The Bozhou rebellion () was a

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

uprising that occurred in

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

and spread to

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and

Huguang Huguang was a province of China during the Yuan and Ming dynasties. It was founded by the Yuan dynasty in 1274. During the Yuan dynasty it included the areas of modern Hubei south of the Yangtze river, Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. During the Ming ...

between 1589 and 1600 during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

Events

In 1589, the

Bozhou Tusi The Chiefdom of Bozhou (), ruled by the Yang clan, was an autonomous ''Tusi'' chiefdom established by Yang Duan () during the Tang dynasty. After he conquered the Bozhou Prefecture (centred on modern Zunyi) from the Nanzhao Kingdom, Yang Duan was ...

region (

Zunyi Zunyi () is a prefecture-level city in northern Guizhou province, People's Republic of China, situated between the provincial capital Guiyang to the south and Chongqing to the north, also bordering Sichuan to the northwest. Along with Guiyang an ...

) erupted into inter-tribal warfare between seven

tusi ''Tusi'', often translated as "headmen" or "chieftains", were hereditary tribal leaders recognized as imperial officials by the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties of China, and the Later Lê and Nguyễn dynasties of Vietnam. They ruled certain et ...

chiefdoms. The war coalesced into a full scale rebellion with one of the tusi chieftains, Yang Yinglong, at its head, and spread to

and

where they engaged in widespread looting and destruction. In 1593 the

Wanli Emperor The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was the ...

offered Yang Yinglong amnesty if he led his army in the war effort against the Japanese invasion of Joseon. Yang Yinglong agreed to the proposition and was half way to Korea before the Japanese withdrew (only to attack again the following year). Yang returned to Guizhou where Sichuan's grand coordinator Wang Jiguang called for him to stand trial in court. Yang did not comply and in 1594 local Ming forces attempted to quell the situation but were defeated in battle. By 1598 Yang's rebel army had swelled to a size of 140,000 and the Ming government was forced to mobilize an army of 200,000 with troops from various regions. The Ming army attacked the rebels from eight directions. Li Hualong, Liu Ting, Ma Liying, Wu Guang, Cao Xibin, Tong Yuanzhen, Zhu Heling, Li Yingxiang, and Chen Lin converged on Yang Yinglong's stronghold on Lou Mountain (

Bozhou District Bozhou District (), formerly Zunyi County, is a district of the city of Zunyi, Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyan ...

) and quickly captured it, forcing the rebels to flee northwest. Anti-rebel suppression lasted three more months. After Yang Yinglong's general Yang Zhu died in battle, he committed suicide by self-immolation, ending the rebellion. His family was transported to

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

where they were executed. The Bozhou tusi was abolished and its territory was reorganized into Zunyi and Pingyue prefectures. Expenditures for the Ming campaign was 1.5 million silver taels in total.

References

Bibliography

* * * . {{Ming dynasty topics 16th century in China Rebellions in the Ming dynasty 16th-century rebellions Miao people