Boxer Rebellion

Cuando se desencadenaron los acontecimientos de la rebelión Boxer en China Pearl S. Buck tenía 8 años y era plenamente consciente de los peligros que la acechaban. Al escribir La Buena Tierra seguramente incluyó sus vivencias, los peligros vividos en aquellos días, en la novela.

The Boxer Rebellion was a violent anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising which took place in China towards the end of the Qing dynasty between 1899 and 1901. It was initiated by the "Boxers", and was motivated by proto-nationalist sentiments and opposition to imperialist expansion and associated Christian missionary activity. An Eight-Nation Alliance (Japan, Russia, the British Empire, France, the United States, Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary) invaded China to defeat the Boxers and took retribution.

The uprising took place against a background of severe drought and the disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence. After several months of growing violence against the foreign and Christian presence in Shandong and the North China plain in June 1900, Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support Qing government and exterminate the foreigners." Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter. In response to reports of an armed invasion to lift the siege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the foreign powers. Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were placed under siege by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers for 55 days.

Assault on the outer walls,
Peking

Chinese officialdom was split between those supporting the Boxers and those favoring conciliation, led by Prince Qing. The Eight-Nation Alliance, after being initially turned back, brought 20,000 armed troops to China, defeated the Imperial Army, and captured Beijing on August 14, lifting the siege of the Legations. Uncontrolled plunder of the capital and the surrounding countryside ensued, along with the summary execution of those suspected of being Boxers.

Para saber

The Qing dynasty, o el Imperio del Gran Qing, o la dinastía Manchú, fue la última dinastía imperial de China, gobernó desde 1644 hasta 1912 con una breve restauración en 1917. Fue precedida por la dinastía Ming y sucedida por la República de China.

The Beijing Legation Quarter era un área en Beijing, China, donde se localizaban numerosas embajadas entre 1861 y 1959.

Empress dowager  es la traducción al inglés del título dado a la madre del emperador chino o japonés.

Artículos relacionados

La Buena tierra, resumen

The Good Earth

Pearl S. Buck

Recursos

The Boxer Rebellion