WHO ARE THE BOXERS?

Lyttelton Times, Volume CIII, Issue 12242, 30 June 1900, Page 5

WHO ARE THE BOXERS?

STORY OF THEIR ORIGIN. ' " A REIGN OP LAWLESSNESS. Eleven millions of men arc said to belong to the great Chinese society of Boxers. This estimate was made by a Chinese a year ago (according to the “JNew Aork Herald ) in conversation with a New Aorker who was then in China. The society of Boxers, which now stands for lawlessness, robbery and murder, was once respectable. It. is a good influence gone wrong. Originally it was organised as a protest and a means of defence against the-bandits with which the province of was, in fact, a Law and Order League. ' At that time the life, and property cf no .honest man was safe. The bandits were not wild ruffians, such as those of Italy or the American West, but on the contrary seemed to be men of peace. By day they toiled as shoemakers, carpenters, farmers, and what not, but at night they repaired to their strongholds in’ the mountains and from them made descents upon villages in which any man was reported to possess a store of money worth the having. Sometimes when the plunder did not equal their expectations, they seized one of their victims, blindfolded him, led him about in a circle, and at last carried him off to the mountains, froffi where they sent messages demanding a ransom. THE GREAT SWORD. It was such attacks as this, repeated over and over again in villages ’ throughout the province, that resulted in the organisation of tho Boxers. Their name was Ta Tao Hwei, which means “The Society of the Great Sword.” More recent is the name Universal Society of Boxers, but tbe change signifies little, in fact change ox rinme among secret societies is frequent. One name is kept until the edict of suppression is issued- against it, and then a new name is adopted, and the society goes on as if . nothing had happened. , Christians do not know just when the Society of' the . Great Sword ; had its origin. The natives refer to it as an “ancient so-ciety,-but that-may mean ten years ,or a hundred. It is agreed, however, that at first its principles were laudable and il,s work good, but as it became more powerful and increased in numbers many dishonest and designing persons entered it for the prestige and protection it afforded, just as dishonest and designing persons-ally themselves with influential bodies‘in qtoer lands to-day. These men proved a element, and in many cases directed the efforts of the society against their persmiaL enemies, whom they represented as bantu s and lawless persons*. _ , Some of these victims, it is said, terrified by thie persecution of the Great Sworn society, looked for some other force from which they might hope for protection, ana .found it in the Christian missionaries, and especially the German Catholics. These men professed conversion, and besought succour, and the missionaries used every endeavour to secure justice for them; Then, in turn, some cf the missionaries, it may be inferred, became the victims of designing men who professed Christianity in order to obtain aid in avoiding just punishment, and m some cases it is probable they .were able to secure from these noble and self-sacrificing men and women a protection which they did not altogether deserve. This condition intensified the feeling which has always existed against the missionaries. CONTEMPT FOB. FOREIGNERS. This feeling grows to some extent out of the general contempt with which the Chines© regarded foreigners. The Chinese literary class are keen critics and give close .scrutiny to'the teachings of the Christian Bible. They confess to. the beauty of its ;moral teachings, but ‘cannot see in what they are superior to those of Confucius. .They also notice the accounts of the miracles 'in the-Old Testament, and say that the Chinese legend of the moon being eaten by a*, dragon' is not, much, more unreasonable , 'than the Bible. story of how Joshua compelled the siin to stand still. They choose to regard Christianity as “a wave of.darkness, and their feeling, wrong though it undoubtedly is, is much the. same as would exist in New York if a dozen respectable merchants from .Mott Street should set np an orphanage and a temple on the Western Boulevard and endeavour to fill both up by adopting American'children and proselytising along Columbus Avenue.

• la order to overcome this feeling, the missionaries have in most cases adopted Chinese dress. But Chinese ideas of propriety are the most straightlaced in the world, and the missionaries, despite their native attire, have not always been able to live up to them. This has been especially 'true of the women, whose western freedom of action has been shocking to the natives, although quite correct from our point of view. , Every effort has been made by the missionaries to adapt "themselves to local conditions, but in China first impressions can rarely be and complaints made ,against the early Catholic missionaries, two centuries ago, are quoted against their successors of to-day. SLANDERS AGAINST CHRISTIANS. This hatred of Christianity among the literary class finds expression in the most shocking slanders, which are constantly circulated in order to keep alive the hatred of the masses, j For tho name of God the Catholics have adopted the words TienChu, which signify the Lord of Heaven, and kau signifies religion.: The Christian religion is therefore known as Tien Chu Kau. Unfortunately, there' is a word resembling Chu which means l.pig, and kiau means squeak; so the Chinese translate it ‘ Squeak of the Celestial Pig,” and declare that the Christians are* hog worshippers. The most sacred ceremonies of the Church are slandered in the same-way;--..1t is declared that in receiving Holy Communion the people drink a philtre that makes them slaves of the priests, and that during extreme unction the priests cut the eyes out of dying men. In China there are thirty-one diiferent parts of the'human body which are said to possess especial medicinal virtue, and in- the orphanages the missionaries are charged with murdering children and cutting up their bodies for medicinal purposes. It is such wild-tales as these that have been used to excite the Boxers against the missionaries, and the same charges have been used in all parts of China, and have resulted in murder after murder. But in reality the root of all the 'hatred with which Christians are regarded is that they disapprove of what they regard as the idolatrous worship.of ancestors. This .ceremony is part of ■ Confucianism. The edwbated Chinaman is willing to laugh at Buddhism or Taoism, but reverence for his ancestors is one of the passions of his life. One may call a native Chinaman all the bad names in the vocabulary, and ho may not resent it; but a word against his ancestors will arouse his most vindictive fury. When a man dies in China his son prepares a wooden tablet resembling a small headstone, which is elaborately de-, corated, and marked with the words, “ Shen Chu,” meaning “Spirit Lord,” 1 and “Shen Wei,” meaning “ Spirit Throne,” This is set up boride the coffin, but there is one dot absent in ihe word “ Chu ” and one in the Word.-“ Wei.” - IMPOSING THE RED DOT. At the appointed time the mourners gather about and some high official approaches the tablet. “ Hand up the vermilion pencil,” says the master of ceremonies, and a red lead pencil is given to the official. “May it please our distinguished guest to turn to the east and receive the breath of life,” says the master. The official turns and breathes upon the pencil. “Impose the red dot,” says the master, and the official completes the two words, chu and wei. Afterwards he covers them with black, and this ceremony, it is supposed, invests the tablet with the individuality of the deceased. In the funeral proctedon the tablet occupies a place of honour beside the coffin and afterwards it is installed in the home of the eldest son, who for three years, morning and night, makes am offering before it. Then it is placed in ehrin© his othss.*«p

castors, and in common with them is reverenced at various times during the year. There has always been a question an to whether this practice is idolatrous or merely reverential, whether it is religious or merely social, and had the early missionaries been willing to accept it ah China might possibly have been Christian, or at least quasiOhristian to-day ; but tho Pope, after some hesitatun, pronounced against it, and the Protestant churches have followed suit, and it has remained ever since a practically insurmountable banter between the two peoples. About ten years ago the missionaries had enjoyed peace for seme time, an-d regarded the future as full of hope; but on May 10, 1891, two minis, who were going home from a visit to some sick people, were maltreated by a mob, who charged them with bewitching children. The mission houses were plundered, and this was the signal for the renewal cf the disturbances all through China. These became worse and worse, exciting more and more resentment in Europe, until at last some German priests were murdered, and the mission looted in ShangTung. This was followed by the seizure by the Germans of the port of Tsin-Tau. The Shang-Tung Chintee connected these two events, and swore vengeance on the Germans, and incidentally upen all foreigners and Christians. It was at this time that the Long • Sword Society began to make itself obnoxious. BOXERS BOLDER THAN. EVER. They had previously been proscribed by the Government for local reasons and temporarily suppressed; but now they became bolder than ever, and inaugurated a reign of terror throughout Shang-Tung. Native CbristiaJhs were robbed, beaten and murder-ed,-and their houses destroyed. Many of them were forced to recant, and some of the chapels were looted; but no missionaries were killed. So bold was the action of the society and so flagrant their outrages that Yu Hsim, the Governor of Shsn-Tnng, was ordered to proceed against them. This man had only held office since Last spring. He was inexperienced, and was promoted through. the favouritism of the Emperor. lu October last, under compulsion, he sent a force against the Great Swords, who had taken the field with the avowed intention of wiping but the Christians. On Oct. 18 lie two armies came together. One hundred rebels were killed and many wounded, and the rest, including the leader, fled. The victors returned jubilant to the Governor, who, however, far from being pleased at their report, was thrown into a fury. He ' degraded three of them, and sent a report to Pekin that the so-called rebels were merely a congregation of honest country people whom the soldiery had attacked and massacred without right ot warrant.

“ Thus, at' a single stroke,” writes Henry D. Porter, of Plang Chuang, in the “Outlook,” “the Government paralysed the action of every official, -making it impossible for them to act as they clearly saw was best. The leaders, who had slunk away after the fight, quickly discovered that the Governor was on their side, and within two weeks every man of them was in his place again.” CAMPAIGN OF PILLAGE. Mr Porter, who is a well-known missionary, goes on to say that in the districts of Kao-T’ang and P.’ang-Yuan, there began a, campaign of pillage, arson and murder which is awful to recall. Tho whole country west of Ohianfu in : this province, and as far north-as Shen-Chou, in tbe province of Chihli, flamed up into anarchy at once, and the,track of ruin was widespread. In many counties of Shan-Tung every Roman Catholic home was swept clean, and hundreds of Protestant Christians suffered. In response to-appeals from the - missionaries the miscreant Yu was. suddenly removed, and the famous Yuan Shih K'ai, a friend of Li Hung Chan, was sent to be the Governor. But before the authorities in Chihli could be made to realise the real import of the struggle 100 Protestant families had been looted op the .borders, -of the Yellow,.. River, West of-the provincial-capital.’' An equal number of Christians of the London mission in’Chihli had suffered, and 50 or-more Congregational families had been attacked, despoiled or mulcted of money under threats of loot and pillage. The most serious of these were at Chang-Ssu-Ma, in Chihli, and Ho-Ohia-T’un, in Shan-Tung. In the former the nativh, pastor was driven from his home, while the chapel ,and school were gutted and despoiled. Four .families were driven from home, and the neighbours dug up the concealed treasure of books and medicines and scattered them to the winds. At the Congregatkmal mission, in Ho-Chia-T’uu,' a band of 200 rushed into the village, gutted the station residence and looted the chapel and the homes of the helper and his brothers, besides robbing the adjoining home of a .wealthy neighbour. The terror was continuous for months. MURDER OF YOUNG BROOKS. As a climax to these outrages came tha murder of a young Church of England missionary named Brooks, a smooth-faced, cheerful boy of twenty-one. In going to join a brother missionary in Shan-Tung, he passed through a village where a band of thirty-five Great Swords were at dinner. He might have passed through in safety had not a little girl raised the cry “ Yang Kweitze!” or foreign devil. ■■lnstantly the rebels 1 ‘ were on their feet and had surrounded Brooks. They pushed him about, called him vile names, and at last, while some held him, others thrust a hook through his nose, to which a rope was tied. They pulled him about here and there to the immense amusement-of the toob. At last the unfortunate boy managed to extract the hook and break away from his tormentors. He started:to run from the village, but three of the rebels got horses and rode after him.' They soon succeeded in -overtaking him, and then killed him with their swords. ,-