September 7, 2001 marks a special day for China
and even some developed countries. On this day one century ago,
namely, September 7, 1901, the Eight Power Allied Forces formed
by Britain, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, Russia,
Austria and Italy forced the Qing Government to sign the most
insolent and unequal Protocol in human civilization. That year
was the Year of Xinchou in Chinese lunar calendar, so the Protocol,
officially the Protocol of 1901, is historically known
as the Protocol of Xinchou. Photos in this illustrated
book present a true picture of this period of history.
These photos were mainly taken by foreigners. One-third of them,
which are made public for the first time, were taken by a British
officer who personally participated in the invasion of China
as a member of the Allied Forces. Mr. Chen Jun, a Chinese Britishman,
bought these photos from Christie's in London in 1996 and later
on donated them to the First Historical Archives of China. Readers
will gain historical enlightenment from these photos taken 100
years ago.
Under the shelling of the Eight-Power Allied Forces and the
subsequent burning, killing and pillaging, dozens of towns and
hundreds of villages in the areas of Beijing and Tianjin were
reduced to rubble. Everywhere in the City of Beijing was crumbling
walls and ruined curbs. The Boxers rising up in resistance,
the officers and soldiers in the Qing government forces and
innocent Chinese were massacred in cold blood. Royal treasures
and scientific instruments, property of business firms and wealthy
families, and even property of lama temples were plundered.
Countless Chinese became homeless, having insufficient clothing
to cover their nakedness. These photos are authentic records
of the extremely miserable life of the Chinese people as a result
of the war.
The Eight-Power Allied Forces forced the Qing Government, which
had only 80 million taels of silver in annual revenue to pay
an indemnity of 450 million taels of silver to the powers. The
principal and interest of the indemnity, which were scheduled
to pay off in 39 years, totaled 980 million taels of silver.
As a consequence of the huge amount of indemnities and the heavy
government deficits, the people suffered all kinds of oppression.
The poor and weak China went further in the abyss of misery.
The photos are thought provoking - the development of every
country has a process of accumulation and progressive advancement,
and many developing countries had suffered the plunder and trample
of the strong powers. Today, as economic ties among various
countries have become increasingly close, developed countries
have the obligation to support the developing countries.
The Eight-Power Allied Forces forced the Qing Government to
disarm strategically important areas in Beijing, Tianjin and
Tangshan, permit garrisons by the powers, suppress the people's
resistance, severely punish officials supporting the Boxers,
allow the powers to expand the legation quarters in China as
well as rights for tariff agreement, Customs control, coastal
trade, river navigation, mining and railway construction, concession,
etc. China, in spite of its big size, had little sovereignty
left. Chinese people were subject to the bullying and killing
by the powers, and no human rights whatever could be spoken
of. Historical facts reflected by the photos clearly reveal
that human rights are nothing but an illusion without national
sovereignty.
People in China and the rest of the world long for mutual respect
to sovereignty, human rights, common development and prosperity.
The world needs peace and people want cooperation. Every nation
needs development and every society wants to make progress.
This is a trend of the times that no force can reverse. This
is also the historical enlightenment shed by this illustrated
book. |
