The Red Turban Rebellion of 1854–1856 was a rebellion by members of the
Tiandihui ( zh, c=天地會, Heaven and Earth Society) in the
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
province of
South China.
The initial core of the rebels were Tiandihui secret societies that were involved in both revolutionary activity and organised crime, such as
prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
,
piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
, and
opium smuggling. Many
lodges were formed originally for self-defence in feuds between locals and migrants from neighboring provinces. They were organized into scattered local lodges, each under a lodge-master (堂主) and in October 1854 elected Li Wenmao and Chen Kai as joint alliance-masters (盟主).
In Summer 1854, 50,000 outlaws, proclaiming a restoration of the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
, captured
Qingyuan. That roused the Tiandihui to revolt in the city of
Conghua, forty miles northeast of the provincial capital. The Red Turbans were formed by religious members from Tiandihui, such as
Qiu Ersao, who joined the
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with thousands more. In September, forces commanded by Taiping-affiliated
Ling Shiba captured
Luoding and made it their headquarters.
[Wakeman, ''Strangers at the Gate'' pp. 132-133] Ling Shiba was connected to the Taiping Rebels, as he was also a member of the Taiping
God-Worshipping Society.
Viceroy of Guangdong
Xu Guangjin () sent braves (, or
irregular militia), to the border to deal with the situation, but most of them defected to the rebels. Provincial Governor
Ye Mingchen then formulated a strategy of bribing lodge leaders to defect, which was successful in bringing Ling to heel, and the Emperor promoted him to Viceroy.
[ Ye would later be in charge of purging Guangdong of any anti-government outlaw. Over one million people from Guangdong were sentenced to death and executed.
To fund the further defence of the province against the Taiping rebellion, heavy taxes begun to be levied on the population. That resulted in the people becoming alienated, and flooding of the Pearl River added to their economic woes. The Taiping victory in the capture of ]Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
galvanised the Tiandihui to redouble its revolutionary efforts. A group, allied with the Small Swords Society in neighboring Fujian
Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...
Province, succeeded in seizing the city of Huizhou
Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...
. The rebel leader He Liu proceeded to capture the city of Dongguan
Dongguan,; pinyin: alternately romanized via Cantonese as Tungkun, is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. An important industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou t ...
, which was followed by Chen Kai's capture of the major city of Foshan
Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...
on 4 July 1854.
The Red Turbans did not succeed in taking the city of Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
but fought through much of the country round it for more than a year. Failure to co-ordinate had exhausted the supplies of the rebel alliance, which faltered during the attack on the provincial capital Guangzhou, where the gentry had succeeded in raising a force of militia to defend the city alongside the British Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
, which intervened on the government side.
By 1856, after failing to capture Guangzhou, Red Turban forces, hoping to regroup with the Taiping forces in Nanjing, retreated north, occupied parts of Guangxi province, proclaimed the Dacheng Kingdom, and managed to hold out for nine years. Others fought their way through government-held territory in Hunan
Hunan is an inland Provinces of China, province in Central China. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the Administrative divisions of China, province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to the east, Gu ...
province and finally to Jiangxi
; Gan: )
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province, where they coalesced with the Taiping forces of Shi Dakai
Shi Dakai (1 March 1831 – 25 June 1863; ), born in Guigang, Guangxi, also known as the Wing King () or phonetically translated as Yi-Wang, was one of the most highly acclaimed leaders in the Taiping Rebellion and a poet.
Early life
Shi Dak ...
. Some of them were consolidated as the Flower Flag Force () of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Many were crushed en route by the Xiang Army
file:Zeng Guofan.png, 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 Rebel ...
.
Dacheng phase
The rebellion was led by Chen Kai (陳開) and Li Wenmao (李文茂), both of whom were Yue Chinese
Yue () is a branch of the Sinitic languages primarily spoken in Northern and southern China, Southern China, particularly in the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang).
The term Cantonese is often used to refer ...
. They captured several counties and besieged Guangzhou
Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, but the Qing army managed to recover most of the territory. The rebels retreated west to Guangxi and captured Xunzhou (modern-day Guiping) in 1855, renamed it to Xiujing (秀京), and made it their capital.
The Dacheng Kingdom army was joined by the forces of other Yue Chinese rebels such as Huang Dingfeng (黃鼎鳳), Li Wencai (李文彩) and Li Jingui (李錦貴), all of whom had rebelled against the Qing since the 1850s.
Other short-term rebel regimes were established alongside Dacheng, such as the Yanling Kingdom and the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom.
In November 1856, Li Wenmao besieged and captured Liuzhou
Liuzhou (; , Standard Mandarin: , Liuzhou Yue dialect: International Phonetic Alphabet, iəu53 ʦəu44 is a prefecture-level city in north-central Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's population was 4 ...
. In April 1857, Chen Kai captured Wuzhou. They advanced to Yongzhou (now Nanning
Nanning; is the capital of the Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in South China, southern China. It is known as the "Green City (绿城) " because of its abundance of lush subtropical foliage. Located in the South of Guangxi, Nanning ...
) and captured the city. In September 1857, the Dacheng Kingdom managed to expand half of Guangxi, an area equal to northern Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
, and issued their own currency called Pingjing Shengbao (平靖勝寶).
In 1857, Li Wenmao attacked Guilin
Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''), postal map romanization, formerly romanization of Chinese, romanized as Kweilin, is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the we ...
. However, the Qing army, commanded by Jiang Yili (蒋益澧) managed to recapture Wuzhou. During a battle in Huaiyuan, Li Wenmao was killed. Liuzhou then fell to the Qing. In 1859, Chen Kai led a large land and naval force in an attack on Wuzhou. The attack failed, and Chen Kai had to retreat with heavy losses.
In February 1861, the Qing army attacked Xiujing. The city fell after a six-month long siege. Chen Kai was killed in the battle. The rebellion then entered an insurgency phase of actively resisting the Qing army until the last rebel holdouts surrendered in May 1864.
Impact
The British involvement in the counter-insurgency involved selling British weaponry to government forces and allowing the Chinese shipping carrying them to avoid rebel attack by using the British flag. That would lead to the Second Opium War
The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Chinese War or ''Arrow'' War, was fought between the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China between 1856 and 1860. It was the second major ...
in which a pirate ship with a British flag was captured by Chinese government forces.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Red Turban Rebellion (1854-1856)
Rebellions in the Qing dynasty
1850s in China
19th-century rebellions
Conflicts in 1854
Conflicts in 1855
Conflicts in 1856
Military history of Guangdong
1854 in China
1856 in China
Taiping Rebellion