“From the Seeds Sown in the Soil”: The Boxer Rebellion and the Awakening of Russian Missionary Activity in China (1900–1917)
Anastasiia Akulich
4/2022
SUMMARY:
The decades following the antiforeign Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901) in China saw the culmination of the Russian Orthodox mission to the Chinese, as the Chinese Orthodox community expanded both geographically and numerically. This article attributes this rapid development to changes in the approaches to proselytizing. The Chinese Orthodox clergy played a central role in this process. Using the case study of celebrating All Saint Martyrs Day, commemorating the Orthodox victims of the Boxer Rebellion, the article emphasizes the importance of religious rituals in attracting new members to the Orthodox Church.