September 7: Boxer Rebellion Ends

On 7 September 1901, the Boxer Protocol was signed between the Qing government and an eight nation alliance: Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The protocol ended the Boxer Rebellion.

The “boxers” were the western reference to the Yi He Quan which translates to the Society for the Righteous and Harmonious Fist. The Yi He Quan was a secret society that began in northern China whose purpose was initially to rid China of foreign influences and to overthrow the Qing government headed by the Empress Dowager Cixi. The Yi He Quan trained, in part, using traditional forms of shadow boxing such as Kung Fu which became the source of the western term “boxer.”

Although the Yi He Quan initially wanted to overthrow the government of the Empress Dowager Cixi, she began to use the uprising to her benefit and sided with the Yi He Quan against the foreigners. Two of the main targets of the Yi He Quan were Christian missionaries and opium traders.

At the turn of the twentieth century, film was a new medium. Some earlier films were known as “actualities” and were simply shots of what was actually happening. A series of such short films by the Lumière brothers have been compiled as Actualities (1896-1900).

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In 1900, James Williamson directed the British film Attack on a Chinese Mission which showed sailors coming to the rescue of British missionaries in China. The film premiered on 17 November 1900. Currently only about half of the original footage survives.

–Steven L. Berg, PhD

Photo Caption: Photographed by James Ricalton in 1900 while he was in China covering the Boxer Rebellion for the American stereoview publisher Underwood and Underwood. Reprinted with permission of Okinaw Soba.

 

One Response

  1. David Orzel says:

    On 7 September 1909 Eugene Lefebvre went down in history as the first airplane pilot to be killed in an airplane crash. This was a tragic event indeed. However, before this incident Eugene Lefebvre participated in the first international air race, Grande Semaine d’Aviation de la Champagne. For the spectacular event he piloted the Wright Flyer, which was the first successfully powered aircraft. Keeping with it’s namesake, the Wright Flyer was build and designed by the Wright Brothers. Lefebvre was also a distant relative of the film actress, Capucine. It’s ironic how the film industry could relate to two such unrelated incidents, the Boxer Rebellion and Eugene Lefebvre.

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