In 55 DAYS AT PEKING, Samuel Bronston tried to retell the story of how in 1900the Chinese decided to risk everything to get rid of foreign devils. Another comment on this board presented the story pretty fairly. For nearly one hundred years the Portuguese and then the British had made in roads into China, taking over territory on the coasts, and making increasingly arrogant demands on the weakened Manchu dynasty for trade and territorial concessions. After 1870 the French, Germans, Russians, and Japanese got into the act. The U.S. too had a large trade with China, but it never got involved with territorial demands (we were developing the American West in the period). However, many American based missionaries did set up their missions in China - and could be somewhat demanding on the local populations.
But what is not usually gone into is the other side of the coin. China was not well governed for the bulk of the population. In fact, in the 1850s and 1860s there was a long and bloody Civil War (The Taiping Rebellion) that was to make an international figure out of the British General who finally put it down (Charles George "Chinese" Gordon). The reason for the rebellion was partly religious, but it was also partly economic - the peasantry was tired supporting the Manchu Court in Beijing (the Peking of the movie title). A succession of weak emperors were plaguing the country, who were manipulated by Tzu - Hsi (one of the most unscrupulous monarchs in history).
Tzu - Hsi would basically control the Chinese Government from 1860 to 1908, when she died. Her idea of government responsibility is illustrated by a famous act of selfishness she performed. When China's navy was trounced in the Sino - Japanese War of 1894 (Japan had a modern navy), it was decided to use tax money to build up the Chinese navy to compete with Japan again. The Dowager Empress agreed - she took the money earmarked for battleships, and built a super battleship. Only it was made of marble, in the shape of a battleship, and was put on land as a summer palace. It is still standing as a tourist attraction.
Humiliations were not only done by Europeans, Americans, and Japanese. If you recall the geography lesson scene in THE KING AND I, the children are unconvinced about the small size of Siam as opposed to China. The Crown Prince points out that China can't be that big - it's monarchy is considered weak, while Siam's is strong. Well, in this period, Siam (Thailand) also had managed to get some territory back from China - and to become rather important in the area of southeast Asia. This would not have been the case in the 17th or 18th Centuries.
In 1900 the Chinese finally exploded. The people had been forming para-military groups in the late 1890s (in the wake of the defeat by Japan) which were ultra-Nationalist, fervently anti-foreign, and fervently in favor of Chinese religious beliefs over Christian. The Dowager Empress realized that it would be advantageous to her to let these energies be expanded towards the foreigners: it would keep these people looking too closely at her misrule. Without officially countenancing these groups (called "Boxers" because their translated names - like "Harmonious Fists" - were mistaken by westerners to refer to boxing terms), the Empress allowed them to erupt.
Her motivation was mostly self-protection, but there was another key to it that the westerners were aware of. China, with close to 500 million inhabitants, was the most populated state in the world. They might be able to field army after army long after the other states were drained of manpower. There is some evidence the Empress believed this wishful thinking, not realizing that at some point the population of China would also be seriously hurting by such casualties.
It was the intention of the Boxers to kill or drive out the foreign devils. This is what the story is about, and how the various foreign embassies in Beijing joined forces to fight for their lives.
The acting in the film is pretty good, in particular the troubled David Niven as the British Ambassador, who even at the end wonders if his own ambitions dictated his policies. He was in a backwater embassy, and did he subconsciously help raise the crisis to a boil to make a name for himself. Flora Robson's empress is delightfully evil, until she realizes that she has brought forth the very powers that will destroy her. Charlton Heston is good as the American military leader, who keeps finding ways to stave off the tens of thousands of armed Chinese from invading the legislative compound. Ava Gardner is not great in the romantic portions with Heston, but she does shine in her scenes with her brother-in-law Kurt Kazner (the Russian Ambassador), who blames her for his brother's death, and in her scenes with Paul Lukas (as the German doctor) tending the wounded and dying, until Lukas is forced to watch her die as well (a good performance by him too).
What was ironically missed in 1900 was that the Chinese managed to do what a century of "peace" in Europe failed to: the major powers did cooperate to rescue their legations, and put down the Boxers. It was the only instance of this during the age of imperialism - but there was no Bismarck or Disraeli or Castlereagh or Metternich about to build on it! Had there been such, possibly some of the causes that led to World War I fourteen years later would have been avoided. Instead, the great powers resumed bickering again.
But what is not usually gone into is the other side of the coin. China was not well governed for the bulk of the population. In fact, in the 1850s and 1860s there was a long and bloody Civil War (The Taiping Rebellion) that was to make an international figure out of the British General who finally put it down (Charles George "Chinese" Gordon). The reason for the rebellion was partly religious, but it was also partly economic - the peasantry was tired supporting the Manchu Court in Beijing (the Peking of the movie title). A succession of weak emperors were plaguing the country, who were manipulated by Tzu - Hsi (one of the most unscrupulous monarchs in history).
Tzu - Hsi would basically control the Chinese Government from 1860 to 1908, when she died. Her idea of government responsibility is illustrated by a famous act of selfishness she performed. When China's navy was trounced in the Sino - Japanese War of 1894 (Japan had a modern navy), it was decided to use tax money to build up the Chinese navy to compete with Japan again. The Dowager Empress agreed - she took the money earmarked for battleships, and built a super battleship. Only it was made of marble, in the shape of a battleship, and was put on land as a summer palace. It is still standing as a tourist attraction.
Humiliations were not only done by Europeans, Americans, and Japanese. If you recall the geography lesson scene in THE KING AND I, the children are unconvinced about the small size of Siam as opposed to China. The Crown Prince points out that China can't be that big - it's monarchy is considered weak, while Siam's is strong. Well, in this period, Siam (Thailand) also had managed to get some territory back from China - and to become rather important in the area of southeast Asia. This would not have been the case in the 17th or 18th Centuries.
In 1900 the Chinese finally exploded. The people had been forming para-military groups in the late 1890s (in the wake of the defeat by Japan) which were ultra-Nationalist, fervently anti-foreign, and fervently in favor of Chinese religious beliefs over Christian. The Dowager Empress realized that it would be advantageous to her to let these energies be expanded towards the foreigners: it would keep these people looking too closely at her misrule. Without officially countenancing these groups (called "Boxers" because their translated names - like "Harmonious Fists" - were mistaken by westerners to refer to boxing terms), the Empress allowed them to erupt.
Her motivation was mostly self-protection, but there was another key to it that the westerners were aware of. China, with close to 500 million inhabitants, was the most populated state in the world. They might be able to field army after army long after the other states were drained of manpower. There is some evidence the Empress believed this wishful thinking, not realizing that at some point the population of China would also be seriously hurting by such casualties.
It was the intention of the Boxers to kill or drive out the foreign devils. This is what the story is about, and how the various foreign embassies in Beijing joined forces to fight for their lives.
The acting in the film is pretty good, in particular the troubled David Niven as the British Ambassador, who even at the end wonders if his own ambitions dictated his policies. He was in a backwater embassy, and did he subconsciously help raise the crisis to a boil to make a name for himself. Flora Robson's empress is delightfully evil, until she realizes that she has brought forth the very powers that will destroy her. Charlton Heston is good as the American military leader, who keeps finding ways to stave off the tens of thousands of armed Chinese from invading the legislative compound. Ava Gardner is not great in the romantic portions with Heston, but she does shine in her scenes with her brother-in-law Kurt Kazner (the Russian Ambassador), who blames her for his brother's death, and in her scenes with Paul Lukas (as the German doctor) tending the wounded and dying, until Lukas is forced to watch her die as well (a good performance by him too).
What was ironically missed in 1900 was that the Chinese managed to do what a century of "peace" in Europe failed to: the major powers did cooperate to rescue their legations, and put down the Boxers. It was the only instance of this during the age of imperialism - but there was no Bismarck or Disraeli or Castlereagh or Metternich about to build on it! Had there been such, possibly some of the causes that led to World War I fourteen years later would have been avoided. Instead, the great powers resumed bickering again.