1901 - The Boxer Rebellion

All right everyone, here's the (drumroll) first of the 20th century timeline posts that have been a long time coming. Thankfully, they're all formatted now and so I'll be able to just publish them rather than type them all up. Without further ado...
*NOTE: THIS POST CONTAINS CHINESE TEXT - Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.


The Boxer Rebellion took place in China during the Qing Dynasty (also called Manchu Dynasty and the last ruling dynasty of China) between the Righteous Fists of Harmony (義和團, called the "Boxers" by the foreigners) and the Dowager Empress Cixi (see Cixi, Dictionary label) against the allied foreign powers (listed in order of amount of assistance): Japan, Russia, Great Britain, France, United States, Germany, Italy, and Austria-Hungary.

The Boxer Rebellion was the outbreak of resentment against the influx of foreigners, especially missionaries, whom the Boxers felt were disrupting Chinese culture. Their slogan was 扶清灭洋 or "Support the Qing, destroy the Foreign". The peak of the rebellion took place in Beijing (北京,then Peking). About 3,000 foreigners and Chinese Christians were held hostage by the Boxers for about 55 days.

Following the rescue of the hostages by the allied international forces, China was forced to endure the demands of the Boxer Protocol, an agreement Empress Cixi was forced to sign that allowed foreign powers to remain in the capital and be treated as honored guests. These ambassadors were viewed as nothing but spies and a deep resentment sunk into the population.

In addition, the Boxer Protocol forced China to sink many thousands of dollars in debt due to wartime reparations, the traditional Chinese education system was replaced by a Westernized system of education, and it marked the end of dynastical rule. Japan’s role in subduing the rebellion made it a good ally in the foreign powers’ eyes and her influence grew in eastern Asia.

Cixi: Dowager Empress of China

Here's the first of the Dictionary Terms. These are basically just short additions to one of the 20th Century Timeline posts that will give you a better understanding of the event. Each of the dictionary terms will be published on the same day as the timeline post and will contain a link to the timeline post.
As the posts show up in order of posting with the newest at the top, I'll most likely post the dictionary terms post before the timeline post so you can read the timeline post and choose (or choose not) to continue to read the dictionary post as you scroll down.

Let's get started!

Name: Cixi, Dowager Empress of China (Nov 29, 1835 - Nov 15, 1908)
Event Associated With: Boxer Rebellion, China




Empress Dowager Cixi (慈禧太后) was one of the last of the Manchu (滿族) rulers in China and the last Dowager Empress. Contrary to tradition and policy, Cixi took over as empress, and had enormous influence and power – possibly more than Queen Victoria of England.

She was a minor concubine of emperor Xianfeng and became the mother of his only son, Tongzhi. Following the emperor’s death, Cixi and the late emperor’s senior wife, Ci’an, became his regents. In 1875, two years after Tongzhi came of age, he was dead – and it was believed Cixi (his mother) was involved.

Cixi violated normal succession rules and named her nephew the emperor while she and Ci’an served as regents again. Ci’an died and left Cixi the only regent. After her nephew came to age, he implemented a series of reforms that would open China more to the foreigners.

Cixi was very opposed to foreigners and led a military coup to re-install her as regent. One year after becoming regent again, she supported the Boxer Rebellion, which was defeated, and Cixi was forced to accept the peace terms. She continued to rule with extremely diminished power until her death. It was rumored that she also ordered her nephew (still the emperor) to be poisoned as she died.