Panthay Rebellion - Causes

Causes

The discrimination with which the Hui were treated by the imperial administration was the cause of their rebellions. Some suggest that the Panthay Rebellion originated solely as a conflict between Han and Hui miners in 1853, but Han-Hui tensions existed for decades prior to that including a three-day massacre of Hui by Han and Qing officials in 1845. Hui and Han were regarded and classified by Qing as two different ethnic groups, Hui was not an exclusively religious classification.

The "Encyclopædia of religion and ethics, Volume 8" stated that the Panthay Revolt revolt by the Muslims was set off by racial antagonism and class warfare, rather than the mistaken assumption that it was all due to Islam and religion that the rebellions broke out.

In 1856, a massacre of Muslims was organized by the Qing Manchu officials responsible for suppressing the revolt in the provincial capital of Kunming sparked a province-wide multi-ethnic insurrgency. In the western Yunnan city of Dali, an independent kingdom was established and led by a man called Du Wenxiu (Tu Wen-hsiu; Chinese: 杜文秀; pinyin: Dù Wénxiù; Wade–Giles: Tu4 Wen2-hsiu4) (1823–1872), born in Yongchang to a Han chinese family which had converted to Islam.