The White Lotus Rebellion

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The White Lotus was a religious sect，which combined elements of Buddhism，Taoism，and a few doomsday prophecies.The most important tenet of their creed was that the ultimate reincarnation of Buddha as Maitreya would come soon.This was not a doctrine that pleased Qianlong，so in 1775 it was banned.However，in the 1790s it began to reappear，due to mostly to the efforts of it’s new charismatic leader，Liu Zhixie ，a gifted orator and able strategist.He proclaimed that the Maitreya was incarnate in the son of his own master Liu Song ，and second，that he had discovered a surviving member of the Ming dynasty who was in fact the legitimate emperor.The authorities were not pleased by this，and so in 1793 a renewed crackdown on the White Lotus was proclaimed.However，the new crackdown unwittingly played into the hands of the White Lotus.In the central provinces of China，although a nuisance，they had little chance of succeeding in open rebellion.So they fled to the outer provinces，where the control of the Qing was weaker.

Because of the population growth，there had been significant internal migration within China.People had left the heav-ily populated plains，rivers and valleys for the less populated border，desert and mountainous regions，such as the border areas of Sichuan，Gaungxi，Hunan and Guizhou.Although the imperial bureaucracy tried to control these areas，there were too few of them，and the country was wild，plagued by bandits.A state of semi-warfare existed between the native popu-lations and the new settlers.Almost everyone carried weapons，and knew how to use them.These regions had always been somewhat rebellious，but previously these had been suppressed by the formidable Manchu Banners.It was to these regions that the White Lotus fled.

Attempting to destroy the White Lotus，the local authorities launched crackdowns on the White Lotus rebels in the border areas.However，the methods they used were basically a reign of terror，with the result that many border villages armed themselves against Imperial forces，effectively joining the White Lotus in rebellion.In early 1796 many villages openly joined the rebellion，leading to a full scale revolt.

At first，the White Lotus’s tactics were simple—they would attack valley towns，sack them，murder any Qing officials，and disappear to their own well fortified mountain villages.The sect later allied itself with armed bands proficient in martial arts.Later，well armed bandits，smugglers and other criminal groups which the government had been trying to suppress joined the White Lotus.The Miao aboriginal peo-ple，along the Hunan-Guizhou border revolted against the newly arrived Chinese immigrants and the imperial structure the Qing was trying to impose upon them.Although they were not affiliated with the White Lotus，their rebellion added to the problems of the Qing.

The Emperor，although unaware of the seriousness of the rebellion，realized that it must be put down.Unfortunately，herelied on He Shen for information and guidance，and appointed his relatives and acquaintances to lead the campaign.These men，with He Shen’s help，rather than outfitting their armies，stole the money for themselves.The Qing troops，untrained，with antiquated weapons，led by corrupt generals were nomatch for the White Lotus.There were many defeats-which He Shen told Qianlong were victories.

Finally though，after the ascension of the new emperor Jiaqing ，and his punishment of He Shen，the revolt was put down.Local gentry and militia were mobilized insteadof the earlier method of using the Qing Banners，and villages were fortified.This negated the White Lotus’guerilla tactics，and by 1805 the revolt had ended.

After Qianlong’s death in 1799，Jiaqing wasted no time in getting rid of He Shen.However，Jiaqing，deferring to respect for his late father，allowed the man most singly responsible for the Qing Empire’s parlous state to commit suicide.

Although hard working and conscientious, the new emperor was unable to halt the decline of the Qing. Perhaps due to conservatism, many practices continued unchanged. The once-elite Manchu Banners had proven worthless. However, to disband them and recruit a new army would be to admit that the Qing Dynasty was a mere paper tiger. And so the expensive, but useless Banner’s continued on the Imperial payroll.

Equally as bad, because peace in the border regions was guaranteed not by Imperial forces but by mercenaries and localmilitias, the seeds of China’s later regional warlords had been sown.

Superficially, China still seemed rich and powerful. But itwas now in a terminal decline. Lord Macartney’s mission to open China to British trade had been a failure. In the Opium war, less than 50 years later, the British blasted the way into Chinese markets. The corruption of the administration, the poor army and the resistance to change eventually meant the end of Imperial China.