3 Review(s)

This book is an annotated English translation of Gadadhar Singh's Cin Me Terah Mas (1902), a stunning account, in Hindi, of his experiences in China as a soldier in the International Expedition-a multinational force of eight nations organized in the summer of 1900 to march on the capital city of Beijing, lift the siege of the Foreign Legations there, and defeat the insurgent Boxers and the Qing Empire that supported the movement. Written shortly after his return from Beijing, Singh details many aspects of China and its people he encountered in person over the course of thirteen months. Part travelogue, part history, his story of China offers an eyewitness account of the tumultuous events of the Boxer Uprising and its aftermath along with a remarkable close-up view of Chinese society, culture, politics, religion, art, and architecture, and other 'knowable and suitable subjects', from the perspective of an Indian subaltern.