. The Boxers could be the solution as an outlet for rising tensions; if they failed many of the more radical anti western elements would be killed and their influence broken, if by some miracle they succeeded in driving the westerners out then the court could easily deny any Imperial involvement when the Western backlash came, while gaining popularity among the people for their unofficial support of the Boxers.
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