ABSTRACT
The Chinese term for the movement itself was “Boxers United in Righteousness” [Yihetuan] and delimited to uprisings confined to northern China. As China emerged from the numerous mid-century rebellions and fended off challenges from Western imperialists, many officials and advisors pressed for faster-paced reform. In 1898, several of China’s leading reformers persuaded the Guangxu emperor to initiate a slate of much-needed reforms (known as the Hundred Days of Reform). Chinese converts to Christianity were commonly instructed to cease “worshiping” their ancestors and praying to the large pantheon of smaller gods that regulated everyday life in China. After gaining control of Beijing from Boxers, the Allied leaders argued amongst themselves for nearly a year over the demands to be made of China. They finally presented China with the Boxer Protocol on September 7, 1901, which imposed a devastating 450 million taels indemnity on an already impoverished empire.
