A Palace in Crisis: The Qing Dynasty’s Final Reckoning

In the summer of 1900, the Qing Dynasty stood at a precipice unseen in its nearly three centuries of rule. The imperial court at Beijing’s Forbidden City found itself caught between mounting foreign pressure and rising domestic unrest, creating a volatile situation that would culminate in one of the most disastrous decisions in modern Chinese history. The aging Empress Dowager Cixi, de facto ruler of China, presided over a government increasingly divided between pragmatists who sought accommodation with foreign powers and hardliners who advocated confrontation. This political tension unfolded against the backdrop of the Boxer Rebellion, an anti-foreign, anti-Christian movement that had gained significant momentum in northern China, with thousands of “Boxers” marching toward the capital with the tacit approval of conservative court officials.

The political landscape had become particularly fraught following the failed Hundred Days’ Reform of 1898, which had seen the Empress Dowager crush her nephew the Guangxu Emperor’s attempts at modernization and place him under virtual house arrest. This conservative backlash created an environment where anti-foreign sentiment could flourish at the highest levels of government. Key figures like Prince Duan , and Gangyi, a senior conservative official, increasingly influenced court policy toward confrontation with the foreign powers whose legations stood in central Beijing.

The Forged Telegram That Changed History

The immediate catalyst for the dramatic events of June 1900 emerged from a deception that would have profound consequences. Ronglu, the commander of the Qing military forces around Beijing and a relative moderate, had received what he believed was an urgent secret telegram from Luo Jiejie, a Chinese official. This document, which historians would later determine to be forged, allegedly contained an ultimatum from foreign powers making four outrageous demands: that China surrender all financial revenue to foreign control, that foreign powers assume command of all Chinese military forces, and two additional conditions that would essentially reduce China to colonial status.

Rather than verifying the document’s authenticity—a critical failure that would haunt him—Ronglu immediately brought the telegram to the Empress Dowager at the Yiluan Hall within the Forbidden City. The contents struck at Cixi’s deepest fears about foreign intentions toward China. For decades, she had watched as foreign powers carved out spheres of influence along China’s coast, established extraterritorial concessions, and repeatedly defeated Chinese forces in armed conflicts. The alleged ultimatum represented the culmination of these imperialist ambitions, or so it seemed to the embattled ruler.

When Cixi convened her council the following day in the eastern chamber of Yiluan Hall, she did so with what she believed was evidence of foreign powers planning to dismantle the Chinese state entirely. Her address to the assembled officials began with remarkable calmness as she outlined the four demands, but gradually built toward emotional intensity as she framed the situation as an existential threat to Chinese sovereignty and her own historical legacy.

The Council of War: Voices for Confrontation

The response from the assembled officials reflected the polarized nature of the Qing court. Chongqi, an elderly official known for his conservative views, responded with tearful fervor, declaring his willingness to die for the cause and urging immediate declaration of war against the foreign powers. His emotional appeal played perfectly into the hands of Prince Duan, who quickly seconded the motion while blaming China’s troubles on “too many traitors” who accommodated foreign interests.

Prince Duan’s reference to “traitors” was a thinly veiled attack on moderates like Ronglu and officials who had advocated for working with foreign powers rather than confronting them. His characterization of foreigners as “beasts who understand neither courtesy nor righteousness” reflected the racialized thinking that had gained currency among conservative officials, who saw Westerners and Japanese as fundamentally different from and inferior to Chinese, despite their technological advantages.

What made this council particularly remarkable was the absence of meaningful opposition to the war faction. The moderate voices who might have questioned the authenticity of the telegram or urged caution found themselves silenced by the emotional intensity of the moment and fear of being labeled traitors. When the Guangxu Emperor—largely a figurehead since his imprisonment—attempted to inject a note of procedural caution by asking about the proper steps for declaring war, he was largely ignored. The momentum toward conflict had become irresistible.

The Diplomatic Charade: Missions to the Legations

Even as the war faction carried the day, the court maintained a facade of diplomatic procedure. In keeping with international norms regarding the declaration of war, the council decided to send officials to foreign legations to deliver what amounted to an ultimatum: lower your flags and leave the country within a specified time limit or face the consequences.

Three officials were selected for this dangerous mission: Xu Yongyi, the Minister of War; Lian Yuan, a Grand Secretariat academician; and Li Shan, the Minister of Revenue. The selection itself revealed the court’s internal tensions. Xu and Lian accepted their assignments without complaint, as dealing with foreign affairs fell within their normal responsibilities. Li Shan, however, objected that he had no experience in foreign matters—only to be bluntly overruled by Cixi herself, who made clear that compliance was not optional.

The Empress Dowager’s order to Ronglu to provide military protection for these envoys reflected her understanding that they were being sent into potentially hostile territory. Foreign legations had already been reinforcing their defenses in anticipation of conflict, and the streets of Beijing were increasingly controlled by Boxer bands who showed little respect for Qing officials, particularly those engaged in foreign affairs.

The Boxer Reality Check: When Diplomats Met the Militia

What happened next demonstrated how little control the Qing government actually exercised over the situation unfolding in and around Beijing. When Xu Yongyi and Lian Yuan attempted to pass through the city gates to reach foreign forces, they encountered a band of approximately forty Boxers who stopped them at Fengtai, just outside the city.

The Boxers, waving swords and banners proclaiming “Support the Qing, Destroy the Foreign,” immediately challenged the officials about their business. When told they were on an imperial mission to stop foreign troops from entering Beijing, the Boxer leader accused them of being Christian converts who were actually helping foreign forces.

The encounter turned farcical when the Boxers forced the officials to their prayer altar and made them perform the traditional three kneelings and nine prostrations before the Boxers’ deity, the Great General Hongjun. Then came the theatrical centerpiece of Boxer ritual: the burning of a yellow paper petition to determine whether the officials were truly loyal. As the paper ash rose—interpreted as divine approval—the Boxers declared the officials innocent of being foreign collaborators, but nevertheless forbade them from proceeding with their mission.

The Boxer leader’s reasoning revealed the movement’s peculiar combination of nationalism and superstition: foreign troops should be welcomed, not turned away, so they could be slaughtered by the Boxers’ divine powers. The officials’ attempt to prevent foreign forces from entering China was thus framed as actually helping the foreigners avoid their inevitable destruction. Faced with this absurd but armed opposition, the diplomats had no choice but to return to Beijing having failed in their mission.

The Information War: Competing Narratives at Court

While the failed diplomatic mission might have given pause to the war party, other developments at court reinforced the push toward conflict. Gangyi, just returned from an inspection tour of Boxer activities in Zhuozhou, provided Cixi with a wildly optimistic assessment of Boxer capabilities. His hour-long private audience with the Empress Dowager became a performance worthy of the court’s most entertaining storytellers, as he regaled her with accounts of Boxers’ supernatural powers and military readiness.

Gangyi’s presentation played perfectly to Cixi’s desires—he told her exactly what she wanted to hear about a miraculous solution to the foreign problem. His description of Boxer invulnerability to Western weapons and their divine backing offered the tantalizing possibility that China could finally reverse the humiliations of the Opium Wars and subsequent conflicts. For an hour, the Empress Dowager could imagine a different outcome than the steady erosion of Chinese sovereignty she had witnessed throughout her reign.

Meanwhile, the moderates who might have challenged this narrative found themselves increasingly marginalized. When Yuan Chang, a official familiar with foreign affairs, directly challenged the authenticity of the four demands, pointing out that no foreign diplomats or military commanders had made such statements, and that communications from senior Chinese officials like Li Hongzhang reported foreign governments claiming they only wanted to protect diplomats and help suppress rebels, his doubts fell on deaf ears. Ronglu, realizing his error in presenting the unverified telegram, remained silent.

The Decision for War: Calculating the Uncalculatable

The cumulative effect of these developments—the forged telegram, the Boxer obstruction of diplomacy, Gangyi’s optimistic reporting, and the emotional appeals of Prince Duan and Chongqi—pushed Cixi toward her fateful decision. Her concluding remarks to the council revealed both her determination and her apprehension about the path she was choosing.

When she spoke of preserving her historical standing before the imperial ancestors and the possibility that the dynasty might fall despite her actions, she revealed her understanding of the enormous gamble she was taking. Her unusual address to the officials as “gentlemen” rather than the normal court terminology suggested both the gravity of the moment and her need to secure their support for a decision that might end in catastrophe.

The officials’ response, led by Prince Qing, who promised collective responsibility for protecting the nation, created a moment of political solidarity that would soon prove illusory. The decision for war, once made, would set in motion events that would lead to the foreign occupation of Beijing, massive indemnities imposed on China, and further erosion of Chinese sovereignty—precisely the outcomes the war party had claimed to want to prevent.

The Legacy of a Fateful Decision

The events surrounding the forged telegram and the subsequent declaration of war against foreign powers represent a critical turning point in modern Chinese history. The Boxer Protocol that ended the conflict in 1901 imposed harsh penalties on China, including massive financial reparations that weakened the economy for decades, permission for foreign powers to station troops in China, and the execution of officials who had supported the Boxers.

More significantly, the episode demonstrated the Qing court’s disastrous miscalculation about both Boxer capabilities and foreign resolve. The decision to embrace the Boxers and confront the foreign powers simultaneously alienated China from the international community and revealed the weakness of the central government’s control over its own territory. Within a decade, the diminished prestige of the Qing would contribute to the revolution that ended imperial rule altogether.

The episode also illustrates the danger of decision-making based on unverified information and the tendency of leaders to hear what they want to hear in moments of crisis. Cixi’s acceptance of the forged telegram despite contrary evidence from multiple sources shows how confirmation bias can override rational calculation in high-stakes political environments.

Historians continue to debate whether the Boxer uprising represented a legitimate popular movement against imperialism or a reactionary outburst that set back China’s modernization. What remains clear is that the court’s handling of the crisis—particularly its decision to base policy on a document that was obviously questionable—accelerated the decline of imperial China and set the stage for the revolutionary movements that would transform the country in the twentieth century.

The story of the forged telegram and the council that followed serves as a enduring lesson about the importance of verifying intelligence, the danger of emotional decision-making in foreign policy, and the unpredictable consequences that can flow from a single deceptive document presented at a moment of high tension.