(Graduate research work at The John Hopkins University)
Removing the Myth Off This Mythical Masterpiece
At first glance, Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel set, Boxers & Saints(1), may be perceived a ‘fun, ‘easy-to-consume’ fiction narrative of the very real Boxer Rebellion that took place around the year 1900. Some may be quick to dismiss it as fit for a younger age audience, as this book secured a finalist spot in the National Book Awards 2013 for Young People’s Literature(2), and given it is a recommended reading for high school AP English Literature. Some may pick up the novel pair in search of historical facts and quickly realize their own futile effort.
Yang makes no attempt to make this work a repository of statistics and figures. At most, the reader’s interest may be stirred to pursue the topic separate on this mostly forgotten episode of Chinese people’s struggle to gain independence. Some may look to decipher general colonial concepts of the last few centuries but would also be equally disappointed, as this is not a comprehensive political narrative. Similarly, some may work hard to extract insights from the novels on the role of religion that divides and unites a common people but that too would certainly leave the readers yearning for a lot more, as Yang makes no such overt case for or against religion.
The Third Novel?
This paper takes on the challenge of removing superficial understandings of these graphic novels to reveal a potentially perceived motive of the author. This paper makes the case that Yang hopes the readers would reject both contrasting viewpoints offered in Boxers & Saints and instead craft a third version. One that does not merely combine two vantage points into one but far from it, compels the reader to acknowledge the complexities arise when you mix ethnicities, religions, and cultures and further layer on top of them competing political and economic motives. Any third version would not draw a straight-line conclusion but capture and celebrate the messiness created when people are cornered into their innate physical and emotional survival needs.
Know Thy Author
To understand the novel beyond its imagery and seemingly simplistic stories of love, loyalty, and tragedy, it is important to understand the creator’s context. In an interview with PBS3, Yang recalled, “Growing up, I did go through a period when I really struggled with my own ethnic heritage”. For Chinese-American Yang, he never resigned to accept one heritage over another. In fact, he said, “And a lot of my work is about that, is about how you can build an identity out of two pieces that don’t always easily fit together”(4). How Yang employs two mediums, art, and creative writing is also a testament to his philosophy of combining multiple viewpoints in hopes to offer richer perspectives. In the same PBS interview, Yang further makes the case that at first blush some unique and even conflicting items may have a lot more in common. He said, “Coding and writing stories, I really feel like I use the same parts of my brain to do both, right? When you’re making a comic what you do if you take a fairly complex storyline, and you have to break it up into individual panels. And coding is very much the same way. You take a complex concept and you break it up into individual lines. So, it’s all about taking the complex and breaking it into simple, understandable pieces”(5).
Beyond, Yang’s obvious talent to weave and deliver powerful stories, some of his work and specifically this set of graphic novels are heavily inspired by his Catholic beliefs. He draws literary influences from Catholic spiritual writers “such as Henri Nouwen and Shūsaku Endō”(6) and has formally applied the learnings as a campus minister at the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship(7).
A Brief History Lesson
Given the novels are centered around Boxer Rebellion, let us familiarize ourselves with its broader context(8). In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, rebellions against the Chinese Qing Dynasty were common. The opposition to the Chinese government took the form of local militias composed of peasants. The majority of the Chinese population lived in impoverished conditions struggling to survive let alone having an opportunity to participate in any economic and scientific advancements of that time. With the passage of time, the hostilities increased with the formation of a secret Chinese society known as Yihequan (“Righteous and Harmonious Fists”). Senior government officials desperate to keep a cover on their own corrupt practices redirected the energy of this organized movement towards the foreign presence in China in general and Western-sponsored Christian missionary activities in particular.
Yihequan or “Boxers”, as termed by the foreigners, grew its aggression towards foreign presence and the Christian religion as both were seen as the main reasons behind the economic and cultural decay of a proud Chinese past. By late 1899 and early 1900, these groups of superstitious fighters, who channeled ancient rituals to make up for the lack of modern weaponry, were in open conflict with many foreigners and their sympathizers. Boxers burnt churches and foreign residences and killed suspected Chinese Christians on sight(7). Several massacres later, a coalition of international forces of around 20,000 troops from Japan, Russia, Britain, United States, France, Austria-Hungary, and Italy was successful in capturing Beijing and swiftly followed up with their own lootings and killings until a peace protocol was signed in September 1901 putting closure on one of the bloodiest chapters of China-Foreign relations.
Great Wrongs to Commit Great Rights
In one of the closing scenes of Boxers, we come across a scene, where the peasant Boxers leader, Little Bao, gives an undertaking to his love, Mei-wen, a leader of a women-only fighting group called the Red Lantern. The promise is to not harm the ancient books stored in the imperial library, where the foreigners had taken refuge. Mei-Wen warns, “Don’t even think about it, Bao!. The books in that library date back a thousand years! They’re irreplaceable”, to which Bao meekly agrees, “I Promise”(9). The novel ends with the Boxers burning the library, killing the foreigners with Mei-Lin as an unexpected casualty who runs inside to salvage any books.
This scene tragically encapsulates the several overlapping and contradictory facets that a ‘third novel’ would explore further. The irony of Bao and his followers burning the literary legacy of China, the very culture they had pledged to protect(10). Related to this scene is one graphic that sums up the power dynamics of the day — the depiction of a European looking commander sitting on a horse and pointing his sword, while his turban bearing Indian foot soldiers pointing their guns towards Chinese rebels, who are dressed in a ‘sub-human’ looking attire(11).
Another sequence of scenes(12) early on in the Boxers novel is one where cross-bearing Chinese converts are forcefully taking a cow away from villagers, as some sort of a tribute. When the mother pleads, “Have mercy on this poor starving window and her daughters” and then flungs herself onto the preparator’s feet, he repels in disgust and with a short count of three, pierces his sword into the woman killing her, while her family watches in horror. His fellow compatriot is not terribly pleased and reminds him, “You’ll have to go to confession for that”. One related graphic is where Little Bao and his band of followers appear in their magnificent imposing costumes overlooking the unspeakable crime that has been just committed. The expressions on the daughter and the Christian converts are surprisingly the same. Neither is pleased or scared for that matter. Both parties are in awe. Intentionally or not, the artist has captured the desperation that takes in such age-old conflicts, where a point comes, when neither the villain nor the victim knows why the crimes are being committed.
Followers of the last few decades of wars and politics in Afghanistan may find the Boxer Rebellion reference eerily similar. A group of religious bandits, dressed in an alien-clothing, steeped in archaic beliefs, at war with multi-national foreign powers and ready to go to any length to eradicate foreign presence including the eradication of any imported knowledge and customs.
On one hand, it is tempting to pick a ‘safe’ side in such conflicts that are often presented as absolute right and wrong. On the other hand, any thoughtful analysis would expose much more. Atrocities are committed by all who are yielding for power. Sincere victims who get mixed up and get painted by the same brush. Compromises that passionate believers of causes are willing to make in the name of love and family. Extreme rigidity that many can demonstrate in the name of nationalism. And, mantles of leadership being assumed often by the most unassuming characters.
Yang brilliantly uses the mixed medium of art and words to allow the reader to look for a divergent set of views. In his writing, he makes use of his own simultaneous upbringing in two very different cultures and how the resulting personality was guided by his faith. One can sense the tension that Yang must have faced in addressing the Boxer Rebellion, given his Christian values and his allegiance to his Chinese heritage. And given the complex sentiments behind the rebellion, the choice of graphic format to add color and bring the emotions to life was an excellent one.
References
• (1.) Yang, G, Pien, L. Boxers & Saints. ISBN 978–1–59643–924–5. First Second Books, 2013.
• (2.) National Book Foundation. Retrieved from https://www.nationalbook.org/books/boxers-saints/
• (3.) This graphic novelist and reading ambassador tells kids to reach beyond their comfort zone. PBS News Hour. December, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/graphic-novelist-reading-ambassador-tells-kids-reach-beyond-comfort-zone
• (4.) This graphic novelist and reading ambassador tells kids to reach beyond their comfort zone. PBS News Hour. December, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/graphic-novelist-reading-ambassador-tells-kids-reach-beyond-comfort-zone
• (5.) This graphic novelist and reading ambassador tells kids to reach beyond their comfort zone. PBS News Hour. December, 2016. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/graphic-novelist-reading-ambassador-tells-kids-reach-beyond-comfort-zone
• (6.) Gene Luen Yang’s comic consciousness. U.S. Catholic. September, 2014. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/graphic-novelist-reading-ambassador-tells-kids-reach-beyond-comfort-zone
• (7.) InterVarsity Alumni — Gene Yang. InterVarsity. November, 2006. Retrieved from https://intervarsity.org/news/intervarsity-alumni-gene-yang
• (8.) Chinese History, Boxer Rebellion. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/event/Boxer-Rebellion
• (9.) Yang, p. 305.
Aug 3, 2020 Boxers — Graphic Novel Review 7
• (10.) Views of the Rebellion. Yang, W. New York Times. October, 2013. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/13/books/review/gene-luen-yangs-boxers-and-saints.html
• (11.) Yang, p. 321.
• (12.) Yang, p. 124.
