Early 20th century China was a nation burdened with a corrupt and incompetent imperial government,

a government accustomed to dealing with foreign challenges by excluding them,

and domestic challenges by repressing them.

The result was a nation riddled with secret societies, which organized around a variety of different and often conflicting ideals.

The Boxer Uprising of 1900 saw one such movement suddenly burst into prominence and then be defeated.

But there were others, still hiding in the shadows, biding their time.

Welcome to the history of the 20th century.

Music Episode 58, The Republic of China.

We're due to return to China here on the history of the 20th century.

We examined the Boxer uprising all the way back in episodes 14 and 15,

and China played a supporting role in the story of the Russo-Japanese War, episodes 31 to 36.

And when I say supporting role, of course, what I mean is the war was fought almost entirely on

Chinese soil, but the Chinese state and people were only peripherally involved in it.

And when the nation that includes more than a quarter of the human race within its borders

is only peripherally involved in a major war being fought over its own territory,

you know that something is very, very wrong.

When we looked at the Boxer Uprising, we saw some of the secret societies that were pervasive in China at the time.

The Boxer Uprising was sparked by an anti-foreigner and pro-Ching collection of societies in the northeastern part of China, particularly Shandong province.

It was in those secret societies that these anti-foreigner sentiments would fester before they emerged as the boxer uprising.

But groups like the boxers were not the only sort of secret societies in China.

Today I want to look in particular to southern China, in and around the port city of Guangzhou,

often called Canton in English. I said back in episode 14 that port city of Guangzhou, often called Canton in English.

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