The 1899 Boxer spirit-possession and invulnerability rites

Record summary

Boxer groups in northern China used trance, martial ritual and alleged possession by deities or legendary figures as part of mobilization against Christian missions, Qing opponents and foreign powers. Practitioners were reported to believe that ritual training could confer protection from bullets, although the movement’s military defeat provided an immediate counterexample to literal invulnerability claims. The episode is useful for comparing possession, anti-colonial religion and collective millenarian action. Sources include Qing documents, missionary reports, foreign military narratives and later Chinese scholarship, which differ sharply in terminology and interpretation.