This essay examines how British political cartoonists responded to the Boxer Rebellion

as a means of understanding how the reading public comprehended the conflict. Drawing on the satirical magazine Punch

the Cardiff daily the Western Mail and the Sunday paper the News of the World

it interrogates cartoons as sources of editorial commentary

and as graphical texts capable of divergent interpretations. Contextual reading and careful evaluation of individual cartoons are vital elements in the reconstruction of readers’ understandings. Three themes in particular are considered: China as a case study of the dynamics of empire; the Rebellion as a cauldron of imperial rivalry; and the desire for (and difficulties of) exacting revenge for the Rebellion. cartoonists addressed the culpability of the Chinese imperial court for the Boxer Rebellion

although there was a sense that the Chinese leadership was capable of outmaneuvering the Allies in the wake of the relief of the Allied legations. Overall

cartoons expressed assumptions about Britain’s position in the world order and its responsibility for the maintenance of the status quo. The insight they afforded their readers into what motivated the Boxer Rebellion was very limited.