Boxer movement
The Boxers, officially known as the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists (Chinese: 義和拳; 义和拳; Yìhéquán; I-Ho Ch'üan) among other names, were a Chinese secret society based in Northern China that carried out the Boxer Rebellion from 1899 to 1901.
| Boxers | |
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| Yìhéquán | |
A Boxer war flag, inspired by the Black Flag Army | |
| Also known as |
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| Dates of operation | 1890s–1901 |
| Country | China |
| Ideology | Chinese nationalism Monarchism Anti-Western sentiment Anti-Christianism Anti-imperialism |
| Size | 50,000–100,000 |
| Battles and wars | Boxer Rebellion |
| Boxer movement | |||||||||
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| National Righteousness Group | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 義民會 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 义民会 | ||||||||
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| League of Harmony and Justice | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 義和團 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 义和团 | ||||||||
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| Plum Blossom Fists | |||||||||
| Chinese | 梅花拳 | ||||||||
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| Fists of Harmony and Justice | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 義和拳 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 义和拳 | ||||||||
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The movement was made up of independent local village groups, many of which kept their membership secret, making the total number of participants difficult to estimate, but it may have included as many as 100,000. They originally attacked the Qing government, but soon called upon it to resist foreign influence.
In the summer of 1900, groups of Boxer fighters destroyed foreign owned property, such as railroads and telegraphs, and murdered Christian missionaries and Chinese Christians. They then supported the Empress Dowager in resisting the resulting foreign invasion, which all but destroyed the group and ended the Rebellion, though some members continued in other groups across China.