Ming rebellions

Reasons for Rebellion:

Juvenile Emperors:

The early emperors of the Ming dynasty created a state that was to be ruled by a disciplined emperor who tightly monitored and controlled his empire. Juvenile emperors did not have the adequate training to rule when they ascended to the throne. This lack of royal judgment led to the high possibility of corruption within the government as the emperor became especially susceptible to officials who were able to gain his trust and manipulate him for their own gains.

Fiscal Problems:

As corruption increased, so did financial difficulties, including bribery and the pressure from officials for ‘gifts”. As the treasury became depleted, it was the general populace that was turned to to solve these problems. One result of this was a higher level of taxes. There was a direct correlation between raised land taxes and rebellions.

Lack of Famine Relief:

As the Ming progressed, less money and energy was put into famine relief after calamities hit. Such calamities began to no longer be prepared for, and sometimes were not even reported. In the last six years of the dynasty, there was only roughly one relief attempt per 18 calamities. With few choices and great loss, the lack of famine relief was an incentive to join rebellions.

Three Majors Forms of Revolts:

(1) Revolts of the general populace against armed clansmen.

Since the beginning of the dynasty, each imperial clan member received a land grant. In the early Ming there were few imperial clansmen and grants given were minimal. Yet by the end of the Ming the number of clansmen had multiplied more than 1,700 times and land was becoming more and more monopolized by princely estates. As clansmen land was not taxed, larger taxes fell upon the peasants to make up for this loss of revenue.

(2) Tenants Against Landlords

Tenants rented land often from powerful and wealthy landlords. As the dynasty progressed, more and more cultivatable land fell into the hands of powerful merchants. These wealthy landowners were entitled to around half the yield of a tenant’s harvest, but it was not uncommon for landlords to demand as high as 70 or 80 percent of the profits. Many landowners began to charge not just for the land the tenants lived on, but other miscellaneous fees as well including even a transportation fee for the landlord to come out and collect the rent. On top of this, many landlords began to expect gifts from farms as well, often poultry.

(3) Bondservants Against Their Masters:

Under the Ming Code bondservants were differentiated from their masters. For example, a bondservant who killed his master was sentenced to death by quartering, while a master who killed his bondservant was sentenced to 100 (at the most) lashes and a year’s banishment. The Ming Code gave masters the leeway to highly abuse their bondservants, which many did. It was not uncommon for a bondservant to “not have food in their stomachs, nor clothes on their knees and ankles, nor unbroken skin on their backs.”

Other Forms of Collective Violence:

(1) Employees Against Employers

Armed conflict between employee and employers most often occurred with craftsmen or workers that had become organized, a phenomena that began in the early 1500s.

(2) Food Riots

As the unemployed moved to urban centers in search of better chances for life, the demand for grain increased with the added number of people to the city. When there were shortages, merchants often raised the price of grain to outrageous levels. One response to this on the part of the people was to physically seize the grain.

(3) Anti-Tax Rebellions

Payment on the part of the people also came in the forms of higher taxes, including seven new levies of land taxes that occurred during the period from 1619 to 1639. These higher levels of taxes produced at least seven anti-tax rebellions.