1900 Japanese Bi-lingual Woodblock Map of Peking (Beijing), China (Boxer Rebellion)

This is an important and rare 1900 Japanese woodblock map of Beijing or Peking. Centered on the Forbidden City, the map depicts the city following the multinational suppression of the Boxer Rebellion (Yihetuan Movement) of 1900. The map was issued to illustrate the areas of occupation associated with each of the powers in the Eight-Nation Alliance.

The Boxer Rebellion or Yihetuan Movement was an anti-foreign anti-imperialist uprising marked by proto-nationalism in northeastern China. The rebellion was largely a response to Christian missionary activity in China and was initially supported by the Qing Empress Dowager Cixi. In June of 1900 the quasi-spiritual Boxers, convinced they were immune to foreign weapons, attacked the Chinese Christians and foreigners living in Beijing's Legation Quarter. Although many killings ensued the legations were able to prepare a tenuous defense and found themselves besieged. Relief came quickly in the form of the Eight-National Alliance, which, with an army of some 20,000, defeated the Boxers and occupied Beijing, as well as a number of other northern Chinese cities. The atrocities and looting that ensued, particularly at the hands of Russian and Japanese forces, are well documented and horrifying.

Cartographically this map is based upon a similar map issued by the Qing c. 1867 for administrative purposes (Jingch�ng n�iw�i shou sh�n qu�n t� / 'Premier Full Map of the Capital City's Interior and Exterior' / ????????). The plates were sized by the Japanese during the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion and subsequently printed, then overprinted, with additional historical details, including flags and territory demarcations, associated with the subsequent occupation of the city by the Alliance. The result is this map. Variants appear in French, German, Japanese, and, as with the present example, English. Presumably a Russian variant may also exist, but we have not seen it. Most text is in Chinese with some Japanese and English. This is a rare and significant map of great historical importance.