Dalla Cina vittoriosa alla Cina vittima. La memoria della spedizione contro i Boxer tra “umiliazione”, legittimazione e contestazione

Since 1949, memory of foreign domination has played a central role in the legitimation strategies of the Chinese Communist Party. Originally celebrating China as the “victor” against imperialist powers, official memory has later rediscovered the “humiliations” that China suffered. Mass violence perpetrated by foreigners against the Chinese population is part of this official memory. This is the case with violence inflicted by the Eight Powers in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion. The changing memory of those events reflects the broader shift in China’s official memory from victor to victim, but also China’s evolving relationship with the West. Not coincidentally, memory of this specific “humiliation” has reemerged in the context of recent tensions with the West.