Nian Rebellion

The Nian Rebellion (simplified Chinese: 捻军起义; traditional Chinese: 捻亂; Hanyu Pinyin: niǎn jūn qǐ yì; Tongyong Pinyin: nian luan; Wade–Giles: nien-chün ch'i-yi) was 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 the immense economic devastation and loss of life that became one of the major long-term factors in the collapse of the Qing regime in the early 20th century.

Origin

Nian is a word borrowed from the Beihua dialect, where it was used to refer to loosely affiliated gangs or groups. The Nian movement was formed in the late 1840s by Zhang Lexing and, by 1851, numbered approximately 40,000. Unlike the Taiping Rebellion movement, the Nian initially had no clear goals or objectives, aside from criticism of the Qing government. However, the Nian were provoked into taking direct action against the Imperial regime following a series of environmental disasters.