The Boxer Rebellion

By 5ophia

  • First missionaries arrive in China

    First Protestant Christian missionary arrives in China from London Missionary Society

  • Missionaries expelled

    Daoguang Emperor expels missionaries for distributing Christian books

  • First Opium War

    Britain imposed unequal treaty on China and takes Hong Kong

  • Western missionaries arrive

    Western Christian missionaries flood into China

  • Treaty of Nanjing

    Treaty of Nanjing provides extraterritorial rights to all foreigners in China - they are no longer subject to Chinese law

  • Taiping Rebellion

    Christian convert Hong Xiuquan leads bloody Taiping Rebellion against Qing Dynasty

  • Second Opium War

    ritain and France defeat China and impose harsh Treaties of Tientsin

  • First Sino-Japanese War

    Former tributary Japan defeats China and takes Korea

  • Natural diasters

    Drought followed by flooding strikes Shandong, causing wide-spread misery

  • Juye Incident

    Juye Incident, armed men kill two Germans at missionary home in Shandong Province, northern China

  • Righteous Fist groups

    Young men in Shandong form Righteous Fist groups, practicing martial arts and traditional spiritualism

  • Hundred Days Reform

    Emperor Guangxu tries to quickly modernize China

  • Empress Dowager Cixi takes power

    On the verge of handing over sovereignty to Japan, Guangxu is stopped and goes into internal exile. Empress Dowager Cixi rules in his name

  • Boxers attack a Catholic church

    Boxers attack Liyuantun village's Catholic church, converted from a temple to the Jade Emperor

  • Empress Dowager Cixi supports Boxers

    Empress Dowager Cixi rescinds condemnation of Boxers, issues letter of support

  • Boxers proceed

    Boxers storm through countryside, burning churches, killing missionaries and converts

  • Beijing foreign legislations

    British Minister Claude MacDonald requests defense force for Beijing foreign legations; Chinese allow 400 troops from eight nations into capital

  • Boxers reach Beijing

    Boxers cut railroad line at Tianjin, isolating Beijing

  • Boxer in Beijing's Legation Quarter

    First Boxer appears in Beijing's Legation (diplomatic) Quarter

  • Japanese diplomat killed

    Pro-Boxer General Dong Fuxian's troops kill Japanese diplomat Sugiyama Akira

  • German minister executes a young boy

    German Minister Clemens von Ketteler arrests and summarily executes a young boy he suspects of being a Boxer

  • The Boxers avenge the young boy's death

    Thousands of angry Boxers storm Beijing and burn Christian churches in response to boy's murder

  • Empress Dowager Cixi fully supports the Boxers

    Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu hold council meeting, decide to fully support Boxers

  • Messengers killed

    Qing government sends messengers to offer foreign legation members safe passage out of Beijing; instead, the foreigners shoot the messengers dead

  • Manchu Bannerman Captain En Hai avenges boy's death

    Manchu Bannerman Captain En Hai kills Minister von Ketteler in a melee to avenge the murdered "Boxer" boy

  • Boxers besiege legations

    Boxers and Chinese Imperial Army besiege legations sheltering 473 foreign civilians, 400 foreign soldiers, and approximately 3,000 Chinese Christians

  • Empress Dowager Cixi declares war

    Empress Dowager Cixi declares war against the foreign powers

  • Boxers set fire to Legation district

    Chinese set fire to parts of Legation district; priceless Hanlin Academy library burns

  • Tartar Wall

    Chinese force Germans from position atop "Tartar Wall" overlooking legations, but Americans hold position

  • Surprise attack

    56 US, British, and Russian soldiers on Tartar Wall launch a 2 am surprise attack, killing 20 Chinese soldiers and drive survivors from wall

  • Missionary families executed

    Outside of Beijing; Shanxi Province governor executes 44 missionary families (men, women, and children) after offering them asylum at Taiyuan. Victims of the "Taiyuan Massacre" become martyrs in eyes of Chinese Christians

  • Battle of Tientsin

    120 km (75 miles) outside Beijing, the Battle of Tientsin (Tianjin); The Eight-Nations relief force besieges Boxer-held city, resullting in 550 Boxers and 250 foreigners killed. Foreign troops (especially Germans and Russians) rampage through city afterward, looting, raping and killing civilians, while Japanese and Americans try to restrain them

  • Chinese set off mine

    In Beijing, Chinese set off a mine under French Legation, force French and Austrians to shelter in British compound

  • Defense line at Prince Su's palace

    Advancing Chinese drive Japanese and Italian troops to a precarious last defense line at Prince Su's palace

  • Chinese snipers

    Australian journalist George Morrison injured and British Captain Strouts killed by Chinese snipers

  • False story in London Daily Mail

    London Daily Mail publishes a report that all legation besieged had been massacred, including mercy killing of women and children, Russians boiled to death in oil, etc. Story was false, fabricated by reporter in Shanghai

  • The Eignt-Nations force begins march to Beijing

    Eight-Nations relief force lands on the coast and begins march to Beijing

  • Qing declares cease-fire

    Qing government declares cease-fire on legations

  • Chinese end cease-fire

    Chinese end cease-fire, bombard legations as foreign "rescue" force approaches capital

  • Siege on legations ended

    Relief force lifts the siege on legations, but forgets to relieve a besieged Catholic North Cathedral until August 16

  • Undercover royalty

    Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu escape Forbidden City dressed as peasants, go on "inspection tour" to ​the ancient capital of Xi'an (formerly Chang'an) in Shaanxi Province

  • Boxer Protocol

    Qing officials sign "Boxer Protocol," agreeing to pay huge war reparations over 40 years

  • Russo-Japanese War begins to spark

    Russian troops seize Jilin and occupy Manchuria, moves that will spark 1904-05 Russo-Japanese War​

  • The empress and emperor return

    Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu return to Beijing from Xi'an and resume control of government​

  • Imperial examination system abolished

    Empress Dowager Cixi abolishes imperial examination system for training bureaucrats in favor of western-style university system, part of an attempt at sweeping modernization​

  • Emperor Guangxu dies

    Emperor Guangxu dies of arsenic poisoning, followed the next day by Empress Dowager Cixi​

  • Qing Dynasty falls

    Qing Dynasty falls to Sun Yat-sen; formal abdication by Last Emperor Puyi