With the development of internet technology

folk network history writing has become more and more common. What is the difference between it and previous academic history writing and what is their relationship? These are obvious questions worthy of attention. This article focuses on academic writing and folk network writing about the Shanxi Events during the Boxer Movement

and discusses the content of the two writings and their mutual influence. The article points out that the academic writing of the Shanxi Events is constantly changing in correspondence with the changing evaluation of the Boxer Movement through time. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China

many academic works on the Boxer Movement generally do not mention the Shanxi Events as they impose some negative influence. As a result

there had been only voices of overseas researchers for a long period of time. The recent rise of folk network writing about the Shanxi Events with its curious narrative filled this gap to a certain extent. But its non-professional nature affected the quality of this narrative. Based on comparison

this article concludes that the emergence of folk network historiography reminds academic historians of how to properly handle certain negative stories in late Qing history in the internet era

and establish the voice for historical knowledge. This article specifically points out that while folk network historiography breaks away from the biased tendencies that once guided academic historiography

it should also be alert to the emotional and mythological tendencies towards specific people and events.