More About the Boxers.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXV, Issue VI, 11 August 1900, Page 262

More About the Boxers.

The Boxers ;m* a cl iss <»f Chinaman who art*, generally s|>e:iking. a very corrupt anti dissolute type. The leaders, of course, are a little better. an<l lhex live ii|M»n the fanaticism of their followers. In this country the Boxer would he looked ii|x>u as a most dangerous type of criminal, hut so different is the civilisation of China, and so |x*vuliar their customs and inode of life, that it would he impossible for China to reckon such vast numbers as criminals. In China the lower classes live a liend-to-mouth existence. It is a hare pittance of food tney get. and

and Confucianism, who were anxious to preserve -their ancient religion. It is easy to understand how with this la-ginning the opposition soon assunied large proportions, and filtered, as it were, through all ranks of the social scale, especially anion}' the dissolute and idle, tiecause it gave them an opportunity of exhibiting open enmity and of committing murders and (outrages which weie at least winked at by those in authority, if not openly allotted. There have existed from time to time secret societies in China which have assumed formidable dimensions, such as the Triads, the Heaven and Earth Society, the Water Lily Sect, the Flood Family, tin- Queen of Heaven's Company. and so on. They all. at one time or another, protected their combined forces against the terror, in their eyes, of foreign invasion. The

haps, but not fully. It would he too much to expect that they could lie armed with the latest rifles and implements of war. but that they are no mean enemy is very certain. What they lack in army equipment they will make up in fanaticism, ind this, considering their strength and numbers. is a terrible factor to reckon with. They would, no doubt, be annul largely with spears, battle-axes, and swords. But they have no fear of death in any form, and it is one of their peculiar customs to hack themselves in the most extraordinary manner in order to show their fearlessness of pain and suffering. They hold their secret meetings usually in secluded places in the dead of night, and they pledge each other to oaths of vengeance against their

overnmeiit. If the Government wished it could have quelled the uprising before it assumed such proportions. The Dowager Empress, however, sees in the movement the opportunity whereby she is to further her own ends and ambitions. The Boxer movement certainly has her indulgence. and it will lie proved, perhaps, before very long that it has her support.