How many peasant uprisings have China experienced in history since the Qin Dynasty? Which one has the greatest scale and impact?
It is somewhat unclear that the first was the Chen Sheng and Wu Guang uprising and the last was the Taiping Rebellion. Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, Xiang Yu, Liu Bang, Chimei, Huangjin, Wagang, Li Yuan, Fang La, Wang Xiaobo, Zhu Yuanzhang, Red Turban Army, Li Zicheng, White Lotus Sect, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the most awesome uprising: simple answer:
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Uprising, the flames of this uprising spread throughout the eighteen provinces in mainland China, with millions of people participating in the uprising, and the population of the ruled area reached Tens of millions. It started in 1851. There are three versions of the control time: 1864, 1868, and 1872. The last Taiping Army was destroyed in 1872, and many revolutionaries during the Revolution of 1911 were deeply affected by this uprising. .
Detailed answer:
“The Manchu Qing Dynasty rose up in the Northeast and took over China for more than 200 years. During this period, passionate people, generous and humble, had great plans for recovery. Those who launched troubles at any time and at any time were constantly recorded to promote their demise and enlighten future generations. According to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Hongyang disciples started from Jintian and carried out righteousness across more than ten provinces, which lasted for more than ten years. Gaizhengshuo, easy to win the title, establish the system, and open the imperial examination. The scale of the founding of the country is also rough. Although the victory and defeat are very sudden, the rise and fall are sudden, but the majesty of the racial thoughts, the gathering of talents, the greatness of the revolutionary construction, and the good governance of the new system. The salary was given to Bing Bing Linlin, and there is still business today." (Excerpted from Bai Chongxi's "Yi Wang Pavilion" 1935/7/7 "New Night News")
In terms of territory, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom once occupied Jiangsu, Jiangsu, and other places. Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Hubei and other provinces have established national local governments and implemented effective rule. If we include the distant political power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as Zhengshuo, there are also Yunnan and western Guizhou, and their influence reaches about half of China. The cumulative population governed under relatively stable administrative divisions ranges from 50 million to 100 million. The so-called effective rule requires at least the establishment of local political power, the appointment of local officials, and the implementation of effective public security and tax management. Just occupying a few cities, killing a few landlords and corrupt officials, and engaging in a few attacks on the rich and helping the poor are enough. Doesn't count. As for the other peasant uprisings in the past dynasties, most of the time, they either divided the land into a small corner of the city, or lived in various places without a fixed place. Whether it was a stable territory, a population under the emperor, or the time and space to implement effective rule, they were far from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. compared to.
In terms of military affairs, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom captured more than 600 cities. From the Jintian Uprising to the overthrow of the Datang Army, the Taiping Army lasted for 22 years, and more than half of the time was almost without a day. When not fighting, regardless of the level of strategy (frequently across provinces), the scale of the battle, the strength of the opponent (the Hunan Army, Huai Army + foreigners, far better than those decadent official armies and landlord regiments in the past), or the number of famous generals and famous battles , and even the variety of arms (infantry, cavalry, navy, and engineering), weapons (the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has its own arsenal and shipyard), and the diversity of tactics (the tactical characteristics of combining hot and cold weapons, and a large number of original tactics and formations), the entire Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The grandeur and diversity of war history cannot be matched by previous generations.
At that time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established a unique set of political systems (different from the military advisor responsibility system of previous feudal dynasties), official systems, military systems, legal systems, and etiquette systems, and had its own calendar, clothing, and emblems. , imperial examinations, printing, document formats and even text, punctuation marks, painting styles, medical and health organizations, established tax systems for agriculture, commerce, and handicrafts internally, and used their own currency (the quality of Taiping coins was much better than that of the Qing Dynasty) (Until after the fall of Tianjing, this kind of currency was still in circulation in Hunan, the hometown of the Hunan Army). A customs tariff system was established externally. The areas captured by the Taiping Army and the uprising regime of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spread almost throughout the eighteen provinces in the interior. , whose influence reaches as far as Europe, the United States, and Japan. During the years when it dominated China's foreign trade, it pushed commercial exports to the United Kingdom to a record high. . . . . . For future generations, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has achieved a revitalization of the Han nation, both in spirit and in substance. A large number of revolutionaries led by Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing have expressed on many occasions that they were deeply influenced by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and regarded themselves as the successors of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It can be said that the Taiping Rebellion laid an important ideological foundation for the subsequent Revolution of 1911 (the Revolution of 1911 was first a national revolution, and secondly a democratic revolution). . . . . . . All of these are beyond the reach of any peasant uprising in history.
As for the fact that the Taiping Army did not capture Beijing, this is not enough to prove that they are inferior to Huang Chao and Li Chuang. Chiang Kai-shek also captured Yan'an. Wouldn't the eight million army be eliminated in three years? Snow is gone? More than two years after Huang Chao entered Chang'an, Chang'an went from being a prosperous city to suffering from years of famine. The Daqi regime was unable to come up with any effective policy, and it was reduced to the point where the people of Chang'an relied on human beings for food. It had only been a few months since Li Zicheng captured Beijing, and the emperor Before the throne was even hot, the army was defeated thousands of miles away, and the country was destroyed. Moreover, the policies of the Dashun army after entering Beijing still remained at the level of torturing former Ming officials, chasing property, and promoting tax exemption, and When the bandits were rogues, it was generally the same. One or two cities were ruled like this. The Taiping Army spent several years or even more than ten years "providing peace to the people, opening up subjects to recruit scholars, banning heads and subduing people, and collecting grains as usual" in a vast territory. , farmers, industrialists, and merchants, each settling down to his own business, as if he were a king" (according to the records of the landlords and literati at that time), the difference is incalculable.
To sum up, there is only one sentence. No matter from any field such as politics, military, economy, culture, diplomacy, etc., there is no peasant uprising in history that is as comprehensive as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The scale of the real "country" (although it was still in the founding stage and therefore not perfect), its influence penetrated into so many aspects, and had such a profound impact on the history of later generations at that time (for example, Li Zicheng's uprising only had an impact on later generations. It cleared an obstacle to the rule of the Qing Dynasty and left little influence on the economy, culture, and ideology of the entire society. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom failed to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, it ushered in the history of the next Jiazi)