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Abstract

British military aggression during the Opium War forced China to open up her coastal ports to Westerners for trade and to Christian missionaries for evangelization. Commerce and Christianity, opium and Christ were somehow connected in this relationship between Western powers and China. It was a relationship shaped by the unequal treaties imposed upon China by the West and thus it was marked by hostilities, resentment and hatred. The effects of the Opium War led to various local uprisings against the foreigners as well as against the Qing government for its failure to prevent the Westerners from humiliating China. These upheavals in China were also caused by political corruption, military degradation and natural disasters. This article focuses on two major uprisings – the Taiping Rebellion and the Boxer War – which were sparked off by anti-foreign and anti-Christian sentiments. It also attempts to highlight the impact of Christianity on Chinese soil, which on the whole was disastrous and tragic, as we shall see in the Taiping Revolt as well as the Boxer Movement.

Keywords

Economic imperialism Ecclesiastical Imperialism Taiping Rebellion Boxer Rebellion Hong Xiuquan

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“Oh,East is East,and West is West,and never the twain shall meet”: Economic imperialism and ecclesiastical imperialism

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