Tuanlian History
Tuanlian (團練) is the Chinese term for localised militia which begun in the Zhou Dynasty, offered self-defense for the civilians. In May 1645, Ming rebel leader Li Zicheng (Chinese:李自成) was killed by tuanlian of local land owners in Hubei province.
In Qing Jiaqing Emperor reign, the corrupted Eight Banners and Green Standard Army were incapable of curbing the White Lotus Rebellion, Qing court began to order the local gentry and land owners of all the ten provinces to organize Tuanlian for self-defense, both the funding and control were in the hands of local gentry and land owners.
Read more about this topic: Yong Ying
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