THE CHINESE "BOXERS" 283 



general among the i)eople that the " Ta Ch'ing," or " Great Clear," 

 dynast}'' has about run its course, and there is said to be in one of their 

 sacred books a })rophec3^ the fulfillment of which in the displacing 

 of the reigning famil}- is looked for at any time. Outwardly at least 

 the '• Boxers " are loyal to the Manchu d3aiasty. Their motto, seen 

 on cards left by them w'ith Christians whom they had robbed, is " Pao 

 Ch'ing mieh yang." Literally this means, " Protect the Clear (pres- 

 ent dynasty), exterminate the foreign." In idiomatic English it is, 

 " Death to foreigners ! China for the Chinese." From the beginning 

 of the outbreak the avowed object of the society has been the expul- 

 sion from the countr}^ of all foreigners. This is no sudden turn in 

 affairs, but rather a natural outgrowth of the general anti-foreign feel- 

 ing. In a recent issue of the Philadelphia Press a ]>rbminent Chinese 

 is reported to liave said, " Foreigners of every nation are objectionable 

 to a large majority of Chinamen, and when they see Europeans and 

 Americans coming there, getting valuable concessions and preparing 

 to cut up the country with railroads, they fear the invasion will 

 eventuate in the extinction of sacred customs, and that the white man 

 will rule the countr}'." This statement expresses very fairly the mind 

 of the Chinese people. They look down on every foreigner as a bar- 

 barian, and, since they have learned something of the power of Euro- 

 pean arms, to tiie contempt is joined fear. To this may perhaps be 

 added a sense of injustice, resulting from the treatment received 

 recently from more than one of the European powers. For example, 

 both official and non-official people of Shan-tung complained bitterly 

 of Germany's injustice in seizing Kiao-chau, and, whether rightly or 

 wrongly, believed that the imperial German government had but used 

 the murder of the German missionary priests to further its ])rearranged 

 ))olitical plans. 



From these three elements — oontem^jt, fear, and sense of injustice — 

 lias been developed in the anti-foreign Chinese party a spirit of bitter 

 animosity. The "Boxer" movement is but an expression of this 

 hatred. It must be Ijorne in mind, however, that economic condi- 

 tions greatly assi.st the organizers. In good seasons the people of 

 North China must secure two crops each year from the same land in 

 order to maintain a condition of average welfare. If the sj)ring yield 

 fails there is considerable suflering, and if both si)ring and fall crops 

 are l)ad, conditions of local famine result. A considerable })roportion 

 of tlie ])e()ple are therefore always on the verge of destitution. In 

 j>easons of distress highway rol>bery is very frequent. Tiie more 



