NAME- SAURAV SINGH

BA.HONS. HISTORY – III YEAR

HISTORY OF CHINA
ROLL NO. – 31816121

QUESTION: Critically evaluate the main currents within the

boxer and Taiping movements with special reference to their
popular character.

ANSWER
INTRODUCTION
China was troubled not only by external wars but also by a series of
debilitating internal convulsions. The largest of these upheavals, the Taiping
Revolution, nearly toppled the dynasty. It lasted from 1850 to 1864, raging
over sixteen provinces and destroying more than 600 cities. Traditional
Chinese subscribed to the theory that domestic rebellion and foreign
invasion occurred when the central power declined; they appeared together
as symptoms of serious and upsetting internal weakness.

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC FACTORS: For two thousand years

preceding the mid- 19th century the social structure and the mode of
production in China had scarcely changed. It was for the most part an
agrarian society, and social order and disorder depended to a great extent
on the proper distribution of land. After each major disorder, enough people
had been killed so that there was sufficient land for the survivors, but after a
period of peace the population increase inevitably resulted in a decrease in
per capita land cultivation. This caused difficulties in earning a livelihood,
which led to banditry and uprisings, and these upsetting conditions were
usually accompanied by administrative inefficiency, political corruption,
and moral degeneration.
Continuous shrinkage of individual landholdings could mean only
increasing hardship for the peasant.

THE EFFECTS OF THE OPIUM WAR: opium traffic practically became.

Unrestrained and the volume of import rose from 33,000 chests in 1842 to
46,000 chests in 1848, and to 52,929 chests in 1850. The disruptive
economic consequence of opium importation was further confounded by
the general influx of foreign goods in the treaty port areas. Canton was
particularly hard hit, because it had the longest history of foreign trade and
the widest foreign contact. Local household industries were swept away
and the self-sufficient agrarian economy suffered dislocation. Those who
were adversely affected became a potential source of trouble.
The Taiping movement stands out as the strongest and most significant of
the peasant movement. "JEAN CHESNEAUX" called it the greatest wave of
peasant wars in history.
The Taiping movement was a social crusade expressing the poor peasant
"desire for equality", a national campaign against the foreign dynasty
occupying the throne in Beijing and a modernist trend that developed in
response to the challenge presented by the west through the Opium wars.
POLITICAL CORRUPTION
Government officials were characterized by superficiality, temporization,
and irresponsibility. Little or no attention was paid to the people's welfare.
They considered themselves lofty and refined, regarding those officials who
busied themselves with administration as vulgar.
Zeng Guo Fan describes the crises into certain points. Firstly, he focuses on
the increasing distress among the people. As the silver price is too high so it
is difficult to pay taxes. Secondly, as the thieves and bandits are too
numerous and it is very difficult for good people to live peacefully and when
people appeal to the officials and the time they reached the spot then local
Gentry usually tell a lie that the bandits have fled. And thirdly, the last point
that he pointed out that the unjustified imprisonment are too many, so it is
very difficult for people to redress their grievances
He also gives the description of the poverty caused by the rise in the value
of silver compared with copper cash accentuates one of the direct
connections btw the Opium wars. With monetary crisis, these wars created
many other problems that China had already like corruption, burden of
taxation.
Some scholars have tried to explain the outbreak of the Taiping movement
with the "Theory of Dynastic cycle".
According to J.K Fairbank that throughout Chinese history, one dynasty had
been replaced by another in the same circumstances without any
fundamental changes.
According to Tan Chung the Dynastic cycle theory smacks of the long
standing Western intellectual prejudice about china historical
changelessness. He points out that every Dynastic decline in China was
characterized by its peculiar historical circumstances not by generalities.
From this description we get to know the factors responsible for the
movement are social and economic problems, military degradation, political
corruption, population pressure, natural calamities, and an explosive
situation in Kwangtung. The country was ripe for an upheaval, and it is no
coincidence that the largest and most significant convulsion, the Taiping
Revolution, broke out in the south.

THE OUTBREAK OF TAIPING REVOLUTION

Hung Hsiu-ch'uan leader of Taiping movement, was the third son of a

Hakka farming family in Kwangtung. As a boy he was proud, domineering,
irritable, and short-tempered, but sowed considerable promise in learning.
He grew up in a traditionalist rural society where primitive popular system
of belief were to be found alongside the official Confucian ideology. He
began to preach around 1843 and gradually attracted a small group of
determined men.
They included Feng Yun -Shan (schoolmaster), Yang Xiu-qing (charcoal
dealer), Xiao chaogui (woodcutter) and fourth follower was Shi Da-kai.
Hung Hsiu-ch'uan believed that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ
and the vision that he had a message from god. He vehemently attacked
indigenous faiths, particularly Confucianism because it was "the religion of
feudal lords" and called it absurd. Thereafter he and a friend called Feng
yinshan moved to Guangxi and set up the society of God worshipper by
organizing thousands of converts from among the poor peasants and miners
of Hakka community.
Hung Hsiu-ch'uan and Feng avidly studied the Christian tracts but could not
fully understand many of the concepts. They took “the Heavenly Kingdom”
to mean China, and “God’s selected people” to mean Hung himself and his
countrymen. They went about to destroy idols in the temples and remove
Confucian tablets from the schools, as a results they lost their positions as
teachers in 1844.
On 11 Jan 1851 he made a declaration of the establishment of Heavenly
kingdom of great peace with himself as the heavenly king and put him in
direct confrontation with the Qing rulers in Beijing. This was the starting
point of Taiping movement.
Taiping’s began their March to the north, many clashes between the
Taiping’s and the government troops took place. Both sides suffered heavy
causalities but Taiping’s could not be stopped in their tracks. The capture of
the town of "Yungan" was the first major victory of the movement. Here
the Taiping’s accumulated strength and build up an army with more than
37,000 fighters. A call was given to the Chinese people to overthrow the
alien Qing rulers. The Qing forces laid siege to the Taiping at Yungan but the
Taiping’s broke through after the fierce fight. The march towards north not
only further emboldened the Taiping’s but it also helped them in
accumulating resources and man- power. In March 1853 the Taiping’s swept
into Nanjing. After the capture of it, the Taiping’s concentrated their military
efforts on capturing the major cities and towns along the Yangzi River.
Finally as a desperate measure, the Qing government appointed Zeng
Guofan to raise a militia to challenge the Taiping’s. He raised a force known
as the "New Hunan Army". By 1860 the strength of the army Rose to
120,000 and Zeng was appointed as imperial commissioner. Increasingly
impatient with the Taiping’s as they saw them as a threat to their
commercial interest (Western power). To deal with this Western neutrality
turned into active hostility against the Taiping’s when they launched an
attack on Shanghai in 1860. Internal squabbles and organizational weakness
of the Taiping’s had also weakened them considerably. The Taiping’s
suffered their first major defeat in 1861. Finally on 19 July 1864 Nanjing was
conquered by Zeng after a bloody fight.
During this period Hong breaks with the secret societies. The god
worshipper and the secret societies increasingly differed on the question of
its goal. By tradition the secret societies claimed to uphold Ming rights to
the thrown. Hong and other leaders of the god worshipper, on the other
hand, quickly came to envisage founding a new dynasty.

To deal with this situation, Hong made one of the supporter of the Ming a
leader of the movement. Second to himself. The compromise reflected in
the joint leadership could only be provisional. As god worshipper followed
another direction by proclaiming a new dynasty which they called the
"Taiping Tianguo" (Heavenly kingdom of great peace).
Apart from all of this the Taiping’s movement also gained strength by
spreading their religious and political messages through the printed pages.
Borrowing from practices of Christian missioners, Hong and other Taiping
leaders published upward of 44 books and numerous other policy
proposals and political and religious tracts. The documents range in scope
from treaties such as the ten heavenly commandments to economic
platforms outlining the blueprint for their entire society as well as the social
ideas that land and property should be made collective, is one of the idea
that got a young man named Mao Zedong very inspired years later.
Despite this early success, the Taiping rebellion was eventually beset by
internal strife, lack of cohesion, autocratic leadership and extreme religious
dogma. The final battle, the third battle for the city of Nanjing was
particularly blood with hundreds of thousands killed. The victims of these
great peasant risings and all the process of suppression which finally
brought them to an end, have been estimated in tens of million .The
rebellion finally collapsed in 1864 where it was defeated by provincial Qing
armies known as the New armies which had been given permission to be
assembled by the dynasty to defeat the Taiping.
BOXER MOVEMENT

The late 19th century was the period of turmoil in China. As imperialist
powers had spread their hold over large portion of china. As numerous
revolts broke in China and another opposition came in the form of 'Boxer
movement' which broke out in 1900. The boxers were fairly disciplined
group. The basic unit was the "tan". They were organized in companies
where 10companies formed a brigade and tan leaders were given different
ranks. “Yi He Tuan" we're the important leader of the boxer movement.
The main aim of the boxer movement were the western imperialist in
general, the Christian missionaries and Chinese convert in particular as
they were seen as supporter of foreign imperialism in China. It was a bold
attempt to give a blow to the imperialist aggression.

Originally 'Boxer' was the name given by foreigners to a Chinese secret

society named "the first righteous harmony".
As for every movement it needed a base or cause which led the
movement.
Similarly, Boxer movement also have some reasons for its outbreak in
China.

1. During the last year of the 19th century the growth rate of the
population rose. This led to an adverse impact on both the rural and
urban economy. It increases the unemployment among the educated
and jobs become much more severe.

2. No attempt was made by the Qing government to reform its

administrative structure. This led to increase in corruption, bribery,
 nepotism, favoritism. This meant that the examination system which
stood for equal opportunity for all and for social mobility for all, lost
the basic premise on which it had stood.

3. Foreign encroachment caused economic difficulties. Imported foreign

cotton was cheaper than the Chinese product. Local handicrafts also
suffered. By the end of the 19th century, the country was beset by
bankruptcy of village, industries, and decline in domestic commerce.

4. Natural calamities was another reason. Btw 1886 and 1897 about 60
district in Jiangsu and 40 in Anhui were ravaged each year by flood or
drought. The most severely affected were the region along yellow
river.

5. Sino-Japanese war, in which china defeated in the war and the signing
of "treaty of Shimonoseki". This treaty allowed Japanese capitalist to
establish factories in Chinese trading ports, thus they found a place for
investment of their capital. This led to an intensified exploitation of
china.

6. There were strong anti-Christian feeling in China. The western

missionaries and their Chinese converts challenged all the old
traditions. These challenges were not simply a matter of religious
belief- china had a long tradition of tolerating and adapting foreign
beliefs. With this national pride was severely hurt by the ceding of
Taiwan to Japan, it led to dissatisfaction among the people with the
government and their anger against the foreign Intruders.
Having all the reasons among the people and their dissatisfaction led
the boxer movement and by expressing their demands for equality
and desires. As popular struggle had been taking place against the
foreigners since 1895. The boxer in order to oppose imperialism
attacked missionaries and churches in "Shandong". Foreign pressure
and fear within a section of imperial government led the Qing
government to crush the movement. The governor of Shandong,
Yu-xian replaced by yuan-shikai. As the new governor used new army
to crush the boxer movement in the Shandong provinces. After the
defeat in Shandong, the boxers shifted to 'zhili'. The boxers grew and
spread through the metropolitan provinces, where they destroyed
churches, killed Chinese Christians, burnt railway station. While they
moved in the direction of Beijing, local people came to their support.

In May, the foreign minister sent a joint note to the Chinese

government calling attention to the troubles. By this time the Empress
Dowager Cixi announced the Qing's support for the boxers. In favor of
boxers now city guard were no longer checking the identity of the
insurgents entering the city. Posters calling for an "exterminate the
foreigners" campaign were being put at a number of places. The
organized movement was constantly complemented by sporadic
uprisings. This gave the boxers a great deal of confidence. With the
approval of the government they paraded openly in Beijing.

Yi he Tuan fighters, donning their red turbans, red girdles, shoes and
socks bordered with red, armed with broad swords or long spear
became a common sight on the street. As the Qing government openly
came to their support for boxers this alarmed the foreigners, feeling
threatened, they huddled together into the legation quarters and
beitang cathedral.
In the mid-June, the boxers took over Beijing and besieged the
legation, burning other foreign establishment and massacring Chinese
Christians. Beijing twin city 'Tianjin' was also attacked by the boxers at
the same time. With the feeling of threaten the imperialist made
Britain , Germany, Russia, United States, Japan, Italy and Australia join
hands to protect the Beijing legation quarter.

On 21June, Cixi issued an edict declaring war on the powers and

commanded the provincial leaders to mobilize for action. The
diplomatic community was asked to leave Beijing within 24hours. On
expiration of the set time limit, the Chinese troops opened fired on
the legation. This war lasted until 14Aug, when international relief
force of 20,000 men broke into Beijing and rescued the foreign
community and Chinese Christian. Thus the boxer movement turned
from a mere opposition to the foreign forces to an actual fight with
them. In the meanwhile, the governor and viceroys of southern
provinces cooperated with the foreign imperialist and ignored the
central government edicts. They believed that this is high time for
China and it is necessary to gain scientific and technical knowledge
and to modernize china through cooperation with the foreign powers.
While the aggressiveness and their willingness to join hands against
the local government, so it quite obvious that the foreign powers felt
that their power was at stake and in danger, this made them to join
hands with each other.

By mid-Aug the foreign powers succeeded in capturing Beijing. This led

to Empress Cixi to flee from Beijing to Shanxi. On the other side, senior
ministers had trying to collaborate with the imperialist powers. In the
intense fighting that took place btw the boxers and foreign powers
forces thousands of men were massacred in Beijing, ransacked the
entire city in such a manner that women and at even whole families
committed suicide rather than survive this dishonor. The great
majority of those killed we're civilians, including thousands of Chinese
Christians and approx. 100 to 250 foreign Nationals.
 Some estimates about 3,000 military personnel killed in combat, the
great bulk of them being boxers and other Chinese fighters.
Population suffered, glorious civilization suffered too at the hands of the
foreign who looted and stripped the imperial palace of the most of its
treasures.

After the failure of boxer movement, a number of alternative were

acceptable to the foreigners, they could partion china, then a talk
about establishing new dynasty with international support. However
in the end, the US persuaded the power to support the Qing dynasty
and Quarantine China's territorial and administrative integrity.

"Boxer Protocol" was an unprecedentedly humiliating treaty. This

provision blow to the Chinese sovereignty and self - respect. It was a
set of terms dictated by foreign powers which the Qing government
had no option but to sign.
This includes following terms:
● The clause's forbidding arms, imports, ordering destruction of forts,
arranging to station foreign troops and suspending examination were
a flagrant interference in the domestic affairs of china.
● Punishment to high officials for anti-foreign.
● the interest rate was so high that the amount would have doubled
during the payment time. ● China had to pay reparation of 450million
and destroyed a number of military bases.
With this treaty, there is end of boxer movement but the one thing
that remains i.e. the feeling of nationalism among the Chinese
population.
CONCLUSION

As Taiping movement observed for its peacefulness whereas Boxer

movement observed for its violent one. During the Taiping movement
the feeling of oneness is missing but in Boxer movement it ended up
with strong sense of nationalism. So these are the main currents in
both movement. Taiping movement and Boxer movement are the two
most important movements that took place in the history of the china.
Motive was the same in both the movement i.e. a national campaign
against foreign powers, fight for the equality and their desires. Both
movements have their own aspects and ways for dealing with it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

THE RISE OF MODERN CHINA BY IMMANUEL C.Y. HSU

MODERN OF CHINA ( 1840- 1949) EDITED BY : K.T. & SARAO
CHINA FROM THE OPIUM WARS TO THE 1911 REVOLUTION BY JEAN
CHESNEAUX,MARIANNE BASTID AND MARIE CLAIRE BERGERE
THE ORIGINS OF THE BOXER UPRISING JOSEPH W. ESHERICK