<P> The Boxer Rebellion (拳 亂), Boxer Uprising or Yihetuan Movement (義和團 運動) was a violent anti-foreign, anti-colonial and anti-Christian uprising that took place in China between 1899 and 1901, toward the end of the Qing dynasty . </P> <P> It was initiated by the Militia United in Righteousness (Yihetuan), known in English as the "Boxers", for many of their members had been practitioners of Chinese martial arts, also referred to in the west as "Chinese Boxing". They were motivated by proto - nationalist sentiments and by opposition to Western colonialism and the Christian missionary activity that was associated with it . </P> <P> The uprising took place against a background that included severe drought and disruption caused by the growth of foreign spheres of influence . After several months of growing violence, in Shandong and the North China plain, against the both foreign and Christian presence in June 1900, Boxer fighters, convinced they were invulnerable to foreign weapons, converged on Beijing with the slogan "Support the Qing government and exterminate the foreigners ." Foreigners and Chinese Christians sought refuge in the Legation Quarter . </P> <P> In response to reports of an armed invasion to lift the siege, the initially hesitant Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Boxers and on June 21 issued an Imperial Decree declaring war on the foreign powers . Diplomats, foreign civilians and soldiers as well as Chinese Christians in the Legation Quarter were detained for 55 days by the Imperial Army of China and the Boxers . </P>

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