Read this excerpt from Two Heroes of Cathay: An Autobiography and a Sketch by Ch'i-hao Fei.
The people of Shansi are naturally timid and gentle, not
given to making disturbances, being the most peaceable
people in China. So our Shansi Christians were hopeful for
themselves, even when the reports from the coast grew
more alarming. But there was one thing which caused us
deep apprehension, and that was the fact that the wicked,
cruel. Yu Hsien, the hater of foreigners, was the newly
appointed Governor of Shansi. He had previously
promoted the Boxer movement in Shantung, and had
persuaded the Empress Dowager that the Boxers had
supernatural powers and were true patriots.
Early in June my college friend K'ung Hsiang Hsi came
back from Tungchou for his vacation, reporting that the
state of affairs there and at Peking was growing worse,
that the local officials were powerless against the Boxers,