THE MIAO REBELLION, 1854-1872: INSURGENCY AND SOCIAL DISORDER IN KWEICHOW DURING THE TAIPING ERA (CHINA)

The Miao rebellion of 1854-1872 took place in a poverty-stricken frontier area where unrest was endemic. This thesis provides an account of the rebellion and examines the physical and human setting of Kweichow province for clues on the causes of the turmoil. It tests the rebellion against James Scott's proposition that peasant revolt is directly linked to subsistence crises, and against some of the underlying concepts of the solidarity approach to conflict.;The eruption of the Taiping rebellion did much to encourage revolt in Kweichow. Deteriorating conditions and government weakness made the situation ripe for insurrection in widely separated parts of China. As the Chi'ing court transferred troops to fight rebellion in one area and increased the tax burden to finance suppression, the stage was set for outbreaks in other areas where discontent was simmering. It was not until the Taiping had been defeated that the Chi'ing administration was able to bring adequate resources to bear on the southwest.;Although the disorder that shook Kweichow for almost twenty years is usually referred to as the "Miao rebellion," this designation is misleading because it implies that the conflict was purely ethnic in character. In actuality, the Miao represented only one element in it. Province-wide, the disorder consisted of a congeries of different revolts involving other ethnic minorities, Muslims, heterodox sects, secret societies, and disgruntled Han peasants. It has been estimated that the Miao and other ethnic minorities made up only about 40% of the rebels. Although rebel groups often cooperated with one other across ethnic lines, their lack of organizational unity ultimately made it easier for the government to deal with them since different groups could be isolated and defeated one by one.;To assign precise dates to the Miao rebellion is difficult, because feuding, communal strife, banditry, and minor revolts were part of the landscape. Occasionally they escalated to the point where insurgents managed to capture a district seat. The level of violence began to increase in the early 1850's, until several rebellions in quick succession from 1854 to 1855 set the province aflame for most of the next two decades.