2.5 The Land of Rebellion

There is a saying in China with regard to the relationship between the monarch and the populace. “The sovereign, or the emperor, is like a boat to be carried by the populace that is analogous to water. Water can carry the boat, but can also sink the boat. ”It is noticeable that the change of the dynasties throughout the millenniums of Chinese history is often triggered by populous uprisings, mostly of peasantry. One classical example was the toppling of the first empire—Qin Dynasty, which lasted only for 20 years due to the nationwide rebellions initiated by peasants. The principal reason for the revolts was that peasants were deprived of their land; as a result, there was widespread famine. That is exactly the reason for yet another peasant rebellion from Shanbei in the mid-seventeenth century, which led to the collapse of Ming Dynasty (12-1644).

With the collapse of the China's most powerful dynasty —Tang Dynasty in 907, the political center of China began to move eastwards, which triggered the gradual decline of Shaanxi Province. In the next several centuries, Shanbei was marginalized both politically and economically. With the subsequent dynasties established their capitals in either the east or the south, Shanbei had become the very perimeter of the country, sitting at the tip of the northwestern border. The harsh natural condition of Shanbei plateau also exasperated the situation when there were natural disasters such as drought. In 1629, fifteen years before the downfall of the Ming Dynasty, a government official who was a native of Shanbei, filed a report in which he depicted deteriorating situation at Yan'an that he personally witnessed:

Having completed the official errand, I happened to pass by my native town — Yan'an. There has been no rain the entire year of last year, and trees and all the vegetarians were burned out. During months of August and September, the locals fed themselves with weeds that they could find in the valleys. The seeds of the weed tasted bitter, like the husks of wheat. However, the weeds could only prolong their lives temporarily. But weeds were all exhausted after the month of October, so people began to peel barks out of trees. Of all the trees, the barks of elms were edible, so the locals mixed the elm barks with that of other trees. But such food could only postpone the inevitable death. . . (Nan and Tang 1054)

Even though the account presents a personal observation of a particular location of Shanbei, it is believed that what the officialdescribed was prevalent throughout the entire region. The natural disaster was also compounded by the man-made one. As the result of the then government policy, which allowed nobilities and large well-to-do families to annex land, countless farmers lost their land. To them, land was the only means of survival; the loss of land meant the loss of their livelihood. The consequence of the government policy and its impact plunged countless farmers into beggars and refugees. It was estimated that nationwide there were as many as six millions landless refugees, whose only means of survival was begging. As millions of landless peasants were deprived of their fundamental means of livelihood, they began to revolt. Historical records indicated that there were hundreds of rebellions that had occurred throughout the country. But the biggest one was led by a native son of Shanbei, whose name was Li Zicheng.

At the foot of a small mountain called Crouching Dragon just outside the north gate of Mizhi City stands a cluster of buildings with pavilions and palaces surround by trees. This is the Imperial Palace of Li Zicheng, the ultimate leader of the peasant's rebellion in the 17th century that toppled the Ming Dynasty. Li, born in 1606 in Mizhi County of Shanbei, was a son of a farmer. As a young man, he served in the army's postal service, but was dismissed due to the abolishment of the army post. He was said to put on a public display and was sentenced to death because he failed to pay the usurious loan of a local magistrate. He barely escaped the execution as he was rescued by friends. As a fugitive, he joined the rebel army, and soon exemplified himself in the battle fields to become the leader of the army. To call for more landless peasants to join his army, Li and his army appealed to the peasants with a slogan: “Redistribute the land and abolish taxes. ”The slogan was appealing on two accounts. First, one of the reasons for the populous upheavals was the annexation of land by the wealthy, which resulted in the loss of livelihood of millions of people. Second, throughout Chinese history, no government had ever relinquished taxation on land, one of the most important sources of revenue for all governments. Tens of thousands of starving peasants answered his call by joining his army, which became invincible. Also joining this army were soldiers who were just as starving and powerless as the peasants. In 1642, Li proclaimed him as the“King of Shun Dynasty, ”and two years later, his army sacked the capital city of Beijing. The last emperor of the Ming hanged himself, which ended the two-century reign of the Ming Dynasty. However, the“Shun Dynasty”was short-lived, and there were all different versions of Li's mysterious death. Despite the much diverse views of Li by historians, he has remained an outstanding figure in Chinese history. For one thing, his was the only rebellious army of peasantry that successfully toppled a dynasty. His appeal to the landless peasants has had far-reaching impact on the successive Chinese leaders at various historical periods. Most of all, he is the pride of the people in Shanbei, who commemorate him as their son of honor.