What are the main events of the White Lotus Rebellion in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties?

From the first year of Jiaqing (1796) to the ninth year (1804) of the Qing Dynasty, farmers in Hubei, Sichuan, and Shaanxi provinces organized an uprising against feudal oppression in the form of the White Lotus Sect. In 1786, the population was 391.1 million. After the failure of the uprising, the population was 275.66 million, and 110 million people were lost in mutual massacres. In a battle that lasted more than nine years, the White Lotus Rebel Army occupied or conquered 204 prefectures and counties. They resisted a large number of troops recruited by the Qing government from 16 provinces, annihilated a large number of Qing troops, and killed generals below the deputy general. There were more than 400 people, including more than 20 first- and second-grade officials such as Zhenzhen. The Qing government spent 200 million taels of military expenditure, equivalent to four years of fiscal revenue. This uprising greatly weakened the Qing Dynasty, and its rule gradually declined.

In the late Qianlong period, the White Lotus Sect developed rapidly in the three provinces of Chu, Sichuan and Shaanxi. The Qing government ordered the arrest of the backbone of the sect, demanding that "the entire sect be captured and no one should slip through the net." In October of the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong (1794), most of the religious leaders in various places were arrested, except for a few people such as Liu Zhixie who escaped. Local officials took advantage of the opportunity to extort money, and when they didn't get what they wanted, they punished cults. In addition, in order to suppress the uprisings of Hunan and Gui Miao people, the corvee tax was extremely heavy, causing a large number of farmers to go bankrupt and unable to live. Liu Zhixie and others then used the call of "officials to force the people to rebel" and agreed with the leaders of various places to rise simultaneously on March 10th in the first year of Jiaqing. Because the incident was leaked, Zhang Zhengmo and others from Yidu and Zhijiang launched the campaign on the seventh day of the first lunar month in advance. Lin Zhihua and Qin Jiayao from Changyang and Changle (today's Wufeng) followed one after another. People from Dangyang, Laifeng, Zhushan, Xiaogan and other places also responded. He also occupied Dangyang and captured the cities of Zhushan and Baokang. On the second day of February, Zhang Hanchao (namely Zhang Fuguo) of Xiangyang revolted in Huanglong, Yao Zhifu and Wang Conger revolted in Jiahe Prefecture, and Gao Junde of Dengzhou, Henan revolted in Gaojiawan. These three rebel armies concentrated in the Luyan and Shuanggou areas north of Xiangyang in March and quickly grew to tens of thousands. All rebel teams, regardless of gender, "were identified by wearing white cloth wrapped around their heads." The Qing court was shocked and hurriedly mobilized 7,000 troops from Shaanxi, Guangxi, and Shandong. Together with the Qing troops from Hubei and Sichuan, more than 10,000 troops were killed. Under the command of Dutong Shuibao and Huguang Governor Bi Yuan, they carried out zoning siege. White scarf troops from all over the country built strongholds and defended themselves from danger. The Qing army had few troops and was scattered, and its attacks suffered many setbacks. In April, the Qing court added 2,000 troops each from Zhili (now Hebei) and Shanxi, and ordered Yongbao to uniformly command all armies. After two months of fierce fighting, in June, General Fu Chengming's troops were ambushed and annihilated by the Xiangyang White Turban Army in Xiaogan. At this point, the Qing army "successively recruited thousands of troops, but all were wiped out." The Qing government dispatched an additional 20,000 Miao soldiers from Hunan to come to aid, and the situation began to reverse. In August, most of the White Turban Army strongholds in Zhushan, Dangyang, and Zhijiang were breached. Zhang Zhengmo's tribe, which was the first to revolt, was also wiped out in Guannao Bay. Only the Lin Zhihua tribe is still active in the Ziqiu area of ??Changyang, and the Xiangyang White Turban Army is active in the north of Xiangyang, Suizhou, and Zhongxiang areas. Most of the Qing army's heavy troops were in southern Hubei, so Yao Zhifu and others expanded northward and entered the Tang County (now Tanghe) area of ??Henan. The Qing government also dispatched 6,000 additional soldiers from Shandong, Zhili and the capital's Jianrui and Firearms Battalions to assist.

Just as the Qing army was concentrating its forces to attack the White Turban Army in Xiangyang, Xu Tiande of Da County, Sichuan led thousands of people to revolt in Tingzipu on September 15th; Leng Tianlu of Dongxiang (now Xuanhan) , Wang Sanhuai revolted in Lianchigou, and Luo Qiqing of Bazhou (today's Bazhong), Tongjiang Ranwen and others responded successively. There were more than ten rebel armies in the country, each numbering in the thousands, "mostly with their heads wrapped in white scarves." Separately occupy dangerous positions in the mountainous areas and build fortifications for defense. Governor Yingshan of Sichuan and General Le Lishan of Chengdu led their troops to attack Dongxiang. They were thwarted twice at Laoying Bay of the Empress Temple and thousands of people were wiped out. By this time, the White Turban Army had spread all over eastern and northern Sichuan. The Qing army had few troops and its morale was extremely low after being wiped out twice. However, the White Scarf Army failed to unite with each other and failed to expand the results. They still dispersed and defended the stronghold, fighting independently. The situation in Sichuan has not developed further.

The Xiangyang White Turban Army first defeated the pursuing Qing army in an ambush at Chenjiahe (north of Xiangyang), and then defeated the 4,000-man Qing army led by Jing'an, the governor of Henan, at Weijiaji (south of today's Deng County). He was forced to retreat to Nanyang. Emperor Jiaqing punished Yongbao and ordered Huiling to unified command of all armies. In the first month of the second year, the Miao territory in Hunan was temporarily pacified. More than 10,000 Qing troops who suppressed the Miao uprising were diverted to attack the White Turban Army. Xu Tiande and Wang Sanhuai's troops were besieged by heavy Qing troops in the area of ??Jin'e Temple and Xiangluping, and suffered heavy losses. , there are only more than 2,000 people left. The White Turban Army in Xiangyang also suffered heavy losses under the siege of the Qing army. They then changed their tactics of holding strongholds and head-to-head combat to mobile guerrilla warfare, and strategically moved to Sichuan in three routes via Henan and Shaanxi. Along the way, "no fighting, no walking on the plains, just hundreds of people in groups, sometimes dividing and sometimes joining together, sometimes south and sometimes north", waiting for opportunities to use tactics such as ambush and surprise attack to attack and pursue the Qing army. Passing through the Qinling Mountains, a large number of refugees joined the army, and the team grew day by day. After fighting in April, they arrived in Dongxiang on June 23, and joined forces with the Sichuan White Turban Army Xu and Wang Bu. Emperor Jiaqing took responsibility for the military ministers and changed the commander-in-chief again. He ordered Yi Mian, the governor of Shaanxi, to replace Huiling and command all the armies. In July, the Qing army concentrated in eastern Sichuan and northern Sichuan, forming an encirclement situation against the White Turban Army. The local population is sparse, and it is difficult to raise food for the tens of thousands of rebels. A force of the Xiangyang White Turban Army was left, led by Li Quan, to cooperate with the Sichuan White Turban Army. The main force returned to Hubei in two echelons. Yao Zhifu and Wang Conger's troops formed an echelon. They left Sichuan from Fengjie and fought fiercely with the blocking Qing army in Baidi City for three days and nights. They entered Badong and Guizhou (now Zigui) areas, took advantage of the opportunity to capture Xingshan, and headed for Xiangyang via Baokang and Nanzhang. Advance; Gao Junde and other troops formed the second echelon. After leaving Sichuan, they advanced to Jingzhou (today's Jiangling) via Dangyang and Yuan'an. The Qing army urgently deployed heavy troops to strengthen the defense of Jing and Xiang. The Xiangyang White Scarf Army suddenly returned to Shifang County and Zhushan.

In August, he defeated the Mingliang tribe in Yunxi and killed Huilun and Feng Shenbu, the commanders of the guard army. Then he went north to Shaanxi. In September, Li Quan also became well.

The Xiangyang White Turban Army returned to Jingxiang and mobilized the main force of the Qing army to concentrate in Hubei. The pressure on the Sichuan White Turban Army was relieved. A large number of people joined the Sichuan Rebel Army, captured many towns in Bazhou and Dazhou, and regained momentum. In November, the Xiangyang White Turban Army crossed the Daba Mountain and entered northern Sichuan again. When the Qing army concentrated in the Tongjiang and Taiping areas, they returned to Shaanxi. The Qing army's blocking and pursuit were ineffective, and they fell into passivity. Emperor Jiaqing changed his command for the third time and ordered the Governor of Huguang, Le Bao, to command all armies in a unified manner. In February of the third year, Yao Zhifu's troops of the White Turban Army in Xiangyang failed to attack Junxian (today's Mei County). Li Quan entered Xi'an via Zhansi (today's Zhouzhi) and lost in a fierce battle with Wang Wenxiong's troops in Jiaojia Town. The two groups then separated and headed towards Hubei. In March, Yao Zhifu's tribe suffered successive setbacks in Shihepu, Kuanping and other places in Shanyang. When they arrived at Sanchahe (today's junction of Southeast An and Yunxi, Zhenxi, Shaanxi), they were surrounded by Qing troops and Xiangyong. After a fierce battle all day long, they moved to Quehuapo in the west of Yunnan. They tried their best to save them, but failed to break through and the entire army was wiped out. Yao Zhifu and Wang Conger committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. Li Quan and Gao Junde also suffered repeated defeats in Liangheguan (now northwest of Xunyang), Maoping (now north of Yangxian County) and other places, so they marched westward to Fengxian County, passing through Lueyang and Ningqiang (now Ningqiang). Entering Sichuan, he arrived at Yilong in May and met up with Luo Qiqing and Ran Wenwen. All the White Turban Army entered Sichuan, and the Qing government concentrated 50,000 troops to attack in three directions. In Sichuan, the White Scarf Army still relied on dangers to build fortifications and fought hard, suffering heavy losses. Luo Qiqing and Ran Wencuo were killed successively, Wang Sanhuai was lured and captured, and only Leng Tianlu and a few other troops were transferred to Liangshan, Zhongzhou and eastern Sichuan areas. At the beginning of the fourth year, Emperor Jiaqing took office, summed up the lessons learned from the three years of war, and made political and military adjustments: he replaced Huiling, Yimian, Jing'an, Qin Chengen and other leading military ministers who had failed in combat; he appointed Lebao as the minister of economics and strategy to provide unified command The armies of the five provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, Chu, Henan, and Gansu; vigorously promoted rural bravery, regiment training, and the system of protecting armor, building forts and guarding in groups, fortifying the walls and clearing the country. At the same time, they adopted the policy of "suppression and appeasement" and preached that "if you can repent and surrender," "you will not be blamed." Past”. The White Turban Army also accepted the lessons of the three-year war and gave up the tactics of sticking to strongholds. Instead, they adopted the tactics of combining dispersed attacks and mobile operations. They began to make large-scale back-and-forth movements to western Sichuan, southern Gansu, Shaanxi, and Chu in order to preserve themselves, Raise military rations, expand personnel, seize the initiative, and wait for opportunities to annihilate the enemy. The White Scarf Army's multi-channel mobile operations have taken the initiative to a certain extent, and the troops are growing day by day. Funing, the Minister of Military Affairs of the Qing Dynasty, reported: "The number of thieves is increasing day by day because of threats... There are actually more new thieves than can be eliminated"; The Qing army was exhausted and suffered a large number of casualties. The Qing Dynasty's military minister Mingliang reported: "I have been chasing thieves day and night since autumn, traveling to and from the five provinces. I have led 3,000 troops...only a few cadres remain." Emperor Jiaqing changed the commander-in-chief again in July. Lebao, who had only been in office for only half a year, was "arrested, questioned and punished". In August, he appointed Eldenbao as the minister of economics and strategy. After Elden was retained in office, he adopted the operational policy of "driving the thieves from all walks of life back to northern Sichuan" and then "gathering them together to annihilate them". At the same time, he vigorously promoted the policies of regiment training, fortification and strong wall clearance. In September and October, Zhang Hanchao was killed in battle, Gao Junde was captured, and Xu Tiande's troops made some gains. However, Ran Tianyuan, Ran Wen's nephew, defeated the Qing army many times in the past year. The army grew to more than 10,000 people and was active in the Dazhu area. In December, the White Turban Army from northern Sichuan marched northward into southern Shaanxi, and one force crossed the Jialing River from Lueyang into the Qinzhou and Gongchang areas of Gansu. The main force of the Qing army followed the White Turban Army into Gansu and Shaanxi. Ran Tianyuan took advantage of the situation and headed for Dingyuan. On the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month of the fifth year, he crossed the Jialing River into western Sichuan and attacked Pengxi County. Kuilun, the governor of Sichuan, ordered Zhu Shedou, the commander-in-chief, to lead 3,000 troops to rush for reinforcements. Ran Tianyuan besieged the city for reinforcements. On the 19th, he used an ambush at Laohuyan to annihilate the Qing army and kill Zhu Shedou. The army quickly grew to more than 50,000 people and gained momentum. Delengtai rushed south from Guangyuan and Zhaohua for reinforcements. Ran Tianyuan then used the tactics of retreating to lure the enemy and setting up ambushes to gather and annihilate. He surrounded the Wenchun and Saichong'a troops of the Qing army in Jiangyou and launched a annihilating blow. In March, the unit fought fiercely with the Qing army in Matigang for three days and nights. Delengtai only had dozens of his own soldiers left, and they were about to be annihilated. Dusi Luo Siju suddenly led his troops to come to the rescue. Ran Tianyuan was captured, and the Qing army turned defeat into victory. More than ten thousand people from the Ran tribe, led by Zhang Zicong and others, went south to Taihe Town (today's Shehong), crossed the Tong River, and entered the prosperous area in western Sichuan. Martial law is imposed in Chengdu. Emperor Jiaqing arrested Kuilun in Beijing and ordered him to commit suicide. He appointed Lebao as governor of Sichuan.

The White Scarf Army of Gao Tiansheng, Ma Xueliang and others who were active in Gansu entered Long'an from Jiezhou (now Wudu). In leap April, he defeated the Qing army at Zhuzi Mountain Pass and killed General Shi Jin before returning to Gansu; in August, he attacked Shaanxi-Gansu Governor-General Lin at night in Fujia Town, Hui County, killing General Fucheng and guerrilla Tai Qing'a and thousands of other officers and soldiers. Yu; in September, they advanced to Shaanxi and killed the commander-in-chief Zalhang'a in Lueyang and Mian County (today's Mian County), and killed the admiral Wang Wenxiong, deputy general Bao Gui and others at Fabao Mountain in Xixiang.

The White Scarf Army of Xu Tiande, Fan Renjie and others who were active in Hubei moved to northwest Hubei. In June, they defeated the Mingliang Army at Majiaying in Nanzhang and killed the commander-in-chief Wang Kai and others; in October, they fought in the far north Anniu Lupo defeated the pursuing Qing army and killed the general Li Shaozu, the general Shen Qingchun and others.

Although the White Turban Army still won many battles, it suffered heavy losses. Since the summer of the fifth year, the Qing government's measures such as "fortification and regiment training" and "fortification of walls and clearing out the wilderness" have gradually taken effect, making the White Turban Army strategically passive. Not only did their food and troop sources decrease day by day, but their operations were often blocked, making it difficult to carry out major campaigns. Mobile operations in a wide range of operations, and mainly carried out sorties and movements in the border areas of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Chu. From the first month to July of the sixth year, due to the continuous attacks of the Qing army, there were only a few hundred or dozens of white scarf troops left in each department, and they were basically confined to the old forests of Nanshan.

Among the stronger ones, there are a few such as Gou Wenming, Fan Renjie and Pu Jing. By July of the seventh year, these three tribes were also annihilated by the Qing army. In December, Eldenbao reported to Emperor Jiaqing that "the great success has been achieved, and all the famous rebels in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Chu have been eliminated." In fact, there are still many small white scarf armies operating in the old forests of Nanshan to conduct guerrilla operations. In February of the eighth year, the Qing Dynasty General and Admiral Mukdenbu went deep into the old forest to pursue and kill a few ambush soldiers. In August, some rural warriors who had been dismissed by the Qing government joined the White Scarf Army and attacked outside Laolin from time to time. In September, he defeated the blocking Qing army near Xixiang and killed his deputy general Zhu Huai. The White Scarf Army persisted in fighting for more than one year in an extremely difficult environment. Until September of the 9th year, the last White Scarf Army leader Gou Wenrun was killed by a traitor, and the 9-year White Scarf Army (White Lotus Sect) uprising came to an end. Finish. Taking the uprising of the White Turban Army in Sichuan, Chu, and Shaanxi as a turning point, the Qing Dynasty began to decline from its prosperity.