List of rebellions in China

• In 248, the people of Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen districts of Jiaozhou province rebelled against the Wu Chinese. A local woman named Triệu Ẩu in Jiuzhen led the rebellion, followed by a hundred chieftains led fifty thousand families in her revolt. The uprising of Lady Triệu is usually depicted in modern Vietnamese National History as one of many chapters constituting a "long national independence struggle to end foreign domination."[1]

The Revolt of the Three Feudatories was led by three territories (Chinese: 三藩; pinyin: Sānfàn) in southern China bestowed by the early Manchu rulers on three Han Chinese generals — Wu Sangui, Geng Jingzhong, and Shang Zhixin. In the second half of the 17th century, they revolted against the Qing government. This rebellion came as the Qing rulers were establishing themselves after their conquest of China in 1644 and was the last serious threat to their imperium until the 19th-century conflicts that ultimately brought about the end of the dynasty in 1912. The revolt was followed by almost a decade of civil war which extended across the breadth of China.

In 1655, the Qing government granted Wu Sangui, a man to whom they were indebted for the conquest of China, both civil and military authority over the province of Yunnan. In 1662, after the execution of Zhu Youlang, the last claimant to the Ming throne, Wu was also given jurisdiction over Guizhou. In the next decade he consolidated his power, and by 1670 his influence had spread to include much of Hunan, Sichuan, Gansu and even Shaanxi. Two other powerful defected military leaders also developed similar powers: Shang Zhixin in Guangdong and Geng Jingzhong in Fujian. They ruled their feudatories (territories) as their own domains and the Qing government had virtually no control over the provinces in the south and southwest.

By 1672, the Kangxi Emperor had determined that these feudatories were a threat to the Qing regime. In 1673, Shang Zhixin submitted a memorial requesting permission to retire and in August of the same year, a similar request arrived from Wu Sangui, designed to test the court's intentions. The Kangxi Emperor went against the majority view in the Council of Princes and High Officials and accepted the request. News of Wu's rebellion reached Beijing in January 1674.

The White Lotus Rebellion (1796–1804) was an anti-Qing uprising that occurred during the Qing dynasty.

It broke out among impoverished settlers in the mountainous region that separates Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. It apparently began as a tax protest led by the White Lotus Society, a secret religious society that forecasted the advent of the Buddha Maitreya, advocated the restoration of the Ming dynasty, and promised personal salvation to its followers. At first, the Qing government, under the control of Heshen, sent inadequate and inefficient imperial forces to suppress the ill-organized rebels. On assuming effective power in 1799, however, the Jiaqing Emperor (r. 1796-1820) overthrew Heshen's clique and gave support to the efforts of the more vigorous Qing commanders as a way of restoring discipline and morale. A systematic program of pacification followed in which the populace was resettled in hundreds of stockaded villages and organized into a militia by the name of tuanlian. In its last stage, the Qing suppression policy combined pursuit and extermination of rebel guerrilla bands with a program of amnesty for deserters. Although the Qing finally crushed the rebellion, the myth of the military invincibility of the Manchus was shattered, perhaps contributing to the greater frequency of rebellions in the 19th century.

The Eight Trigrams uprising of 1813 broke out in China under the Qing dynasty. The rebellion was started by some elements of the millenarian Tianli Sect (天理教) or Heavenly Principle Sect, which was a branch of the White Lotus Sect. Led by Lin Qing (林清; 1770–1813) and Li Wencheng, the revolt occurred in the Zhili, Shandong, and Henan provinces of China.

In 1812, the leaders of the Eight Trigram Sect (Bagua jiao) also known as the Sect of Heavenly Order (Tianli jiao) announced that leader Li Wencheng was a 'true lord of the Ming' and declared 1813 as the year for rebellion, while Lin Qing declared himself the reincarnation of Maitreya, the prophesied future Buddha in Buddhism, using banners with the inscription "Entrusted by Heaven to Prepare the Way", a reference to the popular novel Water Margin. They considered him sent by the Eternal Unborn Mother of esoteric Chinese religions, to remove the Qing dynasty whom they regarded as having lost the Mandate of Heaven to rule.

The third leader was Feng Keshan, who was called the "King of Earth", Li titled the "King of Men", and Lin referred to as "King of Heaven".

The group won support from several powerful Eunuchs in the Forbidden City. On 15 September 1813, the group attacked the imperial palace in Beijing. The rebels made it into the city, and may have been successful in overthrowing the Qing had not Prince Mianning—the future emperor—used his forbidden musket to repel the invaders.

The rebellion is seen as being similar to the previous White Lotus Rebellion, with the former being of religious intent and the latter leaders of the Eight Trigram appearing more interested in personal power by overthrowing the Qing dynasty.

The retaking of Nanjing by Qing troops

The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), usually known in Chinese after the name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (simplified Chinese: 太平天国; traditional Chinese: 太平天國; pinyin: Tàipíng Tiānguó) proclaimed by the rebels, was a rebellion in southern China inspired by a Hakka named Hong Xiuquan, who had claimed that he was the brother of Jesus Christ. Most sources put the total deaths at about 20 million,[4] although some claim tolls as high as 50 million.[5] Altogether, "some historians have estimated that the combination of natural disasters combined with the political insurrections may have cost on the order of 200 million Chinese lives between 1850–1865."[6] The figure is unlikely, as it is approximately half the estimated population of China in 1851.[7]

Hong Xiuquan gathered his support in a time of considerable turmoil. The country had suffered a series of natural disasters, economic problems and defeats at the hands of the Western powers, problems that the ruling Qing dynasty did little to lessen. Anti-Qing sentiment was strongest in the south, and it was these disaffected that joined Hong. The sect extended into militarism in the 1840s, initially against banditry. The persecution of the sect was the spur for the struggle to develop into guerrilla warfare and then into full-blown war. The revolt began in Guangxi province. In early January 1851, a ten-thousand-strong rebel army routed Qing imperial forces at the town of Jintian in the Jintian Uprising. The Qing forces attacked but were driven back. In August 1851, Hong declared the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with himself as absolute ruler. The revolt spread northwards with great rapidity. 500,000 Taiping soldiers took Nanjing in March 1853, killing 30,000 Qing soldiers and slaughtering thousands of civilians. The city became the movement's capital and was renamed Tianjing (lit. "Heavenly Capital"; not to be confused with Tianjin) until its recapture.

A scene of the Nien Rebellion. Probably represents the Battle of Inlon River, 1867

The Nian Rebellion (simplified Chinese: 捻军起义; traditional Chinese: 捻軍起義; pinyin: Niǎnjūn Qǐyì; 1851–1868) was a large armed uprising that took place in northern China. The rebellion failed to topple the Qing dynasty, but caused immense economic devastation and loss of life that became one of the major long-term factors in the collapse of the Qing regime.

The Nian movement was formed in the late 1840s by Zhang Lexing and, by 1851, numbered approximately 40,000. Unlike the Taiping Rebellion, though, the Nian movement initially had no clear goals or objectives aside from criticism of the Qing government. However, the Nian rebels were provoked into taking direct action against the Qing regime following a series of ecological disasters. In 1851, the Yellow River burst its banks, flooding hundreds of thousands of square miles and causing immense loss of life. The Qing government slowly began cleaning up after the disaster, but were unable to provide effective aid as government finances had been drained during the Opium War with the British, and the ongoing slaughter of the Taiping Rebellion. The damage created by the disaster had still not been repaired when, in 1855, the river burst its banks again, drowning thousands and devastating the fertile province of Jiangsu. At the time, the Qing government was trying to negotiate a deal with the Western powers, and as state finances had been so severely depleted, the regime was unable to provide effective relief aid. This enraged the Nian movement, who blamed the Westerners for contributing to China's troubles, and increasingly viewed the Qing government as incompetent and cowardly in the face of the Western powers.

In 1855, Zhang Lexing took direct action by launching attacks against government troops in central China. By the summer, the fast-moving Nian cavalry, well-trained and fully equipped with modern firearms, had cut the lines of communication between Beijing and the Qing armies fighting the Taiping rebels in the south. Qing forces were badly overstretched as rebellions broke out across China, allowing the Nian armies to conquer large tracts of land and gain control over economically vital areas. The Nian fortified their captured cities and used them as bases to launch cavalry attacks against Qing troops in the countryside, prompting local towns to fortify themselves against Nian raiding parties. This resulted in constant fighting which devastated the previously rich provinces of Jiangsu and Hunan.

In early 1856, the Qing government sent the Mongol general Sengge Rinchen, who had recently crushed a large Taiping rebel army, to defeat the Nian. Sengge Rinchen's army captured several fortified cities and destroyed most of the Nian infantry, and killed Zhang Lexing himself in an ambush. However, the Nian movement survived as Taiping commanders arrived to take control of the Nian forces, and the bulk of the Nian cavalry remained intact. Sengge Rinchen's infantry-based army could not stop the fast moving cavalry from devastating the countryside and launching surprise attacks on Qing troops. In 1865, Sengge Rinchen and his bodyguards were ambushed by Nian troops and killed, depriving the government of its best military commander. The Qing regime sent general Zeng Guofan to take command of Qing imperial forces, providing him with modern artillery and weapons, purchased from the Europeans at extortionate prices. Zeng's army set about building canals and trenches to hem in the Nian cavalry — an effective, but slow and expensive method. Zeng was removed from the post after the Nian rebels broke one of his defense fronts. Generals Li Hongzhang and Zuo Zongtang were put in charge of the suppression. In late 1866, the Nian movement split into two — east Nian stayed in central China and west Nian sneaked close to Beijing. By late 1867, Li and Zuo's troops had recaptured much territory from the Nian rebels, and in early 1868, the movement was crushed by the combined forces of imperial troops and the Ever Victorious Army.

Capture of Dali, the capital of the Pingnan Sultanate in Yunnan, 1873

The Du Wenxiu Rebellion, or Panthay Rebellion (1856–1872) was a separatist movement of Muslim Hui in western Yunnan, led by Du Wenxiu (born Sulayman ibn `Abd ar-Rahman).

Du claimed the title of Qa´id Jami al-Muslimin ("Leader of the Community of Muslims"). He was known in English as the Sultan of Dali upon the city's capture. It became the base for the rebels, who declared themselves "Pingnan" (Chinese: 平南國; lit. 'The Pacified South'). The rebels besieged the city of Kunming four times (1857, 1861, 1863, and 1868) and briefly held the city during the third attempt. Later, as Qing forces began to gain the upper hand against the rebellion, the rebels sent a letter to Queen Victoria, asking the British for formal recognition and for military assistance; the British demurred. The rebellion was eventually suppressed by Qing troops, who killed and posthumously decapitated Du. The brutal suppression led to many Hui people fleeing to neighboring countries bordering Yunnan. Surviving Huis escaped to Burma, Thailand and Laos, forming the basis of a minority Chinese Hui population in those nations. Hundreds of thousands of Hui people were massacred or died in these purges.

The rebellion had a significant negative impact on the Burmese Konbaung dynasty. After losing lower Burma to the British, Burma lost access to vast tracts of rice-growing land. Not wishing to upset China, the Burmese kingdom agreed to refuse trade with the Hui rebels in accordance with China's demands. Without the ability to import rice from China, Burma was forced to import rice from the British. In addition, the Burmese economy had relied heavily on cotton exports to China, and suddenly lost access to the vast Chinese market.

In the Jahriyya revolt sectarian violence between two suborders of the Naqshbandi Sufis, the Jahriyya Sufi Muslims and their rivals, the Khafiyya Sufi Muslims, led to a Jahriyya Sufi Muslim rebellion which the Qing dynasty in China crushed with the help of the Khafiyya Sufi Muslims.[8]

The First Dungan Revolt or Muslim Rebellion[9] (simplified Chinese: 回变; traditional Chinese: 回變; pinyin: Huíbiàn; 1862–1877), known in China as the Hui Minority War, was an uprising by members of the Muslim Hui community in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia.

Chinese Muslims had been traveling to West Asia for many years prior to the Hui Minorities' War. Some of them had adopted radical Sufi Islamic teachings referred to as New Teachings. There had been attempted uprisings by followers of these New Teachings in 1781 and 1783. In 1862 the prestige of the Qing dynasty was low and their armies were busy elsewhere. In 1867 the Qing government sent one of their best officials, Zuo Zongtang, a hero of the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, to Shaanxi. His forces were ordered to help put down the Nian Rebellion, and he was unable to deal with the Muslim rebels until December 1868. Zuo's approach was to rehabilitate the region by promoting agriculture, especially cotton and grain, as well as supporting orthodox Confucian education. Due to the poverty of the region, Zuo had to rely on financial support from outside the North-West. After building up enough grain reserves to feed his army, Zuo attacked the most important Muslim leader, Ma Hualong. Ma was besieged in the city of Jinjibao for sixteen months before surrendering in March 1871. Zuo sentenced Ma and over eighty of his officials to death by slicing. Thousands of Muslims were exiled to different parts of China. Despite repeated offers of amnesty, many Muslims continued to resist until the fall of Suzhou in Gansu. The failure of the uprising in 1873 led to some immigration of Hui people into Russia. The descendants of the immigrants continue to live in the border region of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The Second Dungan Revolt (1895–1896), known in China as the Second Hui Minority War, was a second Muslim revolt against the Qing. They were defeated by loyalist Muslim troops.

Anti-Foreign pamphlet, c. 1899

Boxer forces, 1900 photo

The Boxer Rebellion (simplified Chinese: 义和团之乱; traditional Chinese: 義和團之亂) or Uprising (simplified Chinese: 义和团起义; traditional Chinese: 義和團匪亂; pinyin: Yìhétuán Qǐyì; November 1899 –September 7, 1901) was a revolt against European commercial, political, religious, and technological influence in China. By August 1900, over 230 foreigners, thousands of Chinese Christians, an unknown number of rebels and sympathizers and other Chinese were killed in the revolt and its suppression.

In 1840, the First Opium War broke out, and China was defeated by Britain. In view of the weakness of the Qing government, Britain and other nations such as France, Russia and Japan started to exert influence over China. Due to their inferior army and navy, the Qing dynasty was forced to sign many agreements which became known as the Unequal Treaties. These include the Treaty of Nanking (1842), the Treaty of Aigun (1858), the Treaty of Tientsin (1858), the Convention of Peking (1860), the Treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), and the Second Convention of Peking (1898).

Such treaties were regarded as grossly unfair by many Chinese, whose prestige was sorely damaged by the treaties, as foreigners were perceived to receive special treatment compared to Chinese. Rumours circulated of foreigners committing crimes as a result of agreements between foreign and the Chinese governments over how foreigners in China should be prosecuted. In Guizhou, local officials were reportedly shocked to see a cardinal using a sedan chair decorated in the same manner as one reserved for the governor. The Catholic Church's prohibition on some Chinese rituals and traditions was another issue of contention. Thus in the late 19th century such feelings increasingly resulted in civil disobedience and violence towards both foreigners and Chinese Christians.

The rebellion was initiated by a society known as the Boxers (Chinese: Righteous Harmony Society), a group which initially opposed—but later reconciled itself to—the Qing dynasty. The Boxer Rebellion was concentrated in northern China where the European powers had begun to demand territorial, rail and mining concessions. Germany responded to the killing of two missionaries in Shandong province in November 1897 by seizing the port of Qingdao. A month later a Russian naval squadron took possession of Lushun, in southern Liaoning. Britain and France followed, taking possession of Weihai and Zhanjiang respectively.

The Xinhai Revolution (Chinese: 辛亥革命; pinyin: Xīnhài Gémìng) was a republican revolution which overthrew the Qing dynasty and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution ended the monarchy which had a history for 4000 years in China and replaced it with a republic, with democratic ideals. The ensuing revolutionary war lasted from October 10, 1911, and ended upon the formation of the Republic of China on February 12, 1912. Since 1911 is a Xinhai Year in the sexagenary cycle of the Chinese calendar, this is how Xinhai Revolution had got its name.

The revolution began with the armed Wuchang Uprising and the spread of republican insurrection through the southern provinces, and culminated in the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor after lengthy negotiations between rival imperial and republican regimes based in Beijing and Nanjing respectively.

The revolution inaugurated a period of struggle over China's eventual constitutional form, which saw two brief monarchical restorations and successive periods of political fragmentation before the Republic's final establishment.

The Xinhai Revolution is commemorated as the National Day of the Republic of China, also known as Double Ten Day (雙十節). Today the National Day is mainly celebrated in Taiwan. In addition, numerous overseas Chinese also celebrate Double Ten Day and events are usually held in Chinatowns across the world.

A plan backed by foreign bankers was reported in place to declare the Duke Yansheng as Emperor of China as a Han emperor, if the revolutionary's republican plan failed.[10][11]