Modern Asian Studies 40,3(2006)pp.663-689.2006 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0026749X06002071 Printed in the United Kingdom The Boxer Indemnity-Nothing but Bad FRANK H.H.KING University of Hong Kong There was nothing unusual in an indemnity perse.Indeed,an indemnity could be seen as a forward step in European civilization,replacing the regime of indiscriminate plunder which preceded it-although it could equally be argued that in their pacification of north China following the razing of the Siege of the Legations in 1goo the Allies,through their looting of the Tientsin and Peking areas in disregard of recently agreed definitions,had acquired both indemnity and plunder.2 Indeed the chaos was such that among the first financial and contradictory consequences of the post-Boxer period was Sir Robert Hart's successful arrangement with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of a loan of Ts1o,ooo a month for the chief Chinese negotiator, Prince Ch'ing [I-K'uang],on the one hand,while in Shansi the Protestant Church refused to accept any indemnity for the Christian lives lost;consequently the authorities voluntarily agreed to establish a University on Western lines,to be maintained by the authorities, and to operate under joint control for ten years at the annual cost of Ts50,000.3 1 Sir Robert Hart,Inspector-General of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, to James Duncan Campbell(1833-1907),Hart's London manager,referring to both the gold nature of the indemnity and to its size:The future looks very dark indeed and I fear nothing but bad will result.'Postscript to letter 3068,dated 17.July 19o2, in Confidential Correspondence between Robert Hart and James Duncan Campbell,1874-1907, Chen Xiafei and Han Rongfang,chief eds(Beijing:Foreign Languages Press,1993), IIL.This paper was originally designed for the conference on the Boxer Uprising,held in SOAS in 2001,and rightly considered the indemnity as a heritage of the Boxer Uprising'. 2 E.g.,James L.Hevia,Plundering Beijing,1900-1',or as Robert Collins,cor- respondent for the Associated Press,who witnessed the events,cabled New York,'the forces of civilized Powers were engaged in an unbelievable plundering of the region.' This essay is written with memories of an old man wasting away in a Southampton nursing home and of a little boy who sat with him. 3 Prince Ch'ing (I-K'uang or Yi Kuang)referred to in Sir Robert Hart to J.C. Campbell,letter 2897 dated 12 September 1goo,in Confidential Correspondence,III, 502.The loan was arranged,on the recommendation of Hart,with J.K.Tweed of the 0026-749X/o6/87-50+$0.10 663Modern Asian Studies 40, 3 (2006) pp. 663–689.
C 2006 Cambridge University Press doi:10.1017/S0026749X06002071 Printed in the United Kingdom The Boxer Indemnity—‘Nothing but Bad’1 FRANK H. H. KING University of Hong Kong There was nothing unusual in an indemnity per se. Indeed, an indemnity could be seen as a forward step in European civilization, replacing the regime of indiscriminate plunder which preceded it—although it could equally be argued that in their pacification of north China following the razing of the Siege of the Legations in 1900 the Allies, through their looting of the Tientsin and Peking areas in disregard of recently agreed definitions, had acquired both indemnity and plunder.2 Indeed the chaos was such that among the first financial and contradictory consequences of the post-Boxer period was Sir Robert Hart’s successful arrangement with the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation of a loan of Ts10,000 a month for the chief Chinese negotiator, Prince Ch’ing [I-K’uang], on the one hand, while in Shansi the Protestant Church refused to accept any indemnity for the Christian lives lost; consequently the authorities voluntarily agreed to establish a University on Western lines, to be maintained by the authorities, and to operate under joint control for ten years at the annual cost of Ts 50,000. 3 1 Sir Robert Hart, Inspector-General of the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs, to James Duncan Campbell (1833–1907), Hart’s London manager, referring to both the gold nature of the indemnity and to its size: ‘The future looks very dark indeed and I fear nothing but bad will result.’ Postscript to letter 3068, dated 17 July 1902, in Confidential Correspondence between Robert Hart and James Duncan Campbell, 1874–1907, Chen Xiafei and Han Rongfang, chief eds (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1993), III. This paper was originally designed for the conference on the Boxer Uprising, held in SOAS in 2001, and rightly considered the indemnity as a ‘heritage of the Boxer Uprising’. 2 E.g., James L. Hevia, ‘Plundering Beijing, 1900–1’, or as Robert Collins, cor￾respondent for the Associated Press, who witnessed the events, cabled New York, ‘the forces of civilized Powers were engaged in an unbelievable plundering of the region.’ This essay is written with memories of an old man wasting away in a Southampton nursing home and of a little boy who sat with him. 3 Prince Ch’ing (I-K’uang or Yi Kuang) referred to in Sir Robert Hart to J. C. Campbell, letter 2897 dated 12 September 1900, in Confidential Correspondence, III, 502. The loan was arranged, on the recommendation of Hart, with J. K. Tweed of the 0026–749X/06/$7.50+$0.10 663