Red Turban Rebellion
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- White Lotus Revolution redirects here. For the Chinese uprising against the Manchu Dynasty, please see White Lotus Rebellion.
The Red Turban Rebellion (Chinese: 紅巾之亂) was an uprising by the White Lotus Chinese that targeted the ruling Yuan Dynasty.
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[edit] Causes
In 1333, the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was experiencing problems. The Yellow River flooded constantly, and other natural disasters also occurred. At the same time, the Yuan Dynasty required considerable military expenditure to maintain its vast empire. This was solved mostly through additional taxation, in which the burden fell on the Han Chinese, as they constituted the lowest two groups in the four groups of the social structure under the Yuan Dynasty.[1]
[edit] The Red Turban Army
The Red Turban Army was originally started by the followers of White Lotus and Manichaeism to resist the Mongols. The name "Red Turban" was used because of their tradition of using red banners and wearing red turbans to distinguish themselves.
These rebellions began on a sporadic basis, firstly on the coast of Zhejiang, when Fang Guozhen (a Han) and his men assaulted a group of Yuan officials. After that, the White Lotus society led by Han Shantong in the north of the Yellow River became the centre of anti-Mongol sentiment.
In 1351, the society plotted an armed rebellion, but the plan was disclosed and Han Shantong was arrested and executed by the Yuan Government. After his death, Liu Futong, a prominent member of the White Lotus, assisted Han's son, Han Liner, to succeed his father and establish the Red Turban Army. After that, several other Han rebels in the south of the Yangtze River revolted under the name of the Southern Red Turbans. Among the key leaders of the Southern Red Turbans were Xu Shouhui and Chen Youliang.
[edit] Conclusion
One of the more significant Red Turban leaders was Zhu Yuanzhang. At first, he followed Guo Zixing, and in fact later married Guo's daughter. After Guo's death, Zhu was seen as the leader of the rebellion and took over Guo's army.
Between 1356 and 1367, Zhu began a series of campaigns seeking to defeat his opponents in the Red Turbans. At first, he nominally supported Han Liner to stablize his northern frontier. Then he defeated his rivals Chen Youliang, Zhang Shicheng and Fang Guozhen one by one. After rising to dominance, he drowned Han Liner. Calling for a racial revolution to overthrow the Mongols and restore the Han Chinese, Zhu gained popular support.
In 1368, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yintian, historically known as the Hongwu Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The next year, the Ming Army captured Dadu, and the rule of Yuan Dynasty was officially over. China was unified again.
