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The White Lotus Society

© John Walsh

China has been beset by rebellions for thousands of years. In many cases, the rebellions are instigated by secret societies with what seem to be quite quaint sounding names: the red turban society, the little knives society, the eight trigrams society and so forth. Of all of these societies, the White Lotus Society is perhaps the most well-interesting for, so some people claim, it may be the original society that has continued its secret activities for hundreds of years and of which all the others are just offshoots. What is or was the White Lotus Society?

In the 1790s, the Ching dynasty that had come to conquer and rule all of China was resented by many because of their Manchu origins, who were considered to be outsiders. This inspired a protest against imperial taxation that erupted in the mountainous region dividing Sichuan province from Hubei and Shaanxi provinces. This rebellion was attributed to the White Lotus Society and it soon took on the millenarian ideas that had long been associated with the Society. Millenarianism is a belief that the end of the world is near - or at least that some massive changes are about to occur that will completely change the nature of life as people know it. Often, in China, this belief was associated with the belief that a very holy and powerful individual was to come to earth, possibly as a reincarnation of the Buddha or another being of such incalculable power and enlightenment. Occasionally, individuals leading rebellions themselves claimed to be that sacred figure, which tended to mean that the rebellions only lasted as long as belief in the relevant individual persisted. This tended to be based on whether the individual was captured or killed by the army or in some other way failed to have supernatural powers or actions manifest themselves.

The White Lotus rebellion of the end of the eighteenth century was eventually ended by the imperial military. However, its early successes against inept and outmatched troops may have been influential in inspiring later rebellions in the country which, in combination with the wars and unequal treaties inflicted upon China by western powers, eventually led to the end of the imperial system and the ultimate victory of communism.

Yet this was not the first White Lotus rebellion. The 1352 Red Turban revolt, for example, was also linked to the White Lotus Society and drew upon Maitreya Buddhism as well as a mixture of Daoist and Confucian symbols and ideas. This rebellion came to be led by Zhu Yuanzhang, who is perhaps better known by his imperial name Taizu, the first Ming Emperor. Taizu rose through the ranks of the Red Turban forces and, after its leader died while a guest of Taizu, he himself took command. The Red Turban rebellion received widespread public support because it was aimed at the Mongol Yuan dynasty, through which China was governed by the heirs of Genghis and Kublai Khan. In the Yuan dynasty, high positions were mostly denied to ethnic Chinese and reserved for Mongols and others considered to be foreigners. Taizu seized Nanjing and made it his capital and, from there, was able to grasp control over the whole country. The Ming dynasty was vigorous and effective in many ways and certainly appeared to return the country to the will of heaven.