Li Yonghe () was a 19th-century rebel leader from

Yunnan province Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

China.

Rebellion

In the autumn of 1859, as the

was plagued by the

Taiping rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

Nian rebellion The Nian Rebellion () was an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864) in South China. The rebellion failed to topple the Qing dynasty, but caused immense economic ...

and

Panthay rebellion The Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873), also known as the Du Wenxiu Rebellion (Tu Wen-hsiu Rebellion), was a rebellion of the Muslim Hui people and other (Muslim as well as non-Muslim) ethnic groups against the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in southwe ...

, Li Yonghe, with two brothers Lan Chaoding () and Lan Chaozhu () raised a rebellion in their home province of Yunnan under the slogan "No more payment of rents, no more tribute of grain, fight the rich and aid the poor". They used the name ''Daming Shuntian'' (), or "Great

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

following Heaven". Li declared himself "King-following-Heaven" (), while Lan Chaoding and Lan Chaozhu were declared Grand Marshal and Vice Marshal respectively. The rebel army, numbering in excess of 100,000 troops, crossed into

Sichuan province 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 ...

, occupying more than 40 prefectures and counties and capturing the city of

Mianyang Mianyang (; formerly known as Mienchow) is the second largest prefecture-level city of Sichuan province in Southwest China. Located in north-central Sichuan covering an area of consisting of Jiangyou, a county-level city, five counties, and thr ...

. The rebel army expanded to nearly 300,000. In 1861, Qing commander Luo Bingzhang was tasked to suppress the rebels with the newly established

Xiang Army 150px, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army The Xiang Army or Hunan Army () was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called '' tuanlian'' to contain the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China ( ...

. By October 1862 Li had been defeated, captured and transported to Chengdu where he was executed. Lan Chaoding had similarly been killed in battle. The surviving rebels under Lan Chaozhu retreated northward to

Shaanxi province Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), Ni ...

, where Lan was declared ''Dahan Xianwang'' (), or "Manifested King of the Great

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

". The rebel forces linked up with Taiping Tianguo forces under Chen Baocai, and Lan received the title ''Wen Wang'' (), or "Cultured King" from the Heavenly King. He was also defeated and killed in 1864. The total casualties of the rebellion are estimated at over 100,000.

References

{{Authority control 19th-century Chinese people Generals from Yunnan Qing dynasty people Qing dynasty rebels