The Origins of the Boxer Uprising (III)

Esherick in chapter nine begins to talk about the clashes between the boxers and the Qing authority in different regions in Shandong. There was a showdown at Gangzi Lizhuang, a place about 10 km south of the Pingyuan county seat. There was also a battle at Senluo Temple. According to Esherick, the appearance of boxers' slogan "Revive the Qing, destroy the foreign" (扶清滅洋) during the confrontation at Gangzi Lizhuang was a pivotal moment in the Boxer uprising: the loosely organized boxers had acquired a direction as indicated in this newly adopted slogan. Also, in the battle at Senluo temple, the term "Yi-hu tuan" (義和團) made its first appearance. This new title enabled the boxers to stand out from ordinary martial arts sects.1 These boxers had gained strong support from the mass for their anti-Christian cause. Some local people even stood on their side when troops were sent to suppress these boxers. In the final chapter, Esherick mainly talks about how the violence spread to Beijing, how the foreign powers reacted, and how the Qing court responded. Esherick also talks about the lessons learned from this event. Here are some of his remarks:

"The 'Siege of Peking' and the Eight-Nation International Expedition (八國聯軍) captured the attention of the world . . . By and large, the resentment was passed off as the ignorant reaction of a proud but fundamentally uncivilized people. There were some, however, who saw the unmistakable signs of an emerging Chinese nationalism. . . The Boxer episode thoroughly discredited the conservative policies which had reversed the 1898 reform. The last decade of the Qing would be one of dramatic reform activities. . . The man who gained more than anyone as a result of the Boxer Uprising was Yuan Shi-kai (袁世凱). His bloody suppression of the Boxers in Shandong . . . gained him important foreign admirers. [He] would dominated the final years of the Qing, and the early Republic. Yuan Shi-kai was not alone in fearing the threat from the unwashed masses . . . even many revolutionaries . . . shared his distrust of China's vast peasant majority . . . [and] few were willing to risk . . . to turn their fury to the cause of remaking China. Not until Mao Ze-dong (毛澤東) went down to investigate the peasant movement in Human in 1927, and saw there the potential for a great storm sweeping over China".2

Notes:
1. Esherick, Joseph. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising. Berkeley, Los Angeles, London: University of California Press, 1987, pages 252-3
2. Ibid., page 313