5104 - Kansu Braves cultural appearance and incorporating that essence into the work.

The majority of the imperial troops in and around the area of Peking were known as The Rear Division in the Chinese Guards Army. Within the Rear Division were mostly made up of units of the Brave Ones.

Focusing mostly on the figure on the left here, their outfit used for the war were primarily of a red jacket with a strip of yellow crossing down the front bordered with a trim of blue. Applying Chinese characters in black on the man's front identifies what role/position he acts as in the army. The jacket provides loose sleeves that reach past the waist-belt, along with an apron with two lobes extending down and covering each leg. On the side of the leg and centre of the red section of the apron presents the Chinese character rung (Brave) inside a white disc. This indicates he is from a unit of the Brave Ones.

(Artist unknown)

Reflecting on this, I'm really intrigued in the fashion of this soldier in the Boxer Rebellion as it emphasizes on the Chinese traditional culture, especially back in the time of when this Hotchkiss naval gun was in use. This makes more sense to have it incorporated within the art work that should have the purpose of showing the audience the sinister side to the object that isn't usually seen.

Source

http://georgy-konstantinovich-zhukov.tumblr.com/post/42808347959/chinese-forces-the-boxer-rebellion-infantryman