Shaanxi Rebellion

Timeline

1. 1630–1631Northern Shaanxi, around Yan'an and Qingyang · Northern ShaanxiYears of severe drought and locust plagues left northern Shaanxi agriculture near-total failure; combined with the Liaodong military levy and other heavy taxes, large numbers of famine victims turned to rebellion. Gao Yingxiang, Wang Ziyong, and others were the first to gather followers and rise up, seizing prefectural and county granaries and spreading to Yan'an, Qingyang, and other areas, opening the Shaanxi rebellion.
2. 1632–1634Shaanxi, Shanxi, Henan · Central PlainsFrom 1632 to 1334, the rebel forces of Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Li Zicheng, and others broke through Ming blockades and expanded into Shanxi and Henan. The Ming court appointed Hong Chengchou as Governor-General of the Three Borders to concentrate forces on suppression, but because it also had to contend with the Manchu threat beyond the passes, troops were always stretched thin.
3. 1635Xingyang · HenanIn 1635, Gao Yingxiang convened a grand council of thirteen rebel leaders at Xingyang, attended by Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and others. The council decided to divide forces into four routes—one attacking Fengyang, one entering Jiangbei—to tie down Ming troops; thereafter the confrontation between the rebels and the Ming court entered a larger-scale phase.
4. 1636–1638Shaanxi · ShaanxiIn 1636 Gao Yingxiang was defeated, captured, and executed; Li Zicheng inherited the title 'Chuang Wang' (Prince of Chuang). Hong Chengchou and Sun Chuanting jointly suppressed the rebels, crushing Li Zicheng at Nanyuan near Tongguan in 1638 and badly damaging the rebel forces. However, Ming troops were then redeployed to Liaodong to face the Qing army, allowing the rebels to recover; the Shaanxi rebellion was not quelled.