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Beleaguered in Peking
In June 1900, Boxer rebels attacked the foreign community in China's capital, forcing all non-Chinese along with hundreds of Chinese Christians, to take refuge in the foreign Legation Quarter. In this first-hand account, American doctor Robert Coltman takes us inside the besieged legations, describing the diplomatic missteps, daring sorties, broken friendships and international camaraderie under fire.
160 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 11, 2025
The author, Robert Coltman, was a doctor who was among those besieged in the legations during the Boxer rebellion. The book is a (mostly non-edited) collection of notes and journal entries by the doctor and his son about the period directly before and during the siege. It has some photos but they are mainly for flavor of Beijing at the time rather than showing the events themselves (because no one was able to set up a camera in those conditions, when going outside might mean getting shot or shelled).
Coltman is very critical of all the ministers, the diplomats who were in charge of the legations. They all took the Imperial government at their word and didn't call for armed guards or evacuation until it was too late. His respect is all for the military men who laid up stores in anticipation of trouble, the missionary Gamewell who organized the defenses, and everyone who showed bravery. I have read other accounts, but I wanted to read the primary sources.
One thing that really comes through is Coltman's belief that some people just count more than others. The officers deaths matter more than the enlisted men's. The European's interest matter more than the Chinese interests. That the gentlemen and their families have to eat horse meat matters more than that the Chinese Christians have to eat soup made from the bones of the horses, because of course they couldn't share their meat with them, there wasn't enough to go around. And he was among the more open-minded at his time.
One interesting thing I have been doing is asking ChatGPT to help me find information about the Boxer rebellion in Chinese. Here is one account that has been translated into English: https://writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/bo...
I enjoy reading the accounts of the people under siege and how they respond under pressure, but I also am fascinated by the young men and women who studied mystical kung fu on the other side of the conflict and believed it gave them superpowers.
Coltman is very critical of all the ministers, the diplomats who were in charge of the legations. They all took the Imperial government at their word and didn't call for armed guards or evacuation until it was too late. His respect is all for the military men who laid up stores in anticipation of trouble, the missionary Gamewell who organized the defenses, and everyone who showed bravery. I have read other accounts, but I wanted to read the primary sources.
One thing that really comes through is Coltman's belief that some people just count more than others. The officers deaths matter more than the enlisted men's. The European's interest matter more than the Chinese interests. That the gentlemen and their families have to eat horse meat matters more than that the Chinese Christians have to eat soup made from the bones of the horses, because of course they couldn't share their meat with them, there wasn't enough to go around. And he was among the more open-minded at his time.
One interesting thing I have been doing is asking ChatGPT to help me find information about the Boxer rebellion in Chinese. Here is one account that has been translated into English: https://writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/bo...
I enjoy reading the accounts of the people under siege and how they respond under pressure, but I also am fascinated by the young men and women who studied mystical kung fu on the other side of the conflict and believed it gave them superpowers.
October 8, 2017
A very crisp and informative read, it paints a good picture of the Siege of the Legations Quarter during the Boxer Rebellion. But the only drawback I see in this book is that the structure is haphazard and the writing a bit too direct.
I know the author is not a writer by profession, but only a medical man who was present there, yet I could reconstruct the Beijing of 1900 from his words. A few photographs do put a perspective, but I found the aspect of capturing an essence of a certain place in a certain time lacking.
I know the author is not a writer by profession, but only a medical man who was present there, yet I could reconstruct the Beijing of 1900 from his words. A few photographs do put a perspective, but I found the aspect of capturing an essence of a certain place in a certain time lacking.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews