white lotus rebellion

white lotus rebellion

The grew in number and power and eventually, into a serious concern for the government. By 1387, after more than thirty years of war, their leader, Zhu Yuanzhang had liberated all of China. The group later reemerged in the late 18th century in the form of an inspired Chinese movement. Within China, dissent grew, and the empire began to crumble from within. A decree by the Daoguang Emperor admitted, "it was extortion by local officials that goaded the people into rebellion" By threatening the arrest of people who engaged in sectarian activities, local officials and police extorted money from people. J.D., University of Washington School of Law, B.A., History, Western Washington University. Eventually, the rebellion was crushed by the Qing elites; but the White Lotus organization remained secret and intact, and advocated for the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. ", Dai, Yingcong. Only after 1800 did the Qing government adopt new tactics that established local militias (tuan) to help surround and destroy the White Lotus. Omissions? Eventually, the Qing armies and the peasants united, but they were unable to defeat the foreign powers. The White Lotus rebellion began when large groups of Chinese rioted in 1794. [4], Though many movements and rebellions were considered by imperial bureaucrats to have been led by White Lotus Society leaders, there is reason to doubt that the White Lotus Society had any organizational unity. The government had to depend on more Han Chinese recruits (Green Standard) since there were not enough Manchu. One Qing response was to suppress the word "revolution" by banning it from their world-history textbooks. If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari, For the 14th-century rebellion also related to the White Lotus, see, Conscientious objection to military taxation, List of historical acts of tax resistance, National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, The Cold War and the Income Tax: A Protest, Royal and noble ranks of the Qing dynasty, Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet, Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, Banknotes of the Ta-Ching Government Bank, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Administrators also seized and destroyed sectarian scriptures which were used by the religious groups. Qing Dynasty, China's Last Imperial Family, The Boxer Rebellion in Editorial Cartoons, Biography of Sun Yat-sen, Chinese Revolutionary Leader, The Fall of the Ming Dynasty in China in 1644, Tibet and China: History of a Complex Relationship, The Complex Structure of Ethnic Conflict in the Frontier: Through the Debates Around the 'Jindandao Incident' in 1891, The Monarch and Inner/Outer Court Dualism in Late Imperial China, 'Revolution': Conceptualizing Political and Social Change in the Late Qing Dynasty, Moving to the Right Place at the Right Time: Economic Effects on Migrants of the Manchuria Plague of 191011, Size and Dynastic Decline: The Principal-Agent Problem in Late Imperial China, 17001850. It took nine years of warfare and great loss of life before the rebellion was put down. The Qianlong Emperor (r. 173596) sent Helin (, brother of Heshen) and Fuk'anggan to quell the uprising. that can be demarcated by a territorial boundary and identified by its distinctive clothing and language. Local disaffection broke out in the so-called White Lotus Rebellion of 1796-1804, which was centerd in the Szechwan- Shensi- Hupeh- Honan border regions. When the Manchu tribes of Manchuria (now Northeast China) conquered China some 500 years later in the 17th century and proclaimed the Qing dynasty, the White Lotus members dedicated themselves to the overthrow of the alien Manchu and to the return of the previous Ming dynasty (13681644). Beginning as tax protests, the eventual rebellion gained growing support and sympathy from many ordinary people. Consequently, a person's actual participation in sectarian activities had no impact on his or her arrest; what really mattered was whether monetary demands were met or not. (2020, August 27). Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. [6] The term was only used by the millenarian rebels under intense pressure during government interrogations. The Red Turban Rebellion which took place in 1352, was led by the White Lotus group. When they congregate and oppose the government, they are rebels; when they disperse and depart, they are civilians once more. View original page. The grew in number and power and eventually, into a serious concern for the government. The leader, herbalist and martial artist Wang Lun, led an uprising that captured three small cities and laid siege to the larger city of Linqing, a strategic location on the north-south Grand Canal transportation route. This rebellion wasn't the direct down fall of the Qing dynasty. By 1900, foreign powers including Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan had established "spheres of influence" along China's coastal areas. Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. The end of the White Lotus Rebellion in 1804 also brought an end to the myth of the military invincibility of the Manchus, contributing to the increasing frequency of rebellions in the 19th century. Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. The end of the White Lotus Rebellion in 1804 also brought an end to the myth of the military invincibility of the Manchus, contributing to the increasing frequency of rebellions in the 19th century. - rebellion began in 1794; rebellion initiated by followers of the White Lotus movement during the Qing dynasty of China, - the ill-organized rebels managed to defeat the inadequate and inefficient Qing imperial forces, - was initiated as a tax protest led by the White Lotus Society, a secret religious society. Since then, this book has become an invaluable source because it has enabled scholars to understand the beliefs of these groups. After both died in battle in 1796, the Qing government sent new officials, but none were successful. Imperial Mistakes A smaller precursor to the main rebellion broke out in 1774, under the leadership of the martial-arts and herbal-healing expert Wang Lun in Shandong province of northern China. In 1775, a chief of the White Lotus Society, named Liu Sung, was banished from Anhwei to Kansuh after sending people to the area under pretext of healing diseases by prayer and incantation, to gain adherents to his cause in Western China. Though he passed through an area inhabited by almost a million peasants, his army never measured more than 4,000 soldiers, many of whom had been forced into service. In its last stage, the Qing suppression policy combined the pursuit and extermination of rebel guerrilla bands with a program of amnesty for deserters. Therefore, that information is unavailable for most Encyclopedia.com content. . How might this yearning relate co Milton's mention of "the thought of lost happiness" in lines 545554-555455? There the foreign powers essentially controlled trade and the military, although technically they remained part of Qing China. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Due to their brutality, the Qing troops were soon nicknamed the "Red Lotus" Society. [6] The group forecast the advent of Maitreya, advocated restoration of the native Chinese Ming Dynasty, and promised personal salvation to its followers while promising the return of the Buddha.[7]. These militia groups were later instrumental in defeating the Taiping rebellion. It is only as historical sources look back upon these events do they began to summarize the various aspects of these uprisings as the "White Lotus rebellion. The White Lotus continued to be active, and might have influence the next major domestic rebellion, the Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813.[6]. [10], The Qing commanders who were sent to repress the rebellion had a difficult time putting down the White Lotus. [9] The Qianlong emperor ordered that the Eight Banner armies, whether they had Manchu or Han banners, were not to be used to suppress internal uprisings, so the Qing mainly relied on the Han Chinese Green Standard Army and Han militias in order to suppress rebellions such as the White Lotus. He simply and quietly disappeared. The rebellion soon grew in numbers and power, and eventually became a serious concern for the oppressive Amarr empire . Some of these militia groups were further trained as attack armies to seek out the rebels, whose forces were thinned by offers of amnesty to the rank and file and of rewards for the capture of the leaders. The White Lotus is a syncretic religious and political movement which forecasts the imminent advent of the "King of Light" , i.e., the future Buddha Maitreya. The White Lotus bands mainly used guerrilla tactics, and once they disbanded were virtually indistinguishable from the local population. Having attained the Mandate of Heaven and the status of Emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang named his period of reign "Hongwu" (thus he was known as the Hongwu Emperor) and founded a new dynasty the Ming dynasty. Though many movements and rebellions were considered by imperial bureaucrats to have been led by White Lotus Society leaders, there is reason to doubt that the White Lotus Society had any organizational unity. The young pretender, Wang Fa-sheng, was never any other than a puppet in the hands of the leaders. Sun Yat-Sen was elected the first president of China, and the Republican era of China had begun. When the White Lotus Rebellion (1796-1804) occurred, the dynasty was forced to turn to peasant soldiers to suppress the rebels in central and southern China, since the regular army lacked the necessary strength and morale. This signaled the beginning of the end for the Qing dynasty. Issues and Trends in China's Demographic History. Ordinary Han Chinese felt little loyalty to the Qing rulers, who still presented themselves as conquering Manchus from the north. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. Here, the White Lotus led impoverished settlers into rebellion, promising personal salvation in return for their loyalty. The White Lotus rebellion began when large groups of Chinese rioted in 1794. Sikh uprisings against the Mughal Empire in India, Pugachev's Revolt in the Russian Empire, and the White Lotus Rebellion in China mirrored the rebellions in the Atlantic world. [4] The term was only used by the millenarian rebels under intense pressure during government interrogations. //]]>. When the last Chinese dynastythe Qing dynastyfell in 19111912, it marked the end of the nation's incredibly long imperial history. The British under Queen Victoria were a huge market for Chinese teas, but the Qing refused to engage in trade negotiations, rather demanding that Britain pay for the tea in gold and silver. Szczepanski, Kallie. In 1794, a similar movement arose in the mountainous region that separated Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces in central China, initially as a tax protest. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"uAtwiiQKDz3pej8tikjjXf8qtftBywxw48FuRjxp2JM-86400-0"}; The Last Emperor, 6-year-old Puyi, formally abdicated the throne on Feb. 12, 1912, ending not only the Qing dynasty but China's millennia-long imperial period. White Lotus Rebellion, Chinese anti-Manchu uprising that occurred during the Ch'ing dynasty. The experience of suppressing the rebellion led to improvement in the organization and training of the militia, as many of their leaders wrote extensively on mobilization, enlistment and local defense methods. In 1794, one instance of a derivative sect of the White Lotus, the Eight Trigrams arose in the form of underground meditation teachings and practice in Shandong province, not far from Beijing (Zhili) near the city of Linqing. It broke out (1796) among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan prov. With its weaknesses exposed, China began to lose power over its peripheral regions. By 1804 the area was again placed under imperial control by the local militia. What started as a local rebellion grew into a serious political crisis, as the central government was no longer able to operate its military machine. Administrators also seized and destroyed sectarian scriptures used by the religious groups. One such official was Huang Yupian (), who refuted the ideas which were found in the scriptures which expressed orthodox Confucian and Buddhist views in A Detailed Refutation of Heresy ( Pxi Xingbin), which was written in 1838. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). As you might expect, the collapse of China's Qing dynasty was a long and complex process. The White Lotus Rebellion was put down in 1805 as a combination of military and social policies. [1] As White Lotus sects developed, they appealed to many Han Chinese who found solace in the worship of Wusheng Laomu . Wang Lun likely failed because he did not make any attempts to raise wide public support. The White Lotus continued to be active, and it might have influenced the next major domestic rebellion, the Eight Trigrams Uprising of 1813. It was an organized religion, which was once popular in Yuan Dynasty. The White Lotus Rebellion 1796-1804 In the densely forested border area between the provinces Hubei, Sichuan and Shaanxi, a lot of homeless peasant refugees(liumin, see also shed people) had gathered to escape the grip of landowners, creditors and tax collectors. One such official was Huang Yupian (), who refuted the ideas found in the scriptures with orthodox Confucian and Buddhist views in A Detailed Refutation of Heresy ( Pxi Xingbin), which was written in 1838. After 48 years, official Zeng Guofan studied and was inspired by the dynasty's methods during the White Lotus Rebellion while considering ways to defeat the Taiping movement. Buddhist sects, such as the White Lotus sect, a group that attracted many followers among the Chinese lower classes. 12 talking about this. [12] The experience of suppressing the rebellion led to improvement in the organization and training of the militia, as many of their leaders wrote extensively on mobilization, enlistment and local defense methods. Due to their brutality, the Qing troops were soon nicknamed the "Red Lotus" Society. [3] According to Ter Haar, it is clear that the "White Lotus" rebels of the uprisings that occurred between 1796 and 1804 did not voluntarily use the term "White Lotus" to refer to themselves or their movement. After more than 2,000 years, though, Chinese imperial power under the last Chinese dynasty was about to collapse for good. It broke out (1796) among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan prov. The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. . The White Lotus peasant rebellion broke out in 1795 (White Lotus was the name of a secret society that had first fought against the Mongols). The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. . Completely unprepared for such an onslaught, the Qing dynasty lost, and Britain imposed unequal treaties and took control of the Hong Kong region, along with millions of pounds of silver to compensate the British for the lost opium.

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white lotus rebellion

white lotus rebellion