The Siege at Peking Author:Peter Fleming On June 20, 1900 the foreign legations at Peking were attacked by Boxers and Imperial Chinese troops, with the equivocal support of the Empress Dowager, Tz'u Hsi. The ensuing siege was to last for 55 days, and the news of it shook the world. — The Siege of the Legations was a landmark in the development of Modern China. It brought to a head t... more »he crisis in the Celestial Empire's relations with the outside world. Its outcome exacerbated the decline of the Empire and the Manchu dynasty which had ruled China since 1644.
Peter Fleming, epitome of the enlightened gentleman explorer, traveled extensively in China and Central Asia as a correspondent of The Times (London) early in the 1930s. He interviewed survivors of the siege, and his report is as vivid today as when first published.« less