The
Red Turban Rebellion ( Hóngjīn Qǐyì) was an uprising much influenced by the
White LotusWhite Lotus was a type of Buddhist sectarianism that appealed to many Han Chinese, who found solace in worship of the "Unborn or Eternal Venerable Mother" , who was to gather all her children at the millennium into one family....
Society members that targeted the ruling
Yuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
.
Causes
Since the 1340s, the Mongol-ruled
Yuan DynastyThe Yuan Dynasty , or Great Yuan Empire was a ruling dynasty founded by the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, who ruled most of present-day China, all of modern Mongolia and its surrounding areas, lasting officially from 1271 to 1368. It is considered both as a division of the Mongol Empire and as an...
was experiencing problems. The
Yellow RiverThe Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
floodA flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...
ed constantly, and other
naturalNatural is an adjective that refers to Nature.Natural may refer too:In science and mathematics:* Natural transformation, category theory in mathematics* Natural foods...
disasterA disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
s also occurred. At the same time, the Yuan Dynasty required considerable
militaryA military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
expenditure to maintain its vast
empireThe term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
.
The Red Turban Army
The Red Turban Army (紅巾軍) was originally started by the followers of
White LotusWhite Lotus was a type of Buddhist sectarianism that appealed to many Han Chinese, who found solace in worship of the "Unborn or Eternal Venerable Mother" , who was to gather all her children at the millennium into one family....
(白蓮教) and
ManichaeismManichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
(摩尼教) to resist the Mongols. The name "Red Turban" was used because of their
traditionA tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. Common examples include holidays or impractical but socially meaningful clothes , but the idea has also been applied to social norms such as greetings...
of using
redRed is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared , and cannot be seen by the naked eye...
bannerA banner is a flag or other piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or other message. Banner-making is an ancient craft.The word derives from late Latin bandum, a cloth out of which a flag is made...
s and wearing red
turbanIn English, Turban refers to several types of headwear popularly worn in the Middle East, North Africa, Punjab, Jamaica and Southwest Asia. A commonly used synonym is Pagri, the Indian word for turban.-Styles:...
s to distinguish themselves.
These
rebellionRebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
s began on a sporadic basis, firstly on the
coastA coastline or seashore is the area where land meets the sea or ocean. A precise line that can be called a coastline cannot be determined due to the dynamic nature of tides. The term "coastal zone" can be used instead, which is a spatial zone where interaction of the sea and land processes occurs...
of
ZhejiangZhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
(浙江), when Fang Guozhen (a Han) and his men assaulted a group of Yuan
officialAn official is someone who holds an office in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority .A government official or functionary is an official who is involved in public...
s. After that, the White Lotus
societyA society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
led by
Han ShantongHan Shantong Yingzhou, Henan, 14 c. - one of the early Red turban rebellion leaders. He claimed to be the descendant of Song Huizong , the last emperor of the Northern Song dynasty, thus opposing himself to the ruling Yuan regime....
(韓山童) in the north of the Yellow River became the centre of anti-Mongol sentiment. Few of the rebellion groups made overtures to the Korean Kingdom of
GoryeoThe Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...
, technically a tributary ally of the Yuan Dynasty. Though initially successful, they were eventually expelled by the Goryeo army led by
Choe YeongChoe Yeong , also romanized as Choi Young, was a Korean general born in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in Goryeo .-Early years:...
and Yi Seonggye.
In 1351, the society plotted an armed rebellion, but the plan was disclosed and
Han ShantongHan Shantong Yingzhou, Henan, 14 c. - one of the early Red turban rebellion leaders. He claimed to be the descendant of Song Huizong , the last emperor of the Northern Song dynasty, thus opposing himself to the ruling Yuan regime....
was
arrestAn arrest is the act of depriving a person of his or her liberty usually in relation to the purported investigation and prevention of crime and presenting into the criminal justice system or harm to oneself or others...
ed and executed by the Yuan Government. After his death, Liu Futong (劉福通), a prominent member of the White Lotus, assisted Han's son, Han Lin'er (韓林兒), to
succeedAn order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
his father and establish the Red Turban Army. After that, several other Han
rebelsRebellion, uprising or insurrection, is a refusal of obedience or order. It may, therefore, be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors aimed at destroying or replacing an established authority such as a government or a head of state...
in the
southSouth is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
of the
Yangtze RiverThe Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
revolted under the name of the
SouthSouth is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
ern Red Turbans. Among the key leaders of the Southern Red Turbans were
Xu ShouhuiXu Shouhui was a 14th century Chinese rebel leader who proclaimed himself emperor during the late Mongol Yuan Dynasty period. He was also known as Xu Zhenyi ....
(徐壽輝) and
Chen YouliangChen Youliang was the founder of the insurgent state of Dahan in the late Yuan Dynasty period of Chinese history.-Biography:...
(陳友諒). The rebellion was also supported by the leaderships of Peng Yingyou (1338) and Zou Pusheng (1351).
Conclusion
One of the more significant Red Turban leaders was Zhu Yuanzhang. At first, he followed Guo Zixing, and in fact later
marriedMarriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
Guo's
daughterA daughter is a female offspring; a girl, woman, or female animal in relation to her parents. The male equivalent is a son. Analogously the name is used on several areas to show relations between groups or elements.-Etymology:...
. 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
campaignIn the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...
s seeking to defeat his opponents in the Red Turbans. At first, he nominally supported Han Liner to stabilize his northern
frontierA frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. 'Frontier' was absorbed into English from French in the 15th century, with the meaning "borderland"--the region of a country that fronts on another country .The use of "frontier" to mean "a region at the...
. Then he defeated his rivals
Chen YouliangChen Youliang was the founder of the insurgent state of Dahan in the late Yuan Dynasty period of Chinese history.-Biography:...
,
Zhang ShichengZhang Shicheng （1321－1367）was one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion in the late Yuan Dynasty China. Later he established the Kingdom of Dazhou with reigning name Tianyou .-Life:...
and Fang Guozhen one by one. After rising to dominance, he
drownedDrowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
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' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, historically known as the
Hongwu EmperorThe Hongwu Emperor , known variably by his given name Zhu Yuanzhang and by his temple name Taizu of Ming , was the founder and first emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China...
of the
Ming DynastyThe Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
. The next year, the Ming
ArmyAn army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
captured
DaduBeijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, and the rule of Yuan Dynasty was officially over.
ChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
was unified again under the Han Chinese.