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The Eight Trigrams Rebellion, 1813

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The Eight Trigrams Rebellion, 1813 Chapter 5 The Eight Trigrams Rebellion, 1813 In the fall of 1813, several religious confraternities calling themselves various- ly the Eight Trigrams (bagua 八卦) or Heavenly Principle (tianli 天理) sect, part of a broader White Lotus millenarian tradition, plotted to overthrow the reigning Manchu Qing dynasty. Lin Qing and Li Wencheng, two of the leaders of the rebellion, planned a series of uprisings in the north, including an attack on the Forbidden City itself. In early October, local officials got wind of the plot. They arrested and tortured Li Wencheng, but his compatriots rescued him before his execution. Shortly thereafter, the conspirators launched simul- taneous attacks in Shandong, Henan, and Southern Zhili. From his home in Songjia village, Zhili, Lin Qing despatched several hundred men to attack the Forbidden City in concert with pro-rebel eunuchs stationed in the capital. On October 8, seventy-five rebels penetrated the palace walls. In the brief fighting that ensued, Prince Mianning, the future Daoguang Emperor, killed two rebels with his musket and the imperial guards put down the insurrection. The rebels who escaped returned to their home counties, joined their confed- erates holed up in small fortified villages, and began attacking local imperial forces and gentry-led militia. The Jiaqing Emperor mobilized imperial forces from as far away as Manchuria to crush the rebellion. Over the next several months, imperial troops forced the rebels towards the walled city of Hua and then laid siege to it. In late December, Special Imperial Commissioner Nayancheng, supreme commander of Qing armies in the area, led his 15,000 men on the final assault. They captured Hua on January 1, 1814. Over the three months of fighting, imperial forces killed more than 70,000 rebels. November 5, 18131 Eighteen years have elapsed, since, possessed of but inferior virtue, I looked up and received with profound veneration the throne from my Imperial Father; 1 The following extracts were all translated in Robert Morrison, Translations from the Original Chinese, with Notes (Canton: Printed by Order of the Select Committee; at the Honorable East India Company’s Press, by P. P. Thoms, 1815). © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi 10.1163/9789004361003_007 The Eight Trigrams Rebellion, 1813 49 after which I dared not to resign myself to ease or inattention to the affairs of Government. I had but just ascended the throne, when the Sect of the White Lotus, se- duced, into a state of confusion, four Provinces, and the People suffered more than my feelings can bear to express. I ordered my Generals to go against them, and after eight years conflict, reduced them to subjection.2 I then hoped, that with my Children (the People) I should have enjoyed unceasing pleasure and repose. On the sixth of the ninth Moon, the Sect of Tianli (Celestial Reason, Illuminati), a banditti of vagabonds, suddenly created disturbance, and caused much injury, extending from the District of Changyuan, in the Province of Bei Zhili, to the District Cao, in Shandong. I hastened to order Wen [Chenghui], the Viceroy of Beijing, to lead forth an army to exterminate them, and to re- store peace. This affair, however, yet remained at the distance of a thousand li from the Capital. But suddenly, on the fifteenth of the ninth Moon, rebel- lion arose under my own arm. The calamity has sprung from my own house. A banditti upwards of seventy men, of the Sect Tianli, violated the prohibited Gate, and entered within; they wounded the Guard, and rushed into the Inner Palace; four rebels were seized and bound. Three others ascended the wall with a flag. My Imperial second Son, seized a musket and shot two of them; my Nephew killed the third. For this deliverance I am indebted to the energies of my second Son. The Princes and Chief Officers of the Longzong Gate, led forth Troops, and after two days and one night’s utmost exertion, completely routed the Rebels. My family, Da Qing, has continued to rule the Empire, during a hundred and seventy years. My Grand Father, and Royal Father, in the most affection- ate manner, loved the People as Children. Their benevolence and virtues, I am unabled to express! Though I cannot pretend to have equaled their good Government and love of the People, yet I have not oppressed nor ill-used my People. This sudden change I am unabled to account for. It must arise from the low state of my virtue, and my accumulated Imperfections. Though this Rebellion has broken forth in a moment, the evil has been long collecting. Four words, “Supineness, Indulgence, Sloth, Contempt,” express the sources whence this great crime has arisen; and hence, also it is, that affairs whether at home about Court, or abroad in the Empire, are equally in a bad state. Though I have again, and a third time given warning till my tongue is blunted, and my lips parched with frequent repetition; yet none of my Ministers have been able 2 The Jiaqing Emperor is referring to the White Lotus Rebellion of 1796–1804..
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