In China's long history, there has been a thrilling civil war in the villages, which is unprecedented in scale and far-reaching. That is the large-scale fighting that swept through five provinces, including Guangdong and Fujian, involving millions of people. This armed fight, triggered by customs, language, Hongbing uprising and many other reasons, not only caused hundreds of thousands of casualties, but also promoted the decline of the Qing Dynasty to a certain extent. What kind of tragic story is this between two groups of Han compatriots who slaughter each other to the death for resources? And how did the Qing Dynasty suffer heavy losses in this conflict? Let's find out.
1. Brewing conflicts: The contradictions between Turks and Turks have been around for a long time
The Hakka people have migrated south and taken root in the land of Lingnan for hundreds of years. They were originally Han Chinese immigrants who migrated to the south during the Yongjia Rebellion of the Western Jin Dynasty with the invasion of nomads from the north. In the long process of the Hakka group moving south to Guangdong and Fujian, they had to reclaim their territory and struggle to make a living in many difficulties and dangers. Over time, the Hakka people gradually formed a unique language, customs and cultural traditions in the Lingnan region.
However, there were already indigenous people in Guangdong and Fujian. Most of them are descendants of South Asian peoples who have integrated the culture of the Central Plains. Since ancient times, the Tu and Hakka people have been estranged due to language barriers and different customs. In particular, the differences in customs and habits such as funerals and day selection are particularly obvious, and the two sides often have disputes and conflicts because of this.
In addition, after hundreds of years of reclamation and development, the Hakka population gradually expanded, forming dense settlements. However, arable land in the Lingnan region is limited, and the two sides have to compete for livelihood resources. In addition, the Hakka family group has the expectation of returning to the Central Plains and re-rooting in the countryside, and this contradiction has gradually intensified.
The language and culture of the Hakka people are different from the indigenous people, and they claim to be descendants of the Han people who continue the orthodox Central Plains culture. At the same time, indigenous groups see themselves as true people of the South and have a prejudice against immigrants from the North. A mentality of looking down on each other and self-superiority is growing on both sides.
Such ethnic estrangements and cultural differences, coupled with the limited resources for survival, have finally lost the last patience between the two sides in the long-term competition and confrontation. A battle involving a wide area and lasting for decades began.
Second, the stage of intense conflict
The outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion added a new fuse to the conflict between the Turks and the Turks. In 1854, a peasant uprising of the Worship of God led by Hong Xiuquan occurred in Guangdong, and the banner of opposing the Qing Dynasty and restoring the Ming Dynasty quickly attracted the response of the vast number of peasants. At first, the Hong army only relied on earth guns and stone artillery, and had captured Xin'an, Xinhui and other county seats, all the way to the city of Guangzhou. In the face of the ferocious offensive of the Hong army, the Qing Dynasty had to recruit regiments from all over the country to assist in suppressing bandits.
The Hakka people have always been regarded by the government as a "strong man" reserve, and this time the Hakka people were widely recruited to join the Qing army. The Hakka armed forces in Heshan, Kaiping, Zengcheng and other areas received regular military training and soon showed strong combat effectiveness, which was appreciated by the officers and soldiers. But at the same time, Ke Yong also took the opportunity to form a new hatred with the natives.
The remnants of the Hong army had colluded with the local natives and were subjected to frenzied revenge from Ke Yong. The Ke Yong called themselves "bandits", but they targeted innocent native villages. They burned, killed, looted, occupied the fields, houses, and houses, and vented all their grievances at once.
In the face of Keyong's violent acts, the Turks spontaneously organized self-defense forces, and the two sides fell into an endless armed conflict. What began as a skirmish between the two sides quickly turned into a gang fight. Seven villages in Heshan were burned down by Hakka, and in addition to defending the villages, the local people also organized the masses to attack Hakka villages and towns.
At that time, the Qing army was facing the dilemma of dispersion of military forces in western Guangdong, and the remnants of the Hong army alone had spare strength. Since Ke Yong began to fight back, the Qing army simply let them fight on their own. In the absence of control and command, both sides have resorted to the method of extermination, and brutality has been endless.
Some villages have simply been transformed into pure bandit dens, engaged in illegal and criminal activities with the sole purpose of plundering. In some villages, people and equipment were concentrated to destroy land and burn the people. Soon, both sides were armed from the countryside to armed forces, and a real warlord melee on the land began.
In order to expand their strength, both sides recruited brave warriors from all walks of life to join. The weapons and equipment are also becoming more and more advanced, from a single earthen gun and stone cannon to a variety of weapons such as arquebuses, bird guns, and bead hook darts. Some wealthy villages have even purchased foreign guns and cannons, and the firepower can be described as very strong.
In addition, both sides built village fortresses as strongholds, one to defend against the enemy, and the other to protect the wealth of their families. Fujian Tulou is a super-large village built by the Hakka people, integrating defense and life, with wells, granaries, ancestral halls, and even schools, hospitals and other facilities. On the side of the natives, there seemed to be a number of similar circular buildings, and for a while both sides entered a state of national alert.
Third, the war spreads
With the continuous growth of the armed forces of the two sides, the flames of the Turk-Ke armed struggle soon spread wildly in the Lingnan area. What began as a skirmish near the county towns of Heshan and Kaiping soon turned into a large-scale armed confrontation that spread to Guangdong and Fujian provinces.
In the western part of Guangdong, the conflict is most intense. A large number of Hakka villages are gathered here, and it is also the first place to be harassed by the remnants of the Hong army. In the beginning, the two sides simply burned each other's villages and looted each other's property. But soon, the struggle fell into an endless cycle of revenge. When the Tumin attacked the Hakka villages and towns, the Hakka Yong retaliated frantically against the Tumin villages, and the casualties on both sides continued to rise.
In central regions such as Guangzhou and Shunde, the form of conflict is slightly different. The Hakka villages here are relatively mixed with the local people, so the two sides joined a large number of rogue gardens to take the opportunity to plunder the wealth of others. The entire Pearl River Delta region has fallen into chaos and has become the hardest hit area for bandit dens.
In the Shantou and Jieyang areas around Chaozhou, the flames of war burned with the same ferocity. This has always been a place where the Hakka people live, and the Hakka armed forces have always been very tough. Taking advantage of the Tuke fight, they took the initiative to launch a large-scale attack on Tumin Village. Many villages have been completely destroyed, and tragedies have occurred repeatedly.
As for the Hakka stronghold on the Fujian-Guangdong border, conflicts here are also frequent. The main purpose of building tulou in Hakka villages in Fujian is to defend against attacks by armed forces from both sides. However, such village fortresses are often attacked by both sides, and have been conquered many times, causing a large number of casualties.
Everywhere they go, both sides are in a hurry to recruit more armed forces and acquire more firearms. The Hakka people were in the prime of life at this time, and even the elderly, weak, women and children had always been accustomed to a long-term armed life. They soon gathered a large number of local warriors, recruited troops in Hong Kong, Macao, Hong Kong and other places, and purchased a large number of modern firearms from Western powers.
Although the armed forces on the Tumin side were weaker, they had a clear numerical advantage. Moreover, some vested interests, such as militia bigwigs and gentry, have also organized private armed forces to compete for local territory. At one point, the number of armed men on both sides reached several million, and it was truly a whole race.
In the fierce armed conflict, both sides suffered casualties. But the biggest victims are the innocent civilians. Houses were destroyed, fields were burned, property was lost, and even people were killed. At that time, there was a poem that described: "The lord of the house is still the old man." Now the four walls exist, and the body of the past is restored. ＂
Moreover, the spread of the fighting has also left many other nearby neighboring areas unspared. Crossing the Gannan Mountains, even parts of western Fujian Province have sporadic local fights spreading. Despite its modest scale, it has also triggered a certain amount of disruption and unrest.
Fourth, the end of the decisive battle
After decades of protracted fighting, the armed forces of both sides have finally weakened day by day in the long period of attrition. Especially since Li Hongzhang, the governor of Liangguang and Guangzhou, took office, the government has intensified its efforts to rectify the troubles of the Turks, and the armed conflict has gradually lost its fuel.
In the western part of Guangdong, although the Keyong armed forces initially had an advantage, they later suffered a decisive setback. They suffered successive defeats in Fokai, North Road and other places, and were finally forced to withdraw to the village fortresses in the area of Heshan and Kaiping, and entered the fatigue stage of holding their positions.
On the Fujian side, although the village fortresses built by the Hakka people were impregnable, the siege of them by the official army and the local armed forces became more and more tight. The long-term economic blockade of the officials and troops has made the Ke Yong increasingly exhausted, the internal and external troubles have intensified, and the fighting spirit has been greatly reduced.
Although the two sides are still holding their respective positions, it is difficult to have the strength to clash on a large scale. On the one hand, financial and human resources have been exhausted; On the other hand, the government explicitly forbade the two sides to fight each other, otherwise they would have to be suppressed with all their might.
At this time, an unprecedented drought suddenly struck. The abject poverty of the rural areas was simply unable to sustain a long-term armed struggle, which directly forced the peasant armed forces on both sides to concentrate all their efforts on fighting the drought and temporarily lay down their arms. This not only eased the tense confrontation between the two sides, but also created conditions for subsequent mediation and reconciliation.
In order to end the civil war as soon as possible, Li Hongzhang chose to use force to deter and persuade with peace talks. He organized the militia bosses to take the lead and invited the two families to hold a meeting to discuss reconciliation. In the end, they reached an agreement: the two sides compensated each other with land and repaid each other's property; The government should readjust the reasonable boundaries of the land to avoid new contradictions and disputes.
In the process, the government also imposed certain fines and penalties on both sides to demonstrate the government's neutrality and control. Li Hongzhang insisted that the two sides tolerate each other in terms of cultural customs and other aspects, and that there should be no more discrimination and prejudice. At the same time, by recompiling the family tree, they sorted out the blood relationship between the two ethnic groups in the mixed village to avoid further internal conflict.
After several years of negotiation work, the parties finally accepted the settlement plan. They have restored some of their possessions to each other, and they have also drawn clear boundaries and are no longer engaged in armed conflict due to the competition for subsistence resources. However, some contradictions that are difficult to resolve in the short term remain, and small armed forces are still circulating in all directions.
This "super village fight" that spanned more than half a century and destroyed countless homes has come to an end. Although both sides won and lost in the long war, they both paid a heavy price in the end. It not only severely damaged the local population, economy and development, but also accelerated the decline of the Qing Dynasty's dominance to some extent.
Fifth, far-reaching impact
Although the "super village fight" that swept through Guangdong and Fujian was finally negotiated and settled, the impact was far-reaching and long-lasting. It not only brought great damage to the local economy and people's livelihood, but also accelerated the decline of the Qing Dynasty to a certain extent.
First of all, the war caused extremely heavy population losses and economic damage in Guangdong and Fujian provinces. Although there are no complete statistics on casualties on both sides, it is roughly estimated that at least hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, and countless more have been killed.
The western part of Guangdong was originally densely populated and rich in products, but under the ravages of decades of war, the entire region was almost completely destroyed. Those Hakka settlements in northwestern Fujian are also fragmented and their homes are barren. The fortifications built by both sides, although strong, were also razed to the ground in fierce fighting.
To make matters worse, the war has burned down a large amount of farmland and severely damaged industry and commerce. Fujian's Hakka tulou complex was almost completely destroyed, and the economy of the entire region was in a slump and difficult to recover for a long time.
Second, the armed conflict has further exacerbated the division and antagonism within the Han Chinese. Although the Hakka and indigenous groups originate from the same ancestor, they have developed very different languages, cultural practices and lifestyles due to long-term estrangement. This fight undoubtedly pushed the contradiction to the extreme, causing the two sides to have an irreconcilable hatred.
For a long time after the war, it was still difficult for the two communities to truly reconcile, and both sides were bitter. Even with the redrawing of the boundaries, some problems remain. For example, the confiscation of some ancestral property and the destruction of family genealogy have made contradictions deep-rooted and difficult to eliminate. At one time, there was a kind of extinction mentality of "kill each other to survive" on both sides.
Thirdly, this civil war also exacerbated the weakening of the centralized power of the Qing Dynasty. The Qing court had to send a large number of troops and invest huge sums of money to suppress the armed conflict between the two sides, and the security expenses were high. At the same time, the tax revenues of Guangdong and Fujian, two major economic provinces, have shrunk sharply, aggravating the country's fiscal deficit.
What is even more serious is that when the government has made no achievements in military force, the militia bigwigs and local powerful factions have played a key role, which has further weakened the authority of the central power of the Qing Dynasty. The general public also believes that the government has failed in its duties and has lost control of the people's hearts and minds in this fight.
It can be seen that although this civil war is only a local armed conflict, its impact is national. It intensified the contradictions and antagonism within the nation, accelerated the weakening of national strength, and eventually became an important force that accelerated the fall of the Qing Dynasty.