Rode gebied is Binnen-Mongolie in China                                                                                                   

 Hoe ontstond deze opstand?

 Na de Chinees-Japanse oorlog van 1894-1895 werden de Europeanen steeds roekelozer. De belangen van landen zoals Frankrijk, Japan, de V.S, Oostenrijk-Hongarije, Rusland, Duitsland en Groot Britannie waren groot.  Vooral de laatste vijf jaar van de negentiende eeuw waren de Duitsers ambitieus.
Keizer Wilhelm II reageerde onmiddellijk toen in 1897 in de provincie Shandong twee missionarissen van de Duits-Nederlandse gemeente Steyl werden vermoord. De Duitse marine bezette een deel van de kust van Shandong.
Wilhelm II besloot het gebied voor zijn land te annexeren. Het was het begin van een race tussen de Europese machten om nieuwe gebieden in het Verre Oosten te verwerven.
Ook de rol van antiwesterse geschriften speelden een rol in een toenemende demonisering van met name Christenen.
Van de antichristelijke traktaten die aan het einde van de negentiende eeuw in China zijn gepubliceerd, was de meeste invloedrijke een boek genaamd ‘A Record of Facts to Ward off Heterodoxy’ (dwaalleer is een leer die afwijkt van de officiële)
Deze traktaten werden door volksgeloof (bijgeloof?) versterkt.
Voorbeeld: De ogen van kinderen zouden worden gebruikt door missionarissen voor het vervaardigen van medicijnen.

De Chinese regering kon niet voorkomen dat de Britten en Fransen delen van hun rijk in handen kregen. Ze konden de onderdanen ook niet beschermen. De mensen moesten steeds meer hun eigen leven organiseren. Dat was het begin van de zogenaamde bokseropstand. Tijdens de oorlog met Japan werden Chinese troepen vanuit het binnenland naar de kustgebieden overgebracht.
De moslims in het noorden voelden zich onderdrukt. Toen de troepen weg waren, kwamen ze opnieuw in opstand.

ENGLISH

The life of clergymen such as that of missionary Willem Meijer, his convictions and mission, can only be understood and interpreted if we also see the whole in the spirit of the time. The time from roughly the mid-19th century to the early years of the 20th century.
After the opium wars with China, England enforced the permission of missions throughout China through the treaties of Nanking and Tientsin. The Scheutists, as the missionaries from Brussels are called, chose the part of China north of the Great Wall and west of Manchuria, today known as Inner Mongolia, as their mission area.
The working area is immense, more than half a million square kilometers, with mountains, deserts and steppes, without significant infrastructure and hardly touched by Europeans.
The Scheutists don't have it easy. In the second year, 1866, they also found themselves without income. Moreover, it shows how vulnerable Europeans are to the diseases prevalent in rural China, partly as a result of primitive sanitary conditions. The climate is harsh: high heat alternates with
severe cold. Entire harvests are regularly lost and famine occurs.
Partly encouraged by the unstable political situation, the infamous robber gangs of starving people, religious fanatics, deserting soldiers and political opportunists emerged.
The missionaries have a lot to worry about. The disturbances gave the congregation its first martyrs during the Boxer Riot of 1900.

How did this uprising come about?

After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, the Europeans became increasingly reckless. The interests of countries such as France, Japan, the US, Austria-Hungary, Germany and Great Britain were great. The Germans were particularly ambitious in the last five years of the nineteenth century.
Emperor Wilhelm II reacted immediately when two missionaries from the German-Dutch community of Steyl were murdered in the province of Shandong in 1897. The German navy occupied part of the coast of Shandong.
Wilhelm II decided to annex the area for his country. It was the beginning of a race between the European powers to acquire new areas in the Far East.
The role of anti-Western writings also played a role in the increasing demonization of Christians in particular. Of the anti-Christian tracts published in China at the end of the nineteenth century, the most influential was a book called ‘A Record of Facts to Ward off Heterodoxy’ (heredity is a doctrine that deviates from the official one).
These tracts were reinforced by popular belief (superstition?).
Example: The eyes of children were said to be used by missionaries to make medicines.

The Chinese government could not prevent the British and French from taking over parts of their empire. They could not protect their subjects either. The people had to increasingly organize their own lives. That was the beginning of the so-called Boxer Rebellion. During the war with Japan, Chinese troops were transferred from the interior to the coastal areas.
The Muslims in the north felt oppressed. When the troops had left, they revolted again.

CHINESE

只有当我们从时代精神的角度看待整个事件时，才能理解和解读像威廉·梅耶尔这样的传教士的生活、他的信念和使命。这段时间大约从 19 世纪中叶到 20 世纪初。
鸦片战争后，英国通过南京条约和天津条约强制允许传教团在中国各地传教。布鲁塞尔的传教士被称为 Scheutists，他们选择了长城以北和满洲以西的中国部分地区（今天被称为内蒙古）作为他们的传教区。
传教区面积广阔，超过 50 万平方公里，有山脉、沙漠和草原，没有重要的基础设施，几乎没有欧洲人涉足。
Scheutists 的生活并不轻松。第二年，即 1866 年，他们也发现自己没有收入。此外，这也表明欧洲人很容易感染中国农村流行的疾病，部分原因是卫生条件恶劣。气候恶劣：高温与严寒交替。整个收成经常被毁，饥荒时有发生。
由于政治局势不稳定，臭名昭著的强盗团伙应运而生，这些团伙由饥饿的人、宗教狂热分子、逃兵和政治投机者组成。
传教士们有很多担心。1900 年义和团暴动期间，骚乱使教会第一批殉道者。