ness es ▁accounts ▁and ▁that ▁both ▁the ▁mission ary ▁sources ▁and ▁the ▁Chinese ▁official ▁reports ▁hide ▁the ▁full ▁truth . ▁Nevertheless ▁he ▁con cludes , ▁" The ▁weight ▁of ▁the ▁evidence ▁leads ▁to ▁a ▁conclusion ▁that ▁mob ▁violence , ▁not ▁Y ux ian , ▁was ▁responsible " ▁for ▁the ▁mass acre . ▁▁ ▁Another ▁study ▁finds ▁that ▁the ▁accounts ▁from ▁the ▁time ▁offered ▁different ▁accounts ▁of ▁the ▁execution s , ▁though ▁agreed ▁on ▁the ▁ske let al ▁narr ative . ▁ ▁The ▁mass acre ▁Protest ant ▁and ▁Catholic ▁mission aries ▁and ▁their ▁Chinese ▁parish ion ers ▁were ▁mass ac red ▁throughout ▁northern ▁China , ▁some ▁by ▁Box ers ▁and ▁others ▁by ▁government ▁troops ▁and ▁authorities . ▁After ▁the ▁declaration ▁of ▁war ▁on ▁Western ▁powers ▁in ▁June ▁ 1 9 0 0 , ▁Y ux ian , ▁who ▁had ▁been ▁named ▁governor ▁in ▁March , ▁implemented ▁a ▁brut al ▁anti - fore ign ▁and ▁anti - Christ ian ▁policy . ▁On ▁ 9 ▁July , ▁reports ▁circul ated ▁that ▁he ▁had ▁executed ▁forty - four ▁foreign ers ▁( including ▁women ▁and ▁children ) ▁from ▁mission ary ▁families ▁whom ▁he ▁had ▁invited ▁to ▁the ▁provincial ▁capital ▁Tai y uan ▁under ▁the ▁promise ▁to ▁protect ▁them . ▁▁ ▁Roger ▁Thompson ▁points ▁out ▁that ▁the ▁widely ▁circul ated ▁accounts ▁were ▁by ▁people ▁who ▁could ▁not ▁have ▁seen ▁the ▁events ▁and ▁that ▁these ▁accounts ▁closely ▁followed ▁( o ften ▁word ▁for ▁word ) ▁well ▁known ▁earlier ▁mart yr ▁literature . ▁In ▁any ▁case , ▁this ▁event ▁became ▁a