Ep. 331 | The History of Yunnan Province (Part 4)

Here's Part 4 of my latest effort. This episode examines all the events leading up to, during, and immediately after The Panthay Rebellion, 1856-1872. Since the time of the Mongols, the Hui Chinese had served the dynasties faithfully as civil servants and bureaucrats. But come the mid-Qing, after a massive wave of Han Chinese migration to the southwest of China, including to Yunnan, sparks flew at once between the Hui Chinese who controlled business interests that the new migrants demanding a piece of the action. This was an unfortunate period in Yunnan's history.

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Terms in Episode

Pinyin/Term	Chinese	English/Meaning
Yúnnán	云南	A landlocked province in the southwest of the PRC. Population is around 50 million. The capital of the province is Kunming. Yunnan borders the provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan, Guangxi, and Tibet as well as Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Laos, and Myanmar.
Panthay Rebellion	杜文秀起义	Also known as The Du Wenxiu Uprising. This was a rebellion of the Muslim Hui people and other (Muslim as well as non-Muslim) ethnic groups against the Qing dynasty in southwestern Yunnan, as part of a wave of Hui-led multi-ethnic unrest. The name "Panthay" is a Burmese word, which is said to be identical with the Shan word Pang hse. It was the name by which the Burmese called the Chinese Muslims who came with caravans to Burma from Yunnan. The name was not used or known in Yunnan itself
Tàipíng Rebellion	太平天国	A massive civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted from 1850 until the fall of Tianjing (now Nanjing) in 1864, although the last rebel army was not wiped out until August 1871. The conflict resulted in approximately 20 million deaths.
Niǎn Rebellion	捻乱	an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864) in South China. The rebellion failed to topple the Qing dynasty, but caused immense economic devastation and loss of life that became major long-term factors in the collapse of the Qing regime in the early 20th century
Punti (Běndì)	本地人	The native people to a land, in this case the native Cantonese people who lived in Guangdong prior to the arrival of waves of Hakka immigration
Hakka	客家人	A Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhejiang, Hainan, Guizhou in China, as well as in parts of Taiwan. Unlike other Han Chinese subgroups, the Hakkas are not named after a geographical region in China. The word Hakka or "guest families" is Cantonese in origin and originally refers to the Northern Chinese refugees fleeing social unrest, upheaval and invasions in northern parts of China who migrated to the south.
Dù Wénxiù	杜文秀	1823-1872, the Chinese Muslim leader of the Panthay Rebellion, He was ethnically Han from both his parents and not Hui but was raised as a Muslim and led his rebellion as an anti-Manchu rebellion instead of a religious war by Muslims against non-Muslims, Du was known in the West as Sultan Suleiman
Huí	回族	An East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. The Hui are distributed throughout China, mainly in the northwestern provinces and in the Zhongyuan region. According to the 2011 census, China is home to approximately 10.5 million Hui people. Ouside China, the 110,000 Dungan people of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are also considered part of the Hui ethnicity
Bǎoshān	保山	Once known as Yǒngchāng 永昌 and today known as the cirty of Baoshan, a prefecture-level city in Western Yunnan. Baoshan is the second-biggest metropolitan area in western Yunnan after Dali.
Hóng Xiùquán	洪秀全	1814-1864, a Chinese revolutionary and religious leader who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over large portions of southern China, with himself as its "Heavenly King"
Huáng Cháo	黄巢	835-884, a Chinese rebel leader best known for leading a major rebellion that severely weakened the Tang Dynasty
Zhāng Jué	张角	Also known as Zhang Jiao, he was a 2nd century BC Chinese military general and rebel. He was the leader of the Yellow Turban Rebellion during the late Eastern Han.
Chén Shèng	陈胜	Also known as Chen She 陈涉, died 208 BC, leader of the Dazexiang Uprising that helped to bring down the Qin Dynasty
Wú Guǎng	吴广	Another rebel leader allied with Chen Sheng in the Dazexiang Rebellion
Dàzéxiāng Uprising	大泽乡起义	August 209 - January 208 BC, was the first uprising against the Qin dynasty following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, the uprising helped overthrow the Qin and paved the way for the Han dynasty,
Fāng Là	方腊	Died, 1121, a Chinese rebel leader who led an uprising against the Song Dynasty
Xiùcái	秀才	Also called the Shengyuan 生员 degree, given to scholars who had passed the civil service exams at the entry-level. They were further divided up into 3 classes depending on their results on the exam
Emperor Dàoguāng	道光帝	Qing Emperor who reigned 1820-1850
Treaty of Nánjīng	南京条约	Signed August 29, 1842, the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties
Lín Zéxú	林则徐	1785-1850, political philosopher, polititician, and viceroy, best known for his role in the First Opium War
Guìzhōu	贵州	Interior province in west China bordering Yunnan
Mǎ Déxīn	马徳新	Also known as Yusuf Ma Dexin, 1794-1874, a Hui Chinese Hanafi-Maturidi scholar from Yunnan, known for his fluency and proficiency in both Arabic and Persian, and for his knowledge of Islam. He was respected by both Du Wenxiu & Ma Rulong as a spiritual leader. Played a major role in the Panthay Rebellion
Sayyid Al Shams al-Din Omar (Sàidiǎnchì Shànsīdīng)	赛典赤山思丁	1211-1279, Sayyid Ajall Shams al-Din Omar al-Bukhari was Yunnan's first provincial governor, appointed by Kublai Khan after the pacification of Yunnan. He sptread Islam throughout the province and Confucian learning
Lín’ān	临安镇	A town in Jianshui County, Yunnan
Jiànshuǐ County	建水县	A city in Honghe prefecture, Yunnan. It was historic center of the province and remains an important transportation crossroad. Previously, it has been known as Lin'an (see above) or Huili (Chinese: 惠历); today, the name Lin'an Town is retained by Jianshui's county seat
Kūnmíng	昆明	Capital of Yunnan Province and location of Lake Dian and the ancient Dian Kingdom
Chǔxióng	楚雄	an autonomous prefecture located in central Yunnan, to the west of Kunming
Ménghuà	蒙化	The previous name of the Weishan Yi and Hui Autonomous County in western Yunnan, just east of Dali
Wēishān County	巍山县	See above
Dàlǐ	大理	Once a state situated in modern Yunnan, from 937 until 1253. Dali today is the county-seat of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in northwestern Yunnan. Dali City is administered through 12 township-level districts, two of which are also commonly referred to as Dali. Dali City is located in western Yunnan, approximately 25 km (160 mi) northwest of the provincial capital of Kunming
Xiánfēng Emperor	咸丰帝	Qing Emperor who reigned 1850-1861
xùfà	蓄发	To cut one's hair
Píngnán Kingdom	平南国	Pacified Southern State or Sultanate
Bīngmǎ Dàyuánshuài	兵马大元帅	generalissimo
Yí people	彝族	The Yi ethnic minority people of Yunnan. Also called the Nuosu people. Historically known as the Lolo, the Yi are an ethnic group in China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Numbering nine million people, they are the seventh largest of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the PRC. They live primarily in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi, usually in mountainous regions
Tàipíng Tiānguó	太平天国	The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
guānhuà	官话	An official language. In China Mandarin is considered a "guanhua"
Shùxìng’ā	舒兴阿	Hui-hating Manchu governor of Yunnan during the Daoguang Era, who was responsible for a Muslim massacre in Yunnan
Chì gèfǔtīng zhōuxiàn jùtuán shāhuí	饬各府厅州县聚团杀回	Calling for the killing of all Hui throughout all of Yunnan province.
Emperor Tóngzhì	同治帝	Qing Emperor who reigned 1861-1875
Emperor Guāngxù	光绪帝	Qing Emperor who reigned 1875-1908
Zhuàng	壮族	a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in Guangxi. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the PRC. Their population, estimated at 18 million people, makes them the largest minority in China.
Guǎngxī	广西	Province in southwest China with its capital at Nanning
Cén Yùyīng	岑毓英	1829-1889, Governor-General of Yunnan-Guizhou and a Qing Minister of Defense
Mǎ Rúlóng	马如龙	a Chinese Muslim who originally rebelled against the Qing dynasty along with Du Wenxiu in the Panthay Rebellion. He later defected to the Qing side. After officially surrendering in 1862 his forces effectively occupied the capital of Yunnan. He then helped the Qing forces crush his fellow Muslim rebels, and defeated them. He achieved almost total control in Yunnan province and was the most powerful military official in the province after the war.
Empress Dowager Cíxǐ	慈禧太后	1835-1908, a Chinese noblewoman of the ManchuYehe Nara clan, concubine to Guangxu and later regent who effectively controlled the Chinese government in the late Qing dynasty for almost 50 years, from 1861 until her death in 1908.
Lǐ Hóngzhāng	李鸿章	1823-1901, was a Chinese statesman, general and diplomat of the late Qing dynasty. He quelled several major rebellions and served in important positions in the Qing imperial court, including the Viceroy of Zhili, Huguang and Liangguang. He was the face of China to the West during the last years of the Qing and signed a few unequal treaties
Miáo	苗族	The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia. The Miao live primarily in southern China's mountains, in the provinces of Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi, Guangdong, and Hainan. Some sub-groups of the Miao, most notably the Hmong people, have migrated out of China into Southeast Asia. Following the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, a large group of Hmong refugees resettled in several Western nations, mainly in the United States, France, and Australia.
Héng Chūn	恒春	Yunnan governor who committed suicide during the Panthay Rebellion due to his inability to defeat the rebel soldiers
Yún-Guì	云贵	the macro-region comprising Yunnan and Guizhou
Mángyún	芒云	A village in Lancang County (see below)
Láncāng Lāhù Autonomous County	澜沧拉祜自治县	An autonomous county under the jurisdiction of Pu'er City, in southwestern Yunnan province
Zhīfú	芝罘区	Also known as Chefoo in the old history books, the locals knew the place as Yantai, a port city on the north coast of Shandong
Yāntái Treaty	烟台条约	the Zhīfú 芝罘区 Convention of August 21, 1876, signed by Thomas Wade and Lǐ Hóngzhāng. The treaty put an end to the Margary Affai. A code of etiquette was agreed to between the British and the Qing about how to handle future diplomatic spats. Four new treaty ports were opened to trade and limitations were put on the likin tax, the líjīn 厘金 internal tariff paid by the foreign traders at all the many ports and customs offices
Guìlín	桂林	A prefecture-level city in the northeast of Guangxi located on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the north. The city has long been renowned for its scenery of karst topography and is one of the top tourist destinations in China
Black Flags		A splinter remnant of a bandit group recruited largely from soldiers of ethnic Zhuang background, who crossed the border in 1865 from Guangxi into northern Vietnam, during the Nguyễn dynasty. Although brigands, they were known mainly for their fights against the invading French forces, who were then moving into Tonkin (northern Vietnam). The Black Flag Army is so named because of the preference of its commander, Liu Yongfu, for using black command flags.
Guō Sōngtāo	郭嵩焘	1818-1891, a Chinese diplomat and statesman during the Qing dynasty. He was among the first foreign emissaries to be sent abroad by the Qing government, as a result of the Tongzhi Restoration.

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