Nian Rebellion

Nian Rebellion
or Nien Rebellion

(с 1852–68) Rebellion in northern China during the Qing dynasty.

The Nian, a secret society, was probably a reincarnation of the White Lotus Society; it attracted poor peasants, salt smugglers, and army deserters who used guerrilla hit-and-run tactics to attack the wealthy and redistribute the plundered goods among the needy. They took over local militias and formed their own armies. They were finally crushed by Li Hongzhang, who defeated them using modern weapons and blockade lines. See also Taiping Rebellion.

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▪ Chinese history
Nian also spelled (Wade-Giles romanization)  Nien 

      (c. 1853–68), major revolt in the eastern and central Chinese provinces of Shandong, Henan, Jiangsu, and Anhui; it occurred when the Qing dynasty was preoccupied with the great Taiping Rebellion (1850–64) in southern and central China.

      An offshoot of the Buddhist-inspired White Lotus (White Lotus Rebellion) secret societies, the Nian were motley bands of peasants, army deserters, and salt smugglers who had fomented sporadic outbreaks since the first decade of the 19th century. Oppressed by famine resulting from flooding during the 1850s and stimulated by government preoccupation with the Taiping, several Nian bands formed a coalition under the leadership of Zhang Lexing in 1855 and began to expand rapidly. Numbering from 30,000 to 50,000 soldiers and organized into five armies, they began to conduct plundering raids into adjacent regions. In 1863 they received a setback when their citadel, Zhihe (now Guoyang, Anhui province), was captured and Zhang Lexing was killed. But they soon reorganized, and in 1864 they were joined by those Taiping soldiers not defeated in the fall of the Taiping capital at Nanjing that same year. They began to adopt guerrilla hit-and-run tactics, using mobile mounted units to strike at the weak points of the Qing armies and then retreating into strategic hamlets.The government, by then free from problems with the Taiping, began to concentrate on the Nian and adopted a strategy of blockade. The rebels were gradually trapped and defeated.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • rebellion — /ri bel yeuhn/, n. 1. open, organized, and armed resistance to one s government or ruler. 2. resistance to or defiance of any authority, control, or tradition. 3. the act of rebelling. [1300 50; ME rebellioun < OF < L rebellion (s. of rebellio),… …   Universalium

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  • Nian — For other uses, see Nien Rebellion. Southern Chinese lion dance portrays the Nian According to Chinese mythology, a Nian (simplified Chinese: 年兽; traditional Chinese: 年獸; pinyin: nián shòu) is a beast that …   Wikipedia

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  • Révolte des Nian — La révolte des Nian (chinois : 捻軍起義 ; pinyin: niǎn jūn qǐ yì), appelée aussi parfois révolte des Nien (selon la transcription Wade Giles) est une révolte armée qui eut lieu dans le nord de la Chine de 1851 à 1868, donc contemporaine de… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Taiping Rebellion — (1850–64) Large scale rebellion against the Qing dynasty in China. The peasants, having suffered floods and famines in the late 1840s, were ripe for rebellion, which came under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan. Hong s visions convinced him he was… …   Universalium

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