The Boxer Rebellion & Artwork’s Spread of Gross Stereotype

As the rebellion unfolded, the Chinese government and the Qing Empress Cixi realized that the Boxer could be exploited to eradicate the economic, military, and territorial privileges that foreign powers had in China. Yet, the Chinese hopes were short-lived. A coalition of Western troops, well-equipped and technologically more advanced, soon managed to capture the capital. By 1901, the Chinese government was forced to surrender and accept a series of humiliating concessions.

The images produced during the Boxer Rebellion capture the understanding Western powers had of China. Employed by Underwood & Underwood (New York) to make stereoscopic images of the Far East, the American photographer James Ricalton (1844-1929) arrived in China in 1900. His photographs show an array of underfed and weak unskilled laborers and soldiers, prisoners of war, and civilian casualties. His Some of China’s Trouble-makers: Boxer Prisoners Captured and Brought in by the 6th US Cavalry — Tientsin, China. No. 63 is arguably one of the most famous shots of the war.

In a caption, Ricalton explained that the men were obviously Boxers because one had been found with a weapon. He then claimed that “By far the larger part of the population of the empire is of this low, poor, coolie class. [...] Tomorrow they may be shot—but, whether it is bambooing, shooting, or beheading, one fellow decides he will have a smoke.”

The recurring brutality that appeared in such photographs strengthened the idea that Chinese society was violent and ruled through physical punishment. Criminals, soldiers, and unskilled laborers were indistinguishable and therefore the same. Appearance and professions defined the character of a person.

Satirical magazines and newspapers gave ample space to cartoons and strips that, although with less violence, conveyed the same biased perspective. In 1901, the American magazine Puck printed “A Troublesome Egg to Hatch,” a cartoon that showed the rulers of the Western powers involved in the war trying to hatch a large egg called “China.” Two years before, a French sketch showed Western kings and emperors in the act of splitting the 'China-pie.' Behind them, a horrified but powerless China was portrayed as a stereotypical Qing official with long nails and a queue hairstyle. Both cartoons reveal once again how China was perceived in the West: a weak yet valuable country ready to be exploited by many contenders.

The self-perception that China had after the defeat of the Boxer Rebellion was greatly influenced by Western images. It had become clear that modernization was needed, not only to reassert control over its own territories, but also to be seen as a major player in the international political arena.

Empress Dowager Cixi decided to employ the same weapon that the West had used against her: photography. Over the course of 1903-04, the Empress commissioned a series of celebratory portraits that were to be given to foreign diplomats and dignitaries. As historian David Hogge noted, in a moment of turmoil and instability, the Empress’ photographs were “a strategic response to the Qing court’s need to construct a more favorable public identity.” Her images were an attempt to create a more positive view of China, one that diverged from what the West had been portraying since the end of the nineteenth century: a backward, weak, and violent country.