The Heaven and Earth Society and the Red Turban Rebellion in ...
The Heaven and Earth Society and the Red Turban Rebellion in ...
The Heaven and Earth Society and the Red Turban Rebellion in ...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
In 1843, b<strong>and</strong>its of <strong>the</strong> Ti<strong>and</strong>ihui enrolled membership even <strong>in</strong> open daylight, plundered <strong>the</strong> district<br />
of Xiangshan 香 山 , <strong>and</strong> threatened to attack <strong>the</strong> chief town of <strong>the</strong> district. <strong>The</strong> magistrate of <strong>the</strong> district of<br />
Xiangshan was so afraid of <strong>the</strong> retaliation of o<strong>the</strong>r Ti<strong>and</strong>ihui members that he imposed a light sentence upon<br />
<strong>the</strong> captured Triads, <strong>and</strong> he would not have reported <strong>the</strong> disturbances to <strong>the</strong> Guangzhou 廣 州 authorities if<br />
<strong>the</strong> latter had not warned him to do so. 27 Keep<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> local authorities <strong>in</strong> a state of fear, <strong>the</strong> Ti<strong>and</strong>ihui <strong>in</strong> turn<br />
could precipitate private feuds with o<strong>the</strong>r illegal societies like <strong>the</strong>mselves to extend <strong>the</strong>ir area of dom<strong>in</strong>ation<br />
without any respect whatsoever to <strong>the</strong> authority of <strong>the</strong> local government. 28<br />
Whole delta areas were now overrun with <strong>the</strong> Ti<strong>and</strong>ihui. <strong>The</strong> reason for <strong>the</strong>ir spread was not merely<br />
due to <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>creased numbers of <strong>the</strong> immigrants but also to such factors as <strong>the</strong> readjustment of <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>ternal<br />
trade, <strong>the</strong> S<strong>in</strong>o-British diplomatic tension (1844-49), <strong>the</strong> unemployment of <strong>the</strong> disb<strong>and</strong>ed irregulars, <strong>and</strong><br />
f<strong>in</strong>ally <strong>the</strong> drought <strong>and</strong> climatic calamities from 1847 to 1850. Until <strong>the</strong> Taip<strong>in</strong>g <strong>Rebellion</strong>, however, this<br />
disorder brought by <strong>the</strong> Ti<strong>and</strong>ihui rema<strong>in</strong>ed sporadic <strong>and</strong> undirected, <strong>and</strong> its ma<strong>in</strong> effect was a devastat<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>and</strong> unsettl<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>fluence on <strong>the</strong> countryside. But <strong>the</strong> rapid success of <strong>the</strong> Taip<strong>in</strong>g exposed <strong>the</strong> degree of<br />
discontent that had developed by <strong>the</strong> middle of <strong>the</strong> n<strong>in</strong>eteenth century.<br />
3) <strong>The</strong> Course of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Turban</strong> <strong>Rebellion</strong><br />
A Series of Incidents Lead to <strong>the</strong> <strong>Red</strong> <strong>Turban</strong> <strong>Rebellion</strong><br />
In Guangdong <strong>the</strong> years follow<strong>in</strong>g 1850 were a period of grow<strong>in</strong>g disorder. <strong>The</strong> trouble had begun<br />
with <strong>the</strong> Taip<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>cursions across <strong>the</strong> border from Guangxi. Of <strong>the</strong>se, that headed by L<strong>in</strong>g Shiba 凌 十 八 had<br />
been <strong>the</strong> most difficult to subdue. Accord<strong>in</strong>g to imperial memorial, Daq<strong>in</strong>g Lichao shilu, Xianfeng period<br />
大 , L<strong>in</strong>g Shiba was a native of <strong>the</strong> prefecture of Gaozhou. He went to Guangxi <strong>in</strong> 1847<br />
<strong>and</strong> jo<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>the</strong> Taip<strong>in</strong>gs. He, <strong>the</strong>n <strong>in</strong> May 1851, returned to his native l<strong>and</strong> <strong>and</strong> set up Taip<strong>in</strong>g headquarters<br />
at a place called Luoj<strong>in</strong>g 羅 鏡 . Severe fight<strong>in</strong>g between <strong>the</strong> rebels <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Q<strong>in</strong>g force cont<strong>in</strong>ued throughout<br />
<strong>the</strong> year of 1852. 29 Xu Guangj<strong>in</strong> 廣 ’s war effort aga<strong>in</strong>st L<strong>in</strong>g Shiba <strong>in</strong> Gaozhou made little headway. In<br />
<strong>the</strong> same year, <strong>the</strong> border city of Wuzhou 梧 州 was under siege by <strong>the</strong> rebel Tian Fang 田 芳 . O<strong>the</strong>r Triads<br />
closer to <strong>the</strong> Delta were <strong>in</strong>spired to attack Conghua 從 化 , only tens of miles from Guangzhou. 30<br />
Rebel <strong>in</strong>cursions <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> failure of <strong>the</strong> prov<strong>in</strong>cial authorities to deal with <strong>the</strong>m effectively were not<br />
<strong>the</strong> only cause of discontent. <strong>The</strong> gentry had become <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>gly alienated by <strong>the</strong> extent to which <strong>the</strong>y were<br />
called upon to f<strong>in</strong>ance operation aga<strong>in</strong>st rebels, not only <strong>in</strong> Guangdong <strong>and</strong> Guangxi, but also <strong>in</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
prov<strong>in</strong>ces. This burden fell particularly heavily on <strong>the</strong> gentry of <strong>the</strong> Pearl River Delta. <strong>The</strong> situation had<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r deteriorated <strong>in</strong> 1852 after heavy flood<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Delta had destroyed much of <strong>the</strong> harvest. <strong>The</strong><br />
prov<strong>in</strong>cial authorities, however, were <strong>in</strong> such desperate need of funds that <strong>the</strong>y had to cont<strong>in</strong>ue mak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
dem<strong>and</strong>s on <strong>the</strong> gentry. In 1853 <strong>the</strong>y were asked to supply one month’s rent on all <strong>the</strong>ir property to <strong>the</strong><br />
prov<strong>in</strong>cial treasury. Eventually, <strong>the</strong>se burdens were passed on to <strong>the</strong> tenant farmers who had already been<br />
suffer<strong>in</strong>g so much for past years. 31<br />
27 Guangzhou Fuzhi 廣 州 府 志 , 81.41-42.<br />
28 Between 1843 <strong>and</strong> 1844, two private wars between <strong>the</strong> Ti<strong>and</strong>ihui <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> Sleep<strong>in</strong>g Dragon <strong>Society</strong><br />
(Wolonghui 臥 龍 會 ) had been fought that eventually resulted several hundred casualties <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> district of<br />
Shunde. See G. W. Cooke, Ch<strong>in</strong>a: be<strong>in</strong>g “<strong>The</strong> Times” special correspondent from Ch<strong>in</strong>a <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Years<br />
1857-1858 (London, 1858), 435-36.<br />
29 Daq<strong>in</strong>g Lichao shilu, Xianfeng period 大 淸 朝 實 錄 , 咸 豊 朝 (Taibei, 1964 repr<strong>in</strong>t), 32.11.<br />
30 To save <strong>the</strong> city from imm<strong>in</strong>ent attack, a thick barrier of garrison troops <strong>and</strong> hired mercenaries was set up<br />
between <strong>the</strong> delta <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> borderl<strong>and</strong>. Xu Guangj<strong>in</strong> <strong>and</strong> Ye M<strong>in</strong>gchen 葉 名 琛 , successive viceroys of<br />
Liang’guang, personally led armies <strong>in</strong>to <strong>the</strong> mounta<strong>in</strong>s. By August 1852 <strong>the</strong>y had blocked <strong>the</strong> rebel descent,<br />
decisively crush<strong>in</strong>g L<strong>in</strong>g Shiba at Luot<strong>in</strong>g 羅 定 . See F.O. 682, 68.4.14 (1850); idem, 327.2.35 (April 10,<br />
1850); Frederic Wakeman Jr., Strangers at <strong>the</strong> Gate, (Berkeley <strong>and</strong> LA: Univ. of California Press, 1966),<br />
132-133.<br />
31 Nishikawa Kikuko 西 天 喜 久 子 , “Juntoku danren sokyokuno seitatsu 順 德 團 練 總 局 の 成 立 ,” <strong>in</strong><br />
Toyobunka kenkyusho kiyo 東 洋 文 化 研 究 所 紀 要 105 (Tokyo University, 1988), 14-16; Liu Weizhang 廖<br />
伟 章 , “Taip<strong>in</strong>g tianguo gem<strong>in</strong>gshi Q<strong>in</strong>gchao Guangdong caizheng 太 平 天 国 革 命 时时 清 朝 广 东 财 政 ,” <strong>in</strong><br />
Taip<strong>in</strong>g tianguo yu j<strong>in</strong>dai zhong’guo 太 平 天 国 与 近 代 中 国 , (Guangzhou: Guangdong renm<strong>in</strong> chubanshe,<br />
1993), 366; Wakeman, Strangers, pp.132-136; idem, “Secret Societies of Kwangtung,” pp.38-39.<br />
6