Please join us for a viewing of “55 Days at Peking*, a 1963 historical drama film based on the siege of the Legations during the Boxer rebellion in the summer of 1900. The events surrounding the Boxer Rebellion are well-known; but the Boxers themselves have served as an image onto which both the West and China have projected their ideas about each other. Just as during the uprising when Empress Cixi’s court vacillated between support for the anti-foreign movement and repression, China has seen the Boxers alternately as a backward and superstitious movement rejecting much-needed modernisation, and as the authentic voice of the people. The West has traditionally projected onto the Boxer movement its fear of a numberless horde, barbaric and primitive, seeking to overwhelm the West (the “Yellow Peril”), although modern historians have a more nuanced view. The film lasts 2.5 hours and stars David Niven, Ava Gardner and Charlton Heston, A brief introduction will be given by John Olbrich of Tsinghua University, an RASBJ member, who will be lecturing on the Boxer movement later this year.

WHEN: Friday, October 23, 1900-2130 PM

WHERE: Courtyard Institute, #28 Zhong Lao Hutong, Dongcheng District

HOW MUCH: RMB 30 for RASBJ members, RMB 60 for non­-RASBJ members

RSVP: email *[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>* and write “55 Days” in the subject header to let us know which event you wish to attend.</mailto:[email protected]>