The Sino-Japanese War was a major historical event in China's modern history, which not only exposed the corruption and incompetence of the Qing government and China's backwardness and malaise, but also stimulated the patriotic consciousness and national awakening of the Chinese people. After this war, a series of profound changes took place in Chinese society, the two most important of which were the Restoration and Law Change Movement and the Boxer Rebellion.
The Restoration and Law Change Movement is a bourgeois reform movement, which was initiated by the bourgeois Restoration faction headed by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, aiming to save the country by changing the law, saving the nation from peril and developing capitalism. The restorationists believe that the reason why China lags behind the Western powers is because it has inherited the feudal system and ideology, and if it wants to achieve a rich country and a strong army, it must learn from the advanced system and science and technology of the West. They put forward the slogan of "Chinese body and western use", advocating the preservation of the essence of traditional Chinese culture while absorbing the achievements of Western civilization. They also proposed a series of specific reform measures, including the abolition of the imperial examination system, the establishment of new schools, the establishment of industry and commerce, the reform of the military system, the establishment of parliaments, and so on.
The movement was supported by the then young and promising Guangxu Emperor, who ordered a series of reforms, known as the "Reform Law". However, this movement was also strongly opposed by the feudal stubborn conservative forces headed by Empress Dowager Cixi. They believed that the Restoration faction was the culprit of "changing the law and chaotic the country" and were traitors who wanted to subvert the rule of the Qing Dynasty and Chinese culture. Taking advantage of the Guangxu Emperor's young age and his own real power, they staged a coup d'état on September 21, 1898, arresting and executing six leaders of the Restoration faction (known as the "Six Gentlemen of Pengxu"), forcing the Guangxu Emperor to cancel all reform measures and expel the Restoration faction from Beijing or exile overseas. In this way, the movement to reform the law was declared a failure.
Although the movement to reform the law failed, it played the role of ideological enlightenment in society and was conducive to the spread of bourgeois ideology and culture. It broke the shackles of feudal thinking, broadened people's horizons and ideas, and promoted social progress and the rise of democratic thought. It also laid the ideological foundation for later democratic revolutionary activities such as the Xinhai Revolution and the May Fourth Movement.
The Boxer Rebellion was an anti-imperialist and patriotic movement launched by the Boxer Rebellion, composed of peasants, handicraftsmen, urban poor and other broad masses, with the goal of expelling foreign invaders and traitors of the Qing government and defending the motherland and national dignity. The Boxer Rebellion broke out against the backdrop of an unprecedented national crisis in China after the Sino-Japanese War, the partition of China by the imperialist powers, and the signing of unequal treaties by the Qing government. The Boxer Rebellion reflected the strong dissatisfaction and anger of the Chinese people against foreign aggression and the corruption of the Qing government, and showed the patriotic spirit and will to resist the Chinese people.
The Boxer Rebellion initially developed in Shandong, Hebei and other places, and later quickly spread to Beijing, Tianjin and other places. Boxer members waged a fierce armed struggle under the slogan of "Fuqing and Extinguishing the Yang" and the "Fist Method" as a weapon. They attacked foreign embassies, churches, railways, telegraphs and other facilities, killing a number of foreign invaders and clergy. They also clashed with Qing troops and local officials, seizing power in some cities and counties. The Boxer Rebellion was supported by some patriotic officials and intellectuals, as well as sympathy from the Guangxu Emperor. In November 1899, the Guangxu Emperor ordered that the Boxers be allowed to enter Beijing and awarded them the title of "Volunteer Army".
However, the Boxer Rebellion was also opposed by feudal diehards such as Empress Dowager Cixi. They considered the Boxers to be a "cult" and a "riot people" who wanted to rebel. They tried to suppress the Boxer Rebellion, but feared provoking popular resistance. They were also hesitant in foreign policy, wanting to use the Boxers to resist foreign aggression and to compromise with foreign powers for peace. In June 1900, Empress Dowager Cixi ordered a declaration of war on foreign countries and ordered Qing troops throughout the country to cooperate with the Boxers to resist foreign enemies. This move intensified the contradictions between China and foreign countries, leading to the invasion of China by the eight-nation coalition of Britain, Russia, Japan, France, Germany, the United States, Italy and Austria.
The eight-nation coalition army used artillery, machine guns and other advanced weapons to deal with the Boxers' swords, guns and clubs, occupying an absolute advantage. Along the way, they burned and looted, ignoring international law and humanitarianism, and brutally slaughtered and raped Chinese people. They captured important cities such as Tianjin and Beijing and surrounded the Forbidden City, where the Qing government was located. The Qing government fell into an unprecedented crisis, and Empress Dowager Cixi fled to Xi'an with the Guangxu Emperor. In January 1901, the Qing government was forced to sign the Xinxiu Treaty with eight countries and 11 countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain, to pay foreign countries 450 million taels of silver (equivalent to ten times China's fiscal revenue at that time), cede territory, open trade ports, recognize the legal status of Christianity, and allow foreign troops to garrison in Beijing and other places. This treaty marked the formation of China's semi-colonial and semi-feudal society.
Although the Boxer Rebellion failed, it was an anti-imperialist and patriotic movement. This movement crushed the arrogant plan of the imperialist powers to divide up China, dealt a heavy blow to the reactionary rule of the Qing government, and hastened its demise.