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(1900) Boxer Rebellion

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[NOTE: Chronology of events needs to be checked in this chapter.]

The missionaries heard the beginning of the storm in 1899. A band called I Ho Ch'uan or "Righteous Harmony Fists" who came to be known as the 'Boxer's formed in Shantung, the province in which the Rinells and Lindbergs [and Swordsons?] had settled. The Boxers believed that they were immune against sword, spear, or bullet. Yu Hsien, the governor of Shantung, backed their anti-foreign purpose. The fire of hatred toward foreigners grew strong owing to the unequal treaties forced upon the Chinese by Western powers. Soon the missionaries heard frightening stories about arson and killing of Chinese who worked with foreigners and of Chinese Christians. Then they began hearing of missionaries themselves being killed.

By March of 1890 fifty-six missionaries and twenty-three children of the China Inland Mission had been killed not to mention hundreds of Chinese Christians. Taylor, J. Hudson. Hudson Taylor. Minneapolis : Bethany Fellowship, [1972] page 154. Also previously published under titles, To China With Love and A Retrospect. The Rinell family and other missionaries would not have known the extent of the slaughter until much later. For now they knew that westerners and Chinese Christians were dying.

Missionaries in the interior and Chinese Christians having connections with foreigners were easily attacked by the radicals. S.M. Brooks of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts was killed not very far away from Tsinanfu. Owing to British authorities protest Yu Hsien was transferred to be governor of Shansi, and Yuan Shih-k'ai replaced him. The Boxer movement continued to spread rapidly throughout Chili, Shansi, Manchuria and parts of Mongolia. The German minister, Baron von Ketteler, was killed on the 20th on his way to the Foreign Office. On June 24th the Empress Dowager issued a decree for the extermination of all foreigners.[see if this is correct in 'the Dragon Queen' or whatever the title is].

Foreigners and some Chinese Christians took refuge either in Roman Catholic premises or the Legations. A small force of 425 with the assistance of some volunteers held through a siege of fifty-five days under heavy fire. Their release came when a strong international force fought its way from Tientsin and captured Peking. A thousand foreigners and three thousand Chinese Christians were saved. Yu Hsien, governor of Shansi, ordered the massacre of July 9th of Catholic and Protestant missionaries in his Yamen, and by the end of the year some two thousand Christians were killed in Shansi.

Escape to Tsingtao

Only a couple of weeks after the mentioned last baptism the Swedish missionaries received a telegram from the closest mission station, Weihsien,

Weihsien burning. Missionaries flee, but pursued by boxers. Next night the buildings of the railway in Gaomi are going to be burned. The following Kiaochow.

The missionaries put a stop to their work, pack necessary things and joined those fleeing. The German railway was not ready, but the Germans had laid iron rails to the closest canal port, Mato, ten kilometers from the town. The German engineers kindly invited the Swedes to follow in a railway carriage to Mato. The proposal was accepted, but the trip was slow. The "locomotive" for the train car was an ox. Arriving finally at Mato the whole company took refuge in the German-Chinese customs. Feeling fairly safe, the men, women and children tried to get some rest. During the night, however, someone set the building on fire. Spotting the flames or smelling the smoke, they put out the fire. They were not disturbed for the rest of the evening.Oscar later met one of the officials connected to this customs house. However, we do not know at this time what was said.

[From Wilhelm Matzat. 'In summer 1900 Kiaochow town was protected by German military presence there, so that the boxers had no chance to occupy the town, in contrast to Kaomi or Weihsien.' Question: was this before or after the Swedish missionaries left for Mato?]

[From Wilhelm Matzat: 'That the Rinells and Lindberghs moved to Tsingtao in June 1900 was an action in panic and not necessary, because the German governor in Tsingtao had sent his Chinese military company to Kiaochowm and later, I think, also German troops. In the treaty of March 6th 1898 there had also been created a 50 km neutral zone around the Leased Territory. In this neutral zone were the towns of Tsimo, Kiaochow and Kaomi. The treaty permitted the free passage of German troops at any time within that 50 km zone. Therefore the German governor could send in March 1900 troops to be stationed in Kiaochow town. This is the reason, why in 1900 many refugees from the interior of Shantung province fled to Kiaochow town, where they were safe.']

The next day, June 29, they climbed into small smelly fishing boats and hoisted small sails. A breeze carried them the fifty kilometers over Kiaochow bay to the city of Tsingtao, a German colony and a safe haven. German missionaries took them in and cared for them.

About a month later conditions in Kiaochow had somewhat calmed down so the missionaries returned. To their relief they found their homes untouched by the Boxers, and the Chinese Christians unharmed.

Because Kiaohsien along with Tsimo and Kaomi were inside the 50 kilometer neutral zone around Germany's leased territory since 1898, which permitted the movement of troops. foreigners were relatively safe. Kiaohsien became a place of refuge for Christians from all parts of the province of Shantung.'Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal, The. Volume XXXVII. Shanghai: Presbyterian Mission Press, 1906, page 527.

In July Hedvig gave birth to a daughter, Edith.

During the Boxer Uprising mission work continued. Two more Chinese were baptized and joined the Church in spite of the persecution of the Christians. Hedvig started and managed a small school for Chinese boys. Five students enrolled.5 Many more applicants to the boys school were put in than the locality could hold.Later were added boys' and girls' boarding schools in the city and three village day-schools. See MacGillivray, A century of Protestant missions in China, page 515. Wang tsin-hoa who had taught many village schools many years was called as teacher. Hedvig was responsible for teaching religion and Mrs. Swordson singing. A Sunday School was begun. Because of the disruption caused by the Boxer Uprising the girl's school was delayed."The school for boys started 1900 (by Hedvig) and for girls three years later (by Mrs Lindberg). They soon found the need for higher education, and started "upper classes" until the elementary school was six years plus a "middle school" of 3-4 years." Email from Lally Rinell to LJH, September 28, 2007.

The Lindbergs had been in China eight years. It was time for their furlough. They left for Sweden on August 2, 1900. No doubt they felt relieved putting some distance between themselves and the Boxers.

The Allied troops entered Peking.Be sure all these event are in chronological order. The Boxers' power was broken.

Kenneth Scott Latourette, D. Willis James, Professor of Missions and Oriental History in Yale University, came to the following conclusion:

The total loss of Roman Catholic missionaries was reported to be five bishops, thirty-one other European priests, nine European sisters, and two Marists. The exact number of Chinese Catholics who were killed or who died from privation is unknown, but it was probably in excess of thirty thousand. The number of the Protestants who perished is somewhat uncertain. Of the foreign missionary body what seems to get the best figures give the number of adults as one hundred and thirty-five, and of children as fifty-two or fifty-three, a total of one hundred and eighty-six or one hundred and eighty-seven. Of these slightly more than a third were under the China Inland Mission and its associated societies. The total number of Chinese Protestants killed is still more uncertain, but one set of figures gives it as nineteen hundred and twelve, including three Mongols. The young Christian churches had paid a high price for their faith. Kenneth Scott Latourette. _A History of Christian Missions in China , page 512-13, 516-57._

In total about 30,000 Christian Chinese were killed, and 200 missionaries and their children, including 56 Swedes.

The number of martyrs would have been much higher if a brave and compassionate Chinese official had not changed the edict from "kill" foreigners to "protect" them. Yuan Shih-k'ai, Governor of Shantung, gave orders in his province to escort foreigners to safety. Johan Alfred Rinell writes, "Many boxer-stories which had circulated among the people, became more horrible and often, the badly reputed boxers came closer and closer." [See Rinell, Johan Alfred and J. H. Swordson. "Boxarupproret."[The Boxer Rebellion].

Egron Sick in Chefoo

Egron had been sent to China Inland Missions British schools in Chefoo. A telegram from the school said that he was very sick with scarlet fever, a disease of which many people died in those days. Johan Alfred traveled the 300 kilometer journey to be with his son. He had no way to travel except by bicycle. About half way to Chefoo bandits attacked him. They destroyed the "iron horse" but let Johan Alfred go. He continued the rest of the way on foot. After a couple days in Chefoo 'the brave Viking returned home on foot, the same way he had come' a Shanghai newspaper wrote later about the event. Citation unknown.

Christmas

AlternativeText

Christmas Greeting to
Reverend Sjöblom in the
Belgian Congo
1900
Click Image

Johan Alfred and Hedvig sent an attractive Christmas postcard to a Reverend Sjöblom in the Belgian Congo. We don't know who he is and don't know how the family got possession of the postcard after sending it to the Belgian Congo.

On the reverse side of the postcard is an aerial view of the marine infantrie (marine infantry) base (most likely German) in Kioahsien. The postcard was printed at the Verlag Loescher & Co., Tsingtau, China. 'Verlag' is German and is translates as 'publisher', so _Verlag Loescher & Co. _was probably a German company.

The Church Grows

"After thunder often falls rain, and after the rain God lets the sun shine," as it was said. This was confirmed in Kiaochow. From this time the missionaries could experience a great change to the better. The church could not accommodate all who wished to hear the Christian's message. Several interested Chinese asked for further teaching. The city's most important businessmen gave a substantial gift to building a new church. New fields of missionary activity opened. One was ten kilometers to the west of the city, a furnished and rent-free house for religious work.

Before the flight to Tsingtao a formal proposal to let the members elect a leader of the church, but this was tabled on [Len - Add the next section of manuscript here].

Footnotes

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CHAPTER

Foreign Devils: A Swedish Family in China 1894 to 1951
© 2012-14 Lennart Holmquist
Lorum • Ipsum• Dolor • Sic Amet • Consectetur

Updated: 10-Feb-2017

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