COVE

The image depicts one of the propaganda pieces that was disseminated by the Yihetuan. The original picture is taken from 謹遵聖諭辟邪全圖 (Jǐn zūn shèng yù bìxié quán tú), which roughly translates into "Following the Sacred Code and Warding off Evil, All Pictures." in English. This work is an anti-Christian collection that advocates for the extermination of Western Elements in China. It was published in the UK under the title "The Cause of Riots in the Yangtze Valley" and was identified as an incendiary work that led to the Boxer Rebellion.

Let's talk about the source text to begin with. This particular image is titled 射豬斬羊圖. When translated literatlly, it means "A picture of Shooting Pigs (射豬) and Butchering Lambs (斬羊)" On the sides of the painting, two verses of poems were written that say:

萬箭射豬身。看妖精再敢叫不。
一刀斬羊頸。問畜生還想來麼。

Where the underlined terms are highlighted in Green. When translated directly, it means:

Ten thousand arrows to the pig's body. See if the monster dare squeals again.
A knife to the sheep's neck. Ask if the beast wants any more.

Although this seems like an apoliltical piece of art despite the violent iconography, when read at a deeper level, this is actually a xenophobic piece of propaganda that advocates for the killing of foreigners in China, particularly Westerners. The term "Pig Sqeauls" (豬叫) is a homophone to "Missionaries" (主教) The former is used as a vulgar insult against the latter group of people. In this reign, Churches (教堂) are now called "Buildings of squealing" (叫堂). Preaching Chrisitanity (傳教) is now "Preaching Squeals" (傳叫). On the other hand, Sheep "羊" is a homophone for ocean "洋" and it was historically common to call Westerners Yángrén (洋人) (Ocean Men) because they mostly arrived in China through the Pacific Ocean. Sheep people (羊人) automatically became a slur for Westerners (洋人).

With this mindset in mind, the actual meaning of the title means "A picture of Shooting Missionaries and Killing Westerners". The two verses mean

Ten thousand arrows to the clergyman's body. See if the monster dare squeals again.
A knife to the Westerner's neck. Ask if the beast wants any more.

In fact, this interpretation actually makes the highlighting in the original text make a lot more sense. Only terms that refer to Westerners are highlighted in green, adding emphasis to the real subjects of the picture. Some visual details iin the picture also add more context to the situation. Notice how the pig is tied to a crucifix: the pig is meant to be Jesus Christ, since pigs are meant to represent the religion as a whole. On the Sheep People, the chinese character for West (西) is written on them, indicating that they are Westerners.

“扒一扒歷史: 反洋教漫畫《辟邪全圖》 「殺豬斬羊」有寓意.” 每日頭條, 10 June 2015, kknews.cc/history/29rpl29.html.