tect the sanctity of China by opposing Europeanization in all its forms, and by any means. By early 1900, Boxers were raiding outposts and whatever they perceived to be symbols of Western influence. Naturally, this included missions, and these became the gruesome backdrops for Boxer brutality. Grisly executions and macabre displays of tortured victims characterized the modus operandi of the Boxers, and the Boxer Rebellion claimed 30,000 Chinese Christian lives before an international coalition (including the US) intervened to suppress the Boxers in 1900. The Chinese imperial court, at the time tacitly in support of the Boxers relentless slaughter of suspected Christians, faced inevitable reprimand from the Western powers: virtual disarmament and fines to be paid over 40 years (Weisberger 15).
The decidedly anti-foreign disposition of Chinese nobles during these early years of the 20th century is telling; though surely many were horrified by the means employed by the Boxers in their purge, these were nonetheless overlookedùeven supportedùsimply b
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