光緒二十六年六月十八日 (1900年7月14日),八國侵略軍攻陷天津城。城內(nèi)居民紛紛向城外逃避，侵略軍在鼓樓上架設(shè)機槍、大炮，對逃難的人群射擊，造成大批傷亡。城外各大道也有許多被侵略軍打死的百姓尸體，海河出現(xiàn)了“漂尸阻流” 的現(xiàn)象。侵略軍除殺人外，還大肆放火、搶劫。估衣街、鍋店街、竹竿巷等繁華商業(yè)區(qū)和北門里各金店，以及一些富戶，均被焚毀或搶劫一空； 長蘆鹽運使署、府衙門和造幣廠的銀庫，也遭到砸毀和搶掠。當時英國駐華使館官員迪南姆威爾著的《庚子使館被圍記》稱：“(聯(lián)軍) 自?？谝灾帘本?，沿路搶掠一空，其在天津尤甚，今日之天津，如一塊肥肉，肉均刮盡，只余干枯之骨矣?！?br>侵略軍侵占天津后，為鎮(zhèn)壓人民群眾的反抗，實行軍事殖民統(tǒng)治，在攻陷天津城的第二天，提出在天津建立臨時政府。
七月五日，天津臨時政府組成，定名為： “暫行管理津郡城廂內(nèi)外地方事務(wù)都統(tǒng)衙門” ,英文名為： “The Tientsin ProvisionalGovernment”(即天津臨時政府),人們簡稱為“都統(tǒng)衙門” 。
八國侵略軍賦予都統(tǒng)衙門很大的權(quán)力，有權(quán)頒布行政命令，有權(quán)征稅，有權(quán)使用中國政府的一切財產(chǎn)，有權(quán)判處驅(qū)逐出境和死刑等。它管轄的地區(qū)也逐漸擴大，開始只管轄天津城廂和附近的城郊(最遠到土圍子，即墻子一帶),以后擴大到天津全縣，以及寧河、塘沽、北塘和沿海地區(qū)。11月，都統(tǒng)衙門更名為“The ProvisionalGovernment of the District of Tientsin”(天津地區(qū)臨時政府),但人們?nèi)苑Q之為都統(tǒng)衙門。
都統(tǒng)衙門占據(jù)原直隸總督衙門，作為辦事地點。8個內(nèi)部機構(gòu)，將所管轄地區(qū)劃分為8個區(qū)，分別由8國侵略軍管轄。都統(tǒng)衙門建立后，進行了一系列殘酷迫害天津人民的罪行。主要有：
燒、殺、淫、掠，草菅人命。派出華、洋巡捕和軍隊進行搜捕、燒殺，對凡有義和團活動過的村鎮(zhèn)，“痛加殺戮” ,僅靜海縣獨流鎮(zhèn)就“焚毀大半，居民殘余者、婦女被奸污者，不計其數(shù)” 。還在街上對無辜百姓以 “可疑者” 的名義，隨意鎖拿、關(guān)押，甚至就地槍殺。河?xùn)|有一戶人家辦婚事，新人披紅戴花，被疑為義和團、紅燈照，遭到洋巡捕用槍擊斃。
強奪民財。都統(tǒng)衙門頒行許多苛捐雜稅，有： 鋪捐、房捐、茶館捐、車捐、客店捐、船捐、燒鍋酒店捐，等等。開征名目繁多，按月強征，專門設(shè)立了 “收捐處” ,并在交通要道設(shè)了分卡。自清光緒二十六年(1900)十一月至二十八年(1902)八月，22個月中，都統(tǒng)衙門就搜刮了白銀275.86萬兩。
拆除城墻、炮臺。都統(tǒng)衙門于光緒二十七年(1901)強令拆除天津城墻，隨著拆城，城墻附近的民房也被強行拆掉，許多居民流離失所，城磚也被賣掉。拆城后，城基舊地開辟為東、南、西、北4條馬路。天津城由明朝永樂 二年(1404)筑城，到拆除，共存在496年。不僅拆除圍繞天津城的7座炮臺，而且拆毀北塘的6座、大沽口的7座和蘆臺的一些炮臺，并拆除炮臺周圍的營壘、民房，使天津成為不設(shè)防的城市。
敲詐勒索，殘害百姓。都統(tǒng)衙門下設(shè)衛(wèi)生局，由日本人管理，雇用了一批 “衛(wèi)生巡捕”(老百姓稱他們“黃袖頭” ),欺壓、敲詐，無所不為，經(jīng)常找尋借口，對百姓罰款或罰勞役。光緒二十七年(1901),傳染病流行，據(jù)《沽水舊聞》記載： “日本人帶著衛(wèi)生巡捕四處查處傳染病患者，發(fā)現(xiàn)后，除將其立即火化外，宅中無論幾姓，長幼若干，均囚之宅中，室壁涂之臭油，地上堆以石灰，封鎖七日，不得一人出入，無飲無食不問。故凡一病死者，防傳染而殉者，最少則一家。群居貧民，竟有因一人之死，而同院十七姓，長幼數(shù)十口生殉者，誠人間之慘劇，中華之奇恥?！?br>鎮(zhèn)壓人民反抗。都統(tǒng)衙門和分區(qū)管理的各侵略軍，制定了許多無理、苛刻的規(guī)章。如： 行人夜間外出行走，必須手持燈籠，否則 “立即拿辦” ; 節(jié)日和喜慶活動，不許燃放爆竹； 過春節(jié)不許作揖、拜年，看見作揖的要罰款，甚至被當作義和團抓捕； 有的地方晚10時必須熄燈。犯了他們的禁條，除打罵、罰款以外，還要坐牢。原有的監(jiān)獄容納不下，就新造監(jiān)獄，還將江蘇和浙江會館沒收，改為監(jiān)獄。
光緒二十八年(1902),清朝廷在內(nèi)外壓力之下，要求8國 “交還治理天津事務(wù)” 。經(jīng)多次交涉，迫使各帝國主義國家于當年8月宣布： “華歷七月十二日將都統(tǒng)衙門裁撤?！?月15日，直隸總督袁世凱到達天津，與都統(tǒng)衙門辦理了交接手續(xù)。

·都統(tǒng)衙門成員

On July 14,1900,Tianjin fell to the hands of theinvaders. Civilians ran away to the suburbs. The alliedforces of eight powers shot them by scatter guns andcannons from the Drum Tower. Many civilians died.On the roads out of the city,there were also civiliancorpses. Haihe River`s water was even "blocked bycorpses".The invaders killed people,set fire,and robbed.The downtowns at Guyi Street,Guadian Street,ZhuganLane and the gold shops at Beimenli were all plundered.The Salt Bureau,Magitrate Bureau and the silver reserveof the mint were destroyed and looted.
After the occupation,the invaders ruled Tianjin as amilitary colony to put down revolt from the people.
On July 5,1900,The Tientsin ProvisionalGovernment or Dutong Yamen was set up later.
Dongtu Yamen had great power. According to itsrules,it had powers of administration,taxation,the usageof the properties of China`s government,legislation ofdeath sentence and exile. Its area of control grew Tianjindowntown and suburbs (Tuweizi) to Tianjin County,including Ninghe,Tanggu,Beitang,and the coast.In November,it changed name to "The ProvisionalGovernment of the District of Tientsin",but people stillcalled it Dutong Yamen.
Dutong Yamen occupied the office of the Director-General of Zhili. It had eight inner departments.Its areawas divided into eight districts administrated by theeight countries.
The crimes of Dutong Yamen who tortured Tianjinpeople were as the follows:
Fire,killing,rape and robbery were all crimescommitted by the invaders since the fall of Tianjin.
After the fall of Tianjin,the invaders got thenamelist of Yihetuan from Director-general`s Yamen.Dutong Yamen sent Chinese and foreign policemento raid and destroy the villages and towns which hadYihetuan. More than half of Duliu Town of JinghaiCounty was in fire. Numerous residents were killed;countless women were raped. They even arrested andkilled civilians on the street as suspicions. In HedongDistrict,a family was holding a wedding ceremony. Thebride and bridegroom were killed by foreign policemen.

·都統(tǒng)衙門警局警官

Dutong Yamen levied heavy taxation. There wereshop tax,house tax,tea shop tax,vehicle tax,hotel tax,ship tax,and restaurant tax,etc. The taxes were paidby month. A tax collection bureau was set up. Trafficcheckposts were built. Dutong Yamen clawed 2.7586million taels of silver in 22 months.
In 1901,Dutong Yamen forced to dismantle the citywalls of Tianjin.The civilian houses near the city wallswere destroyed. These dwellers had no house to live.On the ground of the city-wall bases,four roads of east,west,south and north were built. Tianjin city was built in1404. It lasted 496 years until the demolishment in 1901.The Tianjin emplacements were destroyed: 7 aroundTianjin,6 in Beitang,7 in Dagu,and some in Lutai. Thebarracks and civilian houses were also smashed.
There was a healh bureau under Dutong Yamen.It was administrated by the Japanese. They hired someso called "health policemen",who did every thing toharm the civilians. They also found pretexts to finecivilians and punished them for free labor. In 1901,therewas epidemic in the spring and cholera in the summer.According to "Gushui Reports",The Japanese led healhpolicemen to search for epidemic sufferers. The sickweres burned at once. His relatives,old or young,wereput in jail with asphaltum walls and lime on the groundfor seven days without food and water. Therefore,oneepidemic led to the death of the whole family. Even therewas such a case that one epidemic led to the death ofdozens of people.
Dutong Yamen and the eight districts drew outmany rules to put down the resistance from the people.If they walked at night,they must held lantern. Duringfestivals and holidays,firing crackers was not permitted.In Spring Festival,making a bow with hands in the frontfor greeting was not permitted. At ten in the night,thelamp must be turned off. If they broke those rules,theywould be cursed and fined. Dutong Yamen built new jailsand confiscated Jiangsu and Zhejiang assembly halls asprisons.
In 1902,the Qing court,under great pressure,required the imperialists return the ruling power ofTianjin. In August,the invaders declared that "DutongYamen stopped working. All issues in Tianjin were underChinese government`s administration." On August 15,Yuan Shikai,the director-general,arrived in Tianjin. Thepower of Dutong Yamen was transferred to Yuan Shikai.

直隸總督衙門