Widespread resentment of foreign intrusion, imperial weakness, and socio-economic hardship, intensified by the 1898 coup’s failed reforms, created explosive conditions in late Qing China that fuelled the Boxer Uprising.

Resentment of Foreign Influence and Imperial Decline

By the late nineteenth century, China’s traditional order was under immense strain. Decades of foreign intervention following the Opium Wars (1839–42, 1856–60) and the imposition of ‘Unequal Treaties’ eroded sovereignty, deepened resentment, and exposed the weaknesses of the Qing dynasty.

The Unequal Treaties and Loss of Sovereignty

The treaties signed after China’s defeats in the Opium Wars granted foreign powers significant privileges:

Commercial Map of China (1899), compiled by the U.S. Treasury, highlighting treaty ports and nodes of foreign control alongside railways and waterways. The dense coastal and riverine concentration illustrates how the treaty-port system eroded sovereignty and reshaped trade. This historical map contains more features than the syllabus requires (e.g., telegraph lines), but these extras clarify how infrastructure reinforced foreign influence. Source

• Extraterritoriality, allowing foreign nationals to be tried in their own courts rather than Chinese ones.

• Establishment of treaty ports, such as Shanghai and Tianjin, where foreign powers exercised economic and political control.

• Missionary activity was protected and expanded, challenging Confucian norms and traditional authority.

• Cessions of territory, including Hong Kong to Britain, symbolised China’s diminished status.

These humiliations undermined the legitimacy of the Qing dynasty, especially among the rural population, where resentment towards foreign missionaries, traders, and their Chinese converts intensified.

Le Petit Journal (16 January 1898) depicts foreign rulers carving up “China” like a cake, a metaphor for spheres of influence and partition. Such imagery encapsulated Chinese perceptions of powerlessness under the Unequal Treaties. As a satirical cartoon, it adds interpretive symbolism beyond the syllabus but sharply illustrates the climate of humiliation and anger. Source

Growth of Anti-Foreign Sentiment

Anti-foreign feeling was not confined to elites but spread widely among the peasantry:

• Missionary land acquisitions displaced villages and fostered hostility.

• Conversions to Christianity were perceived as betrayal of Chinese traditions.

• Economic competition from foreign businesses and imports damaged local industries and artisans.

• Foreigners were often exempt from Chinese law, appearing above the state’s authority.

This widespread anger became a fertile ground for anti-foreign movements such as the I-ho ch’uan, or Boxers, who saw themselves as defenders of Chinese traditions and sovereignty against alien intrusion.

The 1898 Hundred Days’ Reform and the Coup

Efforts to address China’s internal weakness and foreign subjugation culminated in the Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898, a bold but short-lived attempt at modernisation.

Reformist Aims and Western Models

Reformers led by Emperor Guangxu and scholars like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao sought to:

• Modernise the bureaucracy and strengthen central governance.

• Reform education, replacing the classical Confucian curriculum with modern subjects.

• Develop industry and infrastructure to enhance China’s self-sufficiency.

• Revitalise the military to resist foreign powers.

They believed that adopting aspects of Western systems could restore China’s sovereignty and prevent further humiliation.

The Conservative Backlash and Cixi’s Coup

The reforms alarmed conservative officials and Empress Dowager Cixi, who viewed them as threats to the Confucian order and imperial authority. In September 1898, Cixi staged a coup, placing Emperor Guangxu under house arrest and reversing most reforms.

Court portrait of the Guangxu Emperor (1871–1908), the monarch who promulgated the Hundred Days’ Reform. His subsequent confinement after Cixi’s coup underscores the regime’s inability to sustain modernising change. While the image adds biographical context beyond the syllabus’ minimum, it directly supports understanding of the 1898 political crisis. Source

Key consequences included:

• Suppression of reformist officials, many of whom were executed or exiled.

• Restoration of conservative dominance, reinforcing traditional structures.

• Deepened public frustration over imperial weakness and inability to reform.

• Disillusionment among elites and intellectuals who had supported change.

The coup demonstrated the Qing government’s inability to adapt, reinforcing perceptions of a regime incapable of defending China against foreign powers or addressing domestic grievances.

Economic Hardship and Rural Distress

By the turn of the century, China’s predominantly agrarian society faced mounting economic pressures that exacerbated social unrest.

Population Growth and Land Shortage

China’s population surged in the nineteenth century, intensifying land scarcity and increasing pressure on rural communities:

• Farms became smaller and less productive, leading to falling incomes.

• Landlessness rose, with many peasants becoming tenant farmers or labourers.

• The traditional Confucian social order, based on landholding peasantry, came under strain.

Natural Disasters and Famine

Recurring floods, droughts, and famines, particularly in northern China during the 1890s, devastated agricultural output:

• The Yellow River flood of 1898 displaced millions and destroyed farmland.

• Local officials often mishandled relief efforts, fuelling resentment towards the Qing state.

• Famine conditions pushed many rural communities into destitution and desperation.

The suffering population increasingly turned their anger not only towards the imperial government but also towards foreigners, who they blamed for China’s weakness and misfortune.

Foreign Economic Domination

Foreign economic penetration worsened the crisis:

• Foreign-built railways and factories undermined traditional transport networks and handicraft industries.

• Unequal treaties restricted China’s tariff autonomy, limiting state revenue and reducing support for public works.

• Indemnities imposed after defeats, such as those following the Sino-Japanese War (1894–95), burdened China’s economy and drained imperial finances.

These factors combined to create profound economic insecurity, particularly in rural areas, where discontent with both foreign influence and the Qing regime became entrenched.

The Road to Violence and the Boxer Movement

The convergence of foreign domination, political failure, and economic distress produced a volatile environment by the late 1890s.

The Rise of the Boxers

The I-ho ch’uan (Righteous and Harmonious Fists) emerged in Shandong province, a region particularly affected by natural disasters, missionary activity, and economic disruption. The movement combined traditional martial practices with spiritual beliefs promising invulnerability against foreign weapons.

The Boxers channelled their rage into violence against:

• Christian missionaries and their converts, who were seen as agents of foreign control.

• Foreign legations and settlements, which symbolised national humiliation.

• Local officials perceived as corrupt or complicit with foreign interests.

Qing Ambivalence and Escalating Conflict

Initially suppressed by Qing authorities, the Boxers later gained tacit support from elements within the imperial court, including Empress Dowager Cixi, who saw them as potential allies against foreign domination. This ambivalence, however, contributed to escalating violence, ultimately leading to the Boxer Uprising (1899–1901) and foreign military intervention.

Grievances Converging into Rebellion

By 1898–99, China was a nation seething with resentment, political disillusionment, and economic despair. The humiliation of foreign dominance, the failure of reform in the 1898 coup, and worsening rural hardship fused into a combustible mix that erupted in violent resistance. The Boxer movement was thus not an isolated outburst but the expression of long-standing structural crises, intensified by the failures and humiliations of the late Qing state.