A Dynasty in Crisis: The Origins of the Boxer Rebellion
The late 19th century marked a period of profound instability for China’s Qing Dynasty. Empress Dowager Cixi, the de facto ruler, faced mounting pressure from foreign powers seeking greater influence in China. The Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) emerged as a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian movement, fueled by economic hardship, drought, and resentment toward Western imperialism.
Cixi’s initial ambivalence toward the Boxers reflected her broader struggle to balance tradition with the urgent need for reform. Deeply superstitious, she relied on astrologers and diviners, whose conflicting advice often left her indecisive. When the Boxers besieged foreign legations in Beijing, Cixi vacillated between supporting them and fearing foreign retaliation—a hesitation that would prove disastrous.
The Flight to Xi’an: A Court in Exile
As foreign forces advanced on Beijing in 1900, Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor fled the capital in disarray, first to Taiyuan and then to Xi’an. The journey was marked by chaos and humiliation, a stark contrast to the imperial court’s usual grandeur. Cixi’s reluctance to return to Beijing stemmed from fear—both of foreign reprisals and of losing face before her subjects.
Key figures like Li Hongzhang and Ronglu worked tirelessly to negotiate peace with the Eight-Nation Alliance while coaxing Cixi back to the capital. Li, a seasoned diplomat, recognized the folly of attacking foreign embassies and openly criticized Cixi’s decisions in coded telegrams. His famous memorial to the throne laid bare China’s military weakness and the futility of resisting foreign powers, urging immediate reconciliation.
The Cultural and Political Reckoning
The Boxer Rebellion’s failure forced Cixi to confront China’s vulnerabilities. The subsequent Boxer Protocol (1901) imposed harsh penalties, including massive indemnities and foreign military presence in Beijing. Cixi’s return to the capital in 1902 was carefully staged to project authority, yet her concessions to foreign powers—such as receiving diplomats’ wives—signaled a pragmatic, if reluctant, shift in policy.
Domestically, Cixi initiated the New Policies (新政), reforms echoing the very modernization efforts she had crushed in 1898. These included abolishing the civil service exams, establishing modern schools, and even tentative steps toward constitutional monarchy. Critics dismissed these as insincere, but Cixi, chastened by defeat, recognized that survival required adaptation.
Legacy: Reform, Resistance, and the Fall of the Qing
Cixi’s final years were a paradox. She embraced reforms while clinging to power, balancing Manchu traditionalists against Han Chinese modernizers. Her 1905 edict promising constitutional government was groundbreaking, yet it came too late to quell rising revolutionary fervor.
The Empress Dowager’s death in 1908 left a fractured court and a child emperor, Puyi, on the throne. The reforms she begrudgingly endorsed could not save the Qing Dynasty, which collapsed in 1911. Yet her ability to navigate crises—from the Boxer Rebellion to diplomatic humiliation—revealed a ruler both resilient and deeply conflicted, a symbol of China’s turbulent transition into the modern era.
Today, Cixi’s reign is debated: Was she a reactionary clinging to power or a pragmatist forced to modernize? Her flight to Xi’an and the aftermath of the Boxer Rebellion remain pivotal in understanding China’s struggle with imperialism and reform.