During the Qianlong reign (1736-1796), the Qianlong Emperor extended the Qing Dynasty's territory to its maximum by waging war against frontier tribes and neighbouring countries, which created tension between state and society. As a result, Qianlong's heir — the Jiaqing Emperor promoted a series of reforms to strengthen his control of the state apparatus and society, as well as promoting a generally balanced state-society relationship. This served the Qing Dynasty's long-term interests, rather than surpassing Qianlong's glories.
Based on archival documents and secondary readings, White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates by Wensheng Wang (Associate Professor of History at the University of Hawaii at Manoa), explores the White Lotus rebellion and south China piracy, two of the most significant crises which occurred in the Qianlong-Jiaqing transition (1790-1810), as well as the positive aspects of the reforms undertaken by the Jiaqing Emperor.
This book is divided into three sections. Section I (Chapter 1) analyzes the landscape of state-society tension during the late Qianlong reign, which would be regarded as an “acute dilemma of intensifying frontier control and rising social protest” (p. 78). Put another way, a vicious cycle of social problems was aggravated by the Qianlong Emperor's aggressive territorial expansion and frontier development (e.g., internal migration, bureaucratic corruption, and military ineffectiveness) and social protests (e.g., rebellions, insurgencies, and secret societies). For example, due to population growth in the eighteenth century, Han immigrants fled into remote peripheries (e.g., frontier regions) populated by ethnic minorities, in which understaffed and underfunded Qing authorities and imperial armies did not exert effective control over the trans-regional or transnational protests (e.g., salt smugglers, coin counterfeiters, bandits, and sectarian groups). In the 1770s, the Qianlong Emperor tightened sociopolitical control over the remote peripheries, while the operational costs “far exceeded the fiscal resources” (p. 30). Ultimately, this triggered the White Lotus rebellion and south China piracy. According to Wang, as the heir of the Qianlong Emperor, the Jiaqing Emperor had “fewer options and less room to maneouver” (p. 9).
Section II (Chapters 2–3) is entitled “A View from the Bottom”. It illustrates the dynamics of the two challenges facing state-society relationships of Qing Dynasty, that is, the rebellion lead by Bailian Jiao or the White Lotus sect in the unruly internal frontiers (e.g., Han River highlands), and the assaults made by pirates along the Fujian and Guangdong coasts, which exposed the long-standing tensions in the Qianlong reign.
The White Lotus Sects “claimed an exclusive monopoly on the way to eschatological salvation” (p. 44). Their method was to internalise violence as an essential part of individual redemption and sectarian existence. In contrast, south China pirates were drawn from the most oppressed social groups (e.g., fishermen and sailors) of Fujian and Guangdong–“two of the most land-starved provinces” (p. 105). Due to the Qing authorities closed door policy, the south China pirates “challenge(d) authorities without running the great risks of outright rebellion” (p. 83).
In the following section (Chapters 4–7) entitled “A View from the Top”, Wang highlights the Jiaqing Emperor's countermeasures to the above-mentioned challenges, which “inaugurated an extended period of consolidation and restoration that lasted to the end of the monarchical system” (p. 13). At that moment, successful campaigns against the White Lotus rebellion and south China piracy would be good chances to “deepen state penetration into the unruly internal frontier” (p. 127).
It's noteworthy that Chapter 6 stresses the reforms (e.g., institutional arrangements) promoted by the Jiaqing Emperor, which adjusted the Qing Dynasty's strategic priorities and modified policy-making arrangements, in order to contain state-society tension. In the case of the Grand Council, on the one hand, the Jiaqing Emperor made great efforts to ensure its impartiality and independence. For example, in the Jiaqing reign, “the grand councillors could no longer assume some key concurrent positions in the inner court” (p. 169). On the other hand, the Jiaqing Emperor decentralised the Grand Council's decision-making power, in order to restore the political balance between the inner and outer courts. In the conclusion, Wang summarises these main findings.
To this reviewer, one of the most valuable contributions of this book is that Wang explores the Jiaqing Emperor's solutions to the White Lotus rebellion and south China piracy, and their far-reaching impacts on the state-society relationship in the nineteenth century.
Concerning the solution to the south China piracy, the Jiaqing Emperor believed that Qing Dynasty's military prowess would no longer effectively intervene the tributary states, let alone western countries’ colonisation of China. Not surprising, Jiaqing relaxed state control over the South China Sea, in order to withdraw from the “unsustainable fiscal extraction and military spending” (p. 195). For example, in the Jiaqing reign, most of China's naval fleets retreated from the broad interior waterways in the South China Sea, in which maritime pirates were still active. This trend “heralded the final departure of these countries from the China-centered tributary framework after the 1860s” (p. 228).
The Jiaqing Emperor's countermeasures to the White Lotus sects laid the groundwork for the acceptable survival strategies of the late Qing. He advocated the militarisation of local society, such as government-hired militias and locally recruited militias, which gradually brought the rebellions led by the White Lotus sects under control, and then became a major solution of the late Qing in dealing with the rebellions and insurgencies in the nineteenth century. Later, Qing Dynasty officially recognised the White Lotus sects’ existence and they were gradually moulded into a political force, which persisted in the anti-Manchu cause until the collapse of the Qing dynasty.
Another contribution that this book makes to the literature of Qing studies, is to offer an alternative explanation to the reasons behind Heshen's death. Heshen was one of the Qianlong Emperor's loyal ministers of Manchu origin, and one of the most powerful courtiers in the Qianlong reign. As Wang suggests, the Qianglong Emperor always adopted the strategy of “divide and conquer” to exercise his power (p. 123). It is notable that Heshen was the only dignitary in Qianglong's adminsitration, who was executed by the incoming Emperor Jiaqing. In the eyes of Wang, Heshen's “notorious abuse of power and rapacious appetite” aroused Jiaqing's resentment (p. 22). For instance, Heshen even used the Qianlong Emperor's “unwavering patronage to limit the son's authority” (p. 129). Further the Heshen had been implementing the aggressive policies in the late Qianlong reign. Thus to the Jiaqing Emperor, execution would be the most effective solution to remove Heshen's political domination.
In the context of a continuous historical process, White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates provides an alternative understanding of the challenges and reforms in the Qianlong-Jiaqing transition — a less popular but essential theme of Qing studies. However, there is an omission. This well-research book should have been attached with a bibliography, which would be a time-saving solution to readers.
Despite this omission, White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates certainly makes a great read. It deserves a much wider readership, showing a new light on the Jiaqing Emperor's reforms in the Qianlong-Jiaqing transition, and leaving readers with a comprehensive understanding of the state-society tensions in the Qianlong-Jiaqing transition.
