The Gathering Storm: Origins of the Boxer Crisis

The summer of 1900 marked a catastrophic turning point for China’s Qing Dynasty. What became known as the Boxer Rebellion (or Yihetuan Movement) had its roots in decades of foreign encroachment following the Opium Wars. By the 1890s, anti-foreign sentiment coalesced around the “Righteous Harmony Society”—a secret society practicing martial arts who believed their rituals made them impervious to bullets.

As drought and economic hardship swept northern China, the Boxers gained popularity by blaming Christian missionaries and foreign powers for China’s ills. The conservative faction at court, led by Empress Dowager Cixi, saw an opportunity. After initially suppressing the Boxers, Cixi made the fateful decision in June 1900 to endorse them as a weapon against the “foreign devils.” This led to the siege of foreign legations in Beijing and the killing of missionaries—provoking an unprecedented international response.

The Siege of Beijing: Eight Nations at the Gates

By August, the situation had reached crisis point. An eight-nation alliance (Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Italy, Austria-Hungary, and the United States) marched on Beijing with 20,000 troops. Key events unfolded with terrifying speed:

– July 14: Tianjin falls after brutal fighting
– August 14: Allied forces breach Beijing’s walls
– August 15: The Imperial Court flees westward

Eyewitness accounts describe the surreal scene in the Forbidden City as cannon fire echoed through marble courtyards. Eunuchs reported bullets whistling overhead—initially mistaken for ghostly cat cries—as foreign troops advanced. The psychological impact was devastating; for the first time in 260 years, the Son of Heaven abandoned his capital to barbarians.

The Tragic Fate of Consort Zhen

One of the most haunting episodes occurred on August 14 when Cixi summoned Consort Zhen—Emperor Guangxu’s favorite concubine—to the Yíhé Pavilion. The 24-year-old noblewoman had long been a political liability; her support for Guangxu’s 1898 reform attempts made her Cixi’s enemy.

Historical records preserve their final exchange:

Cixi: “The foreigners are coming. You’re too young—staying would risk disgrace to the imperial house.”
Zhen: “Your Majesty should remain in the capital with the Emperor to stabilize the situation.”
Cixi: “You dare speak so at death’s door?”

Within minutes, the defiant consort was dragged to the Well of the Pearl Concubine near the Zhenshun Gate. Eunuch Cui Yugui later testified that Zhen’s last words were: “My Emperor, I shall repay your kindness in the next life!” before being forced into the well. This act symbolized both Cixi’s ruthlessness and the dynasty’s moral collapse.

The Great Flight Westward

What followed was a desperate 1,200-kilometer exodus disguised as an “imperial hunting tour.” Cixi’s entourage—including the powerless Guangxu—fled in peasant disguises:

– The Empress Dowager wore a commoner’s blue cotton robe
– Eunuch Li Lianying carried pre-packed escape supplies
– Imperial nails, symbols of status, were clipped short for practicality

For weeks, the court endured humiliation: eating coarse millet, sleeping in flea-infested huts, and relying on local officials like Wu Yong of Huailai County for basic sustenance. The contrast with their former opulence couldn’t have been starker.

Martyrs and Survivors: The Human Cost

As the court fled, Beijing’s elite faced agonizing choices. Scholar-officials like Wang Yirong (discoverer of oracle bones) chose suicide over surrender, penning final poems:

“See now the nation broken, homes destroyed—
In the end, the scholar proves himself a man of worth.”

Others like Grand Secretary Xu Tong attempted noble exits; his son Xu Chengyu’s subsequent betrayal became proverbial for hypocrisy. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens suffered terribly during the occupation—foreign troops looted palaces and conducted reprisal killings that left thousands dead.

Legacy: The Beginning of the End

The Boxer Protocol (1901) imposed crushing reparations equivalent to $7.5 billion today. Its provisions—including the destruction of coastal forts and permanent foreign garrisons—made China a semi-colony in all but name.

Yet the rebellion’s true impact was psychological. The myth of imperial inviolability was shattered. As Cixi eventually returned to a changed Beijing (having executed the Boxers she’d once supported), reformist voices grew stronger. Within a decade, the 1911 Revolution would topple the dynasty completely.

The Well of the Pearl Concubine remains a pilgrimage site—a silent witness to when China’s old order faced its most severe test and failed. The events of 1900 didn’t just change a government; they forced a civilization to confront its place in a new, unforgiving world.