Boxers

February 18, 2020
Boxers Book Cover Boxers
Boxers & Saints, #1
Gene Luen Yang
Historical Fiction
First Second
September 10th, 2013
Graphic Novel
328
Library
Young Adult
Gene Yuen Yang

China, 1898. Bands of foreign missionaries and soldiers roam the countryside, bullying and robbing Chinese peasants.

Little Bao has had enough. Harnessing the powers of ancient Chinese gods, he recruits an army of Boxers—commoners trained in kung fu—who fight to free China from "foreign devils."

Against all odds, this grass-roots rebellion is violently successful. But nothing is simple. Little Bao is fighting for the glory of China, but at what cost? So many are dying, including thousands of "secondary devils"—Chinese citizens who have converted to Christianity.

 

The last book I read by Gene Luen Yang was multi-award-winning American Born Chinese. Something about it didn’t work for me. It was overly complex, perhaps? China’s Boxer Rebellion (Nov. 1899-Sept.1901) is, like most wars, a complicated thing to explain. After my last encounter with Yang, I didn’t have high hopes. And yet, Yang distills this war into something even young children can understand through his graphic novel, Boxers. From the point of view of a young peasant, Little Bao, we are immersed in the origins of the war. I was expecting history, but I wasn’t expecting a magical realism element – and it completely made the book for me.

~~Click on the images to expand~~


Synopsis

Little Bao is a firm believer in his faith. When a Christian priest comes to his village and destroys their idol, the final straw in a series of offenses to his family and village, Bao knows he wants to free China from the “Foreign Devils”. His village is trained in Kung-Fu, known in the West as Chinese Boxing, from a wandering member of another faction out against the Foreign Devils. Learning from another teacher, Bao discovers a way to call on the power of the ancestral Gods the Chinese worship during battle. With this added bonus, Bao leads the now Boxers to Peking to end the terror of the foreign devils.

 

Story/Characters/Plot: 4/5

Exploring the Boxer Rebellion through the eyes of Bao, we learn that war is complex. For Bao, this is personal, but he is also a man. He has compassion and love in his heart. Going off to war is not as easy for Bao as it is for others and we see him make exceptionally difficult decisions over and over again. It was refreshing to see how challenging war can be. Many popular comics avoid the subtleties and complexities of war. Yang tackles them head-on.

My favorite moments were when Bao argues with the ancestral spirit of Ch’in Shih-Huang (Qin Shi Huang), the first Emperor of China, and his ancestral spirit. Huang is relentless in convincing Bao he should leave no one spared. Not the foreign devils nor the “secondary devils”, the Chinese converts to Christianity and their sympathizers. Learning about the morals the ancestral Gods impart into each of the characters made it easy to understand why and how the Boxers escalated to such violence.

 

Art/Coloring: 5/5

Yang’s art style is, on the surface, very simple. Strong lines and simple shapes tangle together to create each cell. But when you look more closely, you see that there is exceptional nuance here. Every character has a unique face that is unique to their culture. I bet if you showed someone random faces from characters in Boxers, they would be able to identify if this character is Chinese or Western without hesitating. This is not something I have been exposed to often in graphic novels. Which sounds horrible! But, it’s true… Perhaps I need to read graphic novels with a higher caliber of art?

The coloring is wonderful, as well. Muted, dull colors are used to depict the majority of Bao’s journey. When Bao and his friends call upon their Ancestral Gods, however, the color becomes more vibrant and powerful. This stark contrast demonstrates the power faith and spirit instill into a broken people. It’s easy to see, through coloring alone, how the Boxers grew into such a formidable force.

 

Conclusion: 4/5

Boxers is a book I could read over and over again and still not see everything within its pages. Yang weaves subtle messages together throughout, but they are all tied into the same key theme all of Yuen’s writing has focused on – the complex relationship between Chinese and Western culture.


What do you think?

  • Have you read Boxers? If so, what do you think of it?
  • What books have you read set during, or about, the Boxer Rebellion?
  • Do you have favorite graphic novel artists? Who are they?

7 Comments

  • Krysta February 18, 2020 at 9:28 pm

    I had trouble getting into American Born Chinese, too. Maybe because I didn’t understand all the allusions, maybe because I didn’t like the multiple story lines. I love Boxers and Saints, however. I think read together they are even more powerful because you get to see both sides of the story, how each side views the war.

    • Jackie B February 25, 2020 at 11:54 am

      I’m glad that I’m not alone on American Born Chinese. I felt so dumb when I read it… Perhaps in a few years I’ll re-read it and understand better.

      I agree! They are a very powerful duology. I have a review for Saints scheduled and I’m currently working on a discussion post comparing the two and why they are essential together. I honestly don’t know if I’d consider them a true duology. Instead two halves of the same novel. Without reading Saints we cannot fully understand what Yang was going for!

      • Krysta March 3, 2020 at 9:12 am

        Yeah, I think I got it more the second time around, but I still find it more confusing than Yang’s other work, which I generally adore.

        Yes! You put it so perfectly!

  • Grab the Lapels February 19, 2020 at 12:38 pm

    Based on the name Little Bao, I thought this book would be about a boy who takes on a revolution. What kept the book from being a full five stars for you?

    • Jackie B February 25, 2020 at 2:45 pm

      The story’s strength tapered off close to the end of the book. I realize now that I’ve read the sequel, this is partially due to Yang’s intention with the duology. But once they reached Peking the revolution felt less personal; many of the little details I cherished in the earlier parts of the books were sacrificed. I get it. This is a much larger scope than small fights in tiny villages. But Yang had conditioned me to expect more.

  • Dani @ Perspective of a Writer March 2, 2020 at 3:05 pm

    Fascinating. I need to read American Born Chinese.

    This covers history I’m not really interested in but it sounds like compelling storytelling at work nevertheless. Part of it is the art style does little for me. My tastes aren’t American enough now

    I do think it’s fascinating that he split the story into two to show both sides. That’s how history should always be treated so it is a powerful idea to me. I like the idea of your other posts about this series, so I’ll have to keep an eye out for them.

    I was wondering too why it wasn’t 5 stars but what you explained in the comments made a lot of sense. The end should be powerful and not peter out.

    • Jackie B March 9, 2020 at 9:42 pm

      It’s really interesting to me how different Eastern and Western art styles are in graphic novels and comics. You’d think they’d be closer to each other, based purely on a similar medium. I appreciate the stylistic differences, however, and can relate to your sentiment. It’s okay not to have “American” tastes! You’re much more diversely read than I am as a result.

      I just posted my review of Saints — hopefully that will help you connect more to the dual nature of this story. It’s so much more compelling as a pair.

      The more time which passes, and the more often I think of Boxers & Saints the more I want to update this post to 5-stars. If Yang can get me to think about his comics for weeks after I’ve finished them, well, he deserves that extra star.

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