|
Boxers
Rebellion (04) :
...The effect on China was a
weakening of the dynasty, although it was temporarily sustained by the
Europeans who were under the impression that the Boxer Rebellion was
anti-Qing. China was also forced to pay almost $333 million in
reparations. China's defenses were weakened, and the aunt (Dowager
Cixi) of the  reigning
Guangxu Emperor, who was the actual person in command of the country
at that time, realized that in order to survive, China would have to
reform, despite her previous opposition. Among the Imperial powers,
Japan gained prestige due to its military aid in suppressing the Boxer
Rebellion and was first seen as a power. Its clash with Russia over
the Liaodong and other provinces in eastern Manchuria, long considered
by the Japanese as part of their sphere of influence, led to the
Russo-Japanese War when two years of negotiations broke down in
February 1904. Germany, as mentioned above, earned itself the nickname
"Hun" and occupied Qingdao bay, consequently fortifying it
to serve as Germany's primary naval base in East Asia. The Russian
Lease of the Liaodong (1898) was confirmed. The American U.S. 9th
Infantry Regiment earned the nickname "Manchus" for its
actions during this campaign. Current members of the regiment (stationed
in Camp Casey, South Korea) still do a commemorative 25-mile (40 km)
foot march every quarter in remembrance of the brutal fighting.
Soldiers who complete this march are authorized to wear a special belt
buckle that features a Chinese imperial dragon on their uniforms.
Likewise The U.S. 14th Infantry Regiment calls itself "The Golden
Dragons" and has a Golden Dragon on its coat of Arms.
Controversy
in modern China
 Though
the reaction of the Boxers against foreign imperialism in China is
regarded by some as patriotic, the violence that they caused in
committing acts of murder, robbery, vandalism and arson cannot be
considered much different from the events of other rebellions in
China, if not worse. Some people in China considered this movement as
a rebellion (亂;
disorder; Mandarin Pinyin: luàn), a negative term in Chinese language,
when described by commentators during the years of the Qing dynasty
and Republic of China. However, the Chinese Communists have shifted
the perception of the rebellion by referring to it as an uprising (起義;
being upright; qǐyì), a more positive term in the Chinese
language. It is frequently referred to as a "patriotic movement"
in the People's Republic of China by Communist politicians.
In January 2006, Freezing
Point, a weekly supplement to the China Youth Daily
newspaper, was closed partly due to its running of an essay by Yuan
Weishi, a History professor at Zhongshan University, that criticised
the way in which the Boxer Rebellion and 19th century history about
foreign interaction with China is now portrayed in Chinese textbooks
and taught at school.
Nevertheless, Chinese formerly
were very sensitive towards the history of foreign imperialism in the
late 19th and the early 20th century. A kind of anti-foreign prejudice
still persists under the surface. It may be due to this, together with
the view imposed by the Communist Government, that many Chinese today
do not regard this simply as a rebellion.
 In
fiction
The events were made into the
1963 film, 55 Days at Peking. The film, which was shot in
Spain, needed thousands of Chinese extras, and the company sent scouts
throughout Spain to hire as many as they could find. The result was
that many Chinese restaurants in Spain closed for the duration of the
filming because the restaurant staff--often the restaurant's
owners--were hired away by the film company. The company hired so many
that for several months there was scarcely a Chinese restaurant to be
found open in the entire country.
In 1975, Hong Kong's Shaw
Brothers studio made a movie, titled Pa kuo lien chun (八国联军）,
of the events, giving director Chang Cheh one of the highest budgets
up to that time to tell a sweeping story of disillusionment and
revenge. It depicts followers of the Boxer clan being duped into
believing they were impervious to attacks by firearms. The fight
sequences were choreographed by Liu Chia-Liang (Lau Kar Leung) and it
starred Alexander Fu Sheng as well as Wang Lung-Wei.
The popular film series, Once
Upon a Time in China, starring Jet Li as the legendary martial
artist/Chinese doctor Wong Fei Hung, conveys the ambience and tumult
of this time period, with many historic events woven into the
plotlines...
|
