The Rise of the Boxers

The Rise of the Boxers In the summer of 1898, on the jujube pole in Liyuantun, Guanxian County, Shandong Province, the scarlet "Boxer" flag slowly rose. Zhao Sanduo led the Meihua Boxing Club to play the banner of "Support the Qing Dynasty and Destroy the Foreign Countries" for the first time, which opened the prelude to the Boxer Rebellion. This anti-foreign anger was like a spark that set off a prairie fire, burning red in southern Hebei within half a month. Four churches in Wei County and Quzhou were reduced to scorched earth. The team led by Yan Shuqin swelled from more than a thousand people to more than 3,000 people. The song "Boxing of Boxing, Protect Homeland" sung by the villagers resounded throughout the plains. The government's suppression was caught off guard. Hong Yongzhou's provocation of demolishing the Jade Emperor Temple and erecting crosses forced the Boxers to make a choice. Zhao Sanduo led 300 backbones to the Zhilu border to attract firepower. Yan Shuqin led his troops to hide. The handover of the flag under the old locust tree in the racecourse witnessed the oath of "the flag is with the people". During the mobile battle, Li Luo died protecting the wounded, and Wang Fasheng's dying instructions were "spread throughout North China". The road to breakout was dyed red with blood. In 1900, the Boxer Rebellion had become a prairie fire. The road-breaking battle from Gaobeidian to Zhuozhou cut off reinforcements from the foreign powers, and the Langfang blockade repulsed the Seymour coalition. The "Langfang victory" greatly boosted morale. The bloody battles at Zizhulin and Laolongtou Railway Station in Tianjin, and the siege of the Embassy District and Xishiku Church in Beijing were ultimately defeated due to disparity in equipment, but the Boxers fulfilled their oath to protect the country with their flesh and blood. From the flag-raising in Liyuantun to the bloodshed in Beijing and Tianjin, the Boxers loosely united the power of the people and carved a heavy page in modern China's anti-aggression history with their tragic and heroic struggle.