A major Muslim uprising in northwest China that caused 21 million population losses and reshaped the demographic makeup of Shaanxi, Gansu, and Xinjiang.
Key Facts
- Duration
- 1862–1877 (15 years)
- Total population loss
- 21 million people
- Gansu population decline
- 74.5% (14.55 million)
- Shaanxi population decline
- 44.6% (6.2 million)
- Hui remaining in Shaanxi post-revolt
- ~20,000 (from at least 4 million)
- Suppressed by
- Qing forces under Zuo Zongtang
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Communal tensions between Hui Muslims and Han Chinese in northwest China escalated into riots and mutual massacres. Harsh treatment of Hui by Manchu officials and local disputes over injustices, rather than any coordinated anti-Qing political agenda, drove the initial outbreak in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia beginning in 1862.
Two waves of uprising by Hui Muslims spread across Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, and later Xinjiang between 1862 and 1877. The conflict involved diverse armed groups with no unified leadership or goal, characterized by cycles of massacre and reprisal between Hui and Han communities, complicated by infiltration of Qing forces by secret societies and internal mutinies.
Qing forces under Zuo Zongtang suppressed the revolt by 1877, resulting in massive demographic shifts: millions died from massacres, famine, and plague, and the Hui population of Shaanxi was nearly eliminated. Large numbers of Dungan people emigrated to Imperial Russia, and Han settlers were relocated to Inner Mongolia, permanently altering the region's ethnic composition.