The Panthay Rising Calls For
Description In The First Place, Because It Began At An Earlier Period Than
The Other, And Also Because The Details Have Been Preserved With Greater
Fidelity.
Mohammedanism is believed to have been introduced into Yunnan in
or about the year 1275, and it made most progress among the so-called
aboriginal tribes, the Lolos and the Mantzu.
The officials were mostly
Chinese or Tartars, and, left practically free from control, they more
often abused their power than sought to employ it for the benefit of the
people they governed. In the very first year of Hienfung's reign (1851) a
petition reached the capital from a Mohammedan land proprietor in Yunnan
named Ma Wenchu, accusing the emperor's officials of the gravest crimes,
and praying that "a just and honest man" might be sent to redress the
wrongs of an injured and long-suffering people. The petition was carefully
read and favorably considered at the capital; but beyond a gracious answer
the emperor was at the time powerless to apply a remedy to the evil. Four
years passed away without any open manifestation of the deep discontent
smoldering below the surface. But in 1855 the Chinese and the Mohammedan
laborers quarreled in one of the principal mines of the province, which is
covered with mines of gold, iron, and copper. It seems that the greater
success of the Mohammedans in the uncertain pursuit of mining had roused
the displeasure of the Chinese. Disputes ensued, in which the Mussulmans
added success in combat to success in mineing; and the official appointed
to superintend the mines, instead of remaining with a view to the
restoration of order, sought his personal safety by precipitate flight to
the town of Yunnan. During his absence the Chinese population raised a
levy _en masse_, attacked the Mohammedans who had gained a momentary
triumph, and compelled them by sheer weight of numbers to beat a hasty
retreat to their own homes in a different part of the province. This
success was the signal for a general outcry against the Mohammedans, who
had long been the object of the secret ill-will of the other inhabitants.
Massacres took place in several parts of Yunnan, and the followers of the
Prophet had to flee for their lives.
Among those who were slain during these popular disorders was a young
chief named Ma Sucheng; and when the news of his murder reached his native
village, his younger brother, Ma Sien, who had just received a small
military command, declared his intention to avenge him, and fled to join
the Mohammedan fugitives in the mountains. In this secure retreat they
rallied their forces, and, driven to desperation by the promptings of
want, they left their fastnesses with the view of regaining what they had
lost. In this they succeeded better than they could have hoped for. The
Chinese population experienced in their turn the bitterness of defeat; and
the mandarins had the less difficulty in concluding a temporary
understanding between the exhausted combatants. Tranquillity was restored,
and the miners resumed their occupations. But the peace was deceptive, and
in a little time the struggle was renewed with increased fury. In this
emergency the idea occurred to some of the officials that an easy and
efficacious remedy of the difficulty in which they found themselves would
be provided by the massacre of the whole Mussulman population. In this
plot the foremost part was taken by Hwang Chung, an official who bitterly
hated the Mohammedans. He succeeded in obtaining the acquiescence of all
his colleagues with the exception of the viceroy of the province, who
exposed the iniquity of the design, but who, destitute of all support, was
powerless to prevent its execution. At the least he resolved to save his
honor and reputation by committing suicide, and he and his wife were found
one morning hanging up in the hall of the yamen. His death simplified the
execution of the project which his refusal might possibly have prevented.
May 19, 1856, was the date fixed for the celebration of this Chinese St.
Bartholomew. But the secret had not been well kept. The Mohammedans,
whether warned or suspicious, distrusted the authorities and their
neighbors, and stood vigilantly on their guard. At this time they looked
chiefly to a high priest named Ma Tesing for guidance and instruction. But
although on the alert, they were after all, taken to some extent by
surprise, and many of them were massacred after a more or less unavailing
resistance. But if many of the Mussulmans were slain, the survivors were
inspired with a desperation which the mandarins had never contemplated.
From one end of Yunnan to the other the Mohammedans, in face of great
personal peril, rose by a common and spontaneous impulse, and the Chinese
population was compelled to take a hasty refuge in the towns. At Talifoo,
where the Mohammedans formed a considerable portion of the population, the
most desperate fighting occurred, and after three days' carnage the
Mussulmans, under Tu Wensiu, were left in possession of the city. The
rebels did not remain without leaders, whom they willingly recognized and
obeyed; for the kwanshihs, or chiefs, who had accepted titles of authority
from the Chinese, cast off their allegiance and placed themselves at the
head of the popular movement. The priest Ma Tesing was raised to the
highest post of all as Dictator, but Tu Wensiu admitted no higher
authority than his own within the walls of Talifoo. Ma Tesing had
performed the pilgrimage to Mecca, he had resided at Constantinople for
two years, and his reputation for knowledge and saintliness stood highest
among his co-religionists.
While Ma Tesing exercised the supremacy due to his age and attainments,
the young chief Ma Sien led the rebels in the field. His energy was most
conspicuous, and in the year 1858 he thought he was sufficiently strong to
make an attack upon the city of Yunnan itself. His attack was baffled by
the resolute defense of an officer named Lin Tzuchin, who had shown great
courage as a partisan leader against the insurgents before he was
intrusted with the defense of the provincial capital.
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