The Kansu Braves

Northwestern soldiers of Imperial China in the Boxer Rebellion

The Kansu Braves were among the most distinctive and formidable Chinese troops engaged during the Boxer Rebellion. Their usual Chinese name was Gan Jun (甘军), meaning the Gansu Army; Kansu is the older Western spelling of Gansu. At that time Gansu encompassed territory now divided among Gansu, Ningxia and parts of Qinghai, a northwestern region with a substantial Muslim population and a long military tradition. Although the Braves fought alongside the Boxers in 1900, they were not Boxers. They were soldiers of the Qing Imperial Army.

The force was commanded by General Dong Fuxiang. It included both Han Chinese and Hui Muslims, together with smaller numbers of Dongxiang, Salar, Bonan and other northwestern soldiers. Many were veterans of hard campaigning. Their regional identity and personal loyalty to their commanders gave them a reputation quite different from that of the loosely organized Boxer movement.

Artist's reconstruction of a Kansu Brave around 1900
Artist's reconstruction of a Kansu Brave, based on a surviving photograph of soldiers attributed to Dong Fuxiang's force. The colours follow a published modern interpretation and cannot be confirmed from the monochrome photograph.

From Gansu to Peking

The history of Dong Fuxiang's army did not begin with the Boxer Rebellion. Its roots lay in the locally raised forces that emerged from the prolonged warfare in northwestern China during the 1860s and 1870s. After Dong submitted to the Qing authorities, selected men were organized as the Dong-character Three Battalions (董字三营): Dong commanded the Central Battalion, Zhang Jun the Left Battalion and Li Shuangliang the Right Battalion. These troops subsequently campaigned with Qing armies in Gansu and in the reconquest of Xinjiang, acquiring considerable experience long before they reached Peking.

Dong's forces were reorganized during renewed fighting in the northwest in the mid-1890s and brought east when the Qing government strengthened the defences of the capital. In 1898 they became the Rear Division of the newly organized Wuwei Corps, or Guards Army. Unlike several other formations then experimenting with Western-style uniforms, many Kansu troops retained a strongly traditional appearance while making extensive use of modern weapons.

This combination is one reason the Kansu Braves make such an interesting miniature subject. A soldier might wear a wrapped headcloth, loose trousers, layered or decorated garments, leg bindings and sandals, yet carry a modern repeating rifle and ammunition across his waist. The contrast illustrates the uneven modernization of the late Qing armies: traditional clothing and organization could exist beside imported rifles, artillery and other modern equipment.

The Gansu Army is commonly estimated to have numbered approximately 10,000 men when it was transferred to the Peking area, although its exact effective strength during the fighting of 1900 is uncertain. Its organization also changed over time. Some published accounts describe eight infantry battalions, two cavalry squadrons, two artillery brigades and an engineer company, while Chinese records refer at different dates to totals of twenty, twenty-two or twenty-five ying, a Qing military unit often translated as battalion. The figures may describe different dates or organizational levels and should not be treated as a single fixed establishment. What is clear is that Dong commanded a substantial combined-arms force possessing infantry, cavalry, artillery and modern firearms, rather than a collection of irregular warriors.

The fighting in 1900

As the Boxer movement spread into Peking, the Qing court was divided over whether it should suppress or support it. Dong Fuxiang and his troops belonged to the strongly anti-foreign faction. Kansu soldiers took part in the fighting against the first international relief expedition and later became some of the most determined Imperial troops attacking the foreign Legation Quarter.

Their reputation was earned principally through organized military action rather than the ritual practices associated with the Boxers. Contemporary foreign accounts frequently described them as aggressive and dangerous opponents. They possessed rifles, cavalry and artillery, and their pressure on the Legations was taken seriously by the defenders.

When the larger Eight-Nation Alliance army reached Peking in August 1900, Kansu troops fought in the defence of the capital, including actions around several of the city gates. After the city fell, elements of Dong's force accompanied and protected the Imperial court during its withdrawal toward Xi'an. The army suffered heavily, was reduced after the campaign and was largely broken up in 1901. Its part in the conflict therefore extended beyond the famous siege and connected it directly with the field fighting, the defence of Peking and the Imperial retreat.

Dress, weapons and appearance

There was no single perfectly standardized appearance that can safely be assigned to every Kansu Brave. Surviving photographs show differences in headcloths, outer garments, identifying panels, footwear and the arrangement of equipment. Some men wore prominent cloth panels bearing Chinese characters, and cartridge belts are visible in the best-known photograph. Another documented photograph shows a wounded member of Dong Fuxiang's force wearing a charactered chest panel, broad contrasting trim, loose trousers, ankle wrappings and cloth shoes. Rifles were the most important battlefield weapon, while swords, spears and other traditional arms were also present.

Variation may also have existed between commands. The official biography of Zhang Jun, commander of the original Left Battalion, records that his troops' clothing and standards were white, earning him the nickname "Snow Zhang." It is not certain that this description still applied to his men in 1900, but it cautions against treating the familiar red-and-yellow reconstruction as a universal Gansu Army uniform.

The familiar red-and-yellow uniform often shown in books and miniatures is a modern colour reconstruction. It is plausible, but the best-known photographs are monochrome and therefore cannot prove those colours. Miniature painters have considerable room for variation, particularly in the shades of cloth, decorative panels and equipment, provided the general appearance remains consistent with the surviving evidence.

A useful distinction: the Boxers were members of a popular religious and martial movement. The Kansu Braves were organized Imperial soldiers. They sometimes fought for the same cause and against the same opponents, but they should not be represented as interchangeable troops.

A natural miniature set

For a miniature range, the Kansu Braves offer both historical importance and visual variety. Riflemen should form the heart of any set, supported by officers, command figures and selected soldiers with traditional weapons. Cavalry and artillery would be logical later additions. Variations in clothing and equipment would be more convincing than twelve figures dressed identically.

Their presence also helps a Boxer Rebellion range represent the conflict as a broader campaign rather than merely a fight between foreign troops and irregular Boxers. The Chinese side included several Imperial formations with different uniforms, loyalties and levels of modernization. Among them, the Kansu Braves were one of the most important.

Selected references