Small Swords Society or Small Knife Society was a political and military organisation active in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

, China, and neighbouring areas amid the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It last ...

, between about 1840 and 1855. Members of the society, rebelling against the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, occupied old Shanghai and many of the surrounding villages. Chinese

gentry Gentry (from Old French ''genterie'', from ''gentil'', "high-born, noble") are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. Word similar to gentle imple and decentfamilies ''Gentry'', in its widest c ...

and

merchant A merchant is a person who trades in commodities produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Historically, a merchant is anyone who is involved in business or trade. Merchants have operated for as long as indust ...

s took refuge in the British and French concessions, which were regarded as the only safe places. The rebellion was suppressed and the society expelled from Shanghai in February 1855.

History

The organization was founded in 1850 during the upheavals leading to the

, its original leader being a Singaporean-born merchant with British citizenship, Chen Qingzhen (), in

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...

Province, many among its leadership also being English-speaking Singapore Chinese. It was one of a number of rebel groups to arise during this period, either affiliated with or proclaiming support for the Taiping administration. The name ("Small Swords") refers to daggers used by warriors or martial artists in close combat. It is believed to be linked to triads. The society consisted mainly of natives from

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

and

, including Li Shaoqing, Li Xianyun and Pan Yiguo, directors of some of the ''huiguan'' or native place associations of Shanghai. They were opposed to both

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and

Daoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the '' Ta ...

, issuing proclamations against both faiths. Some of these proclamations were translated for an English-speaking audience by Alexander Wylie. The Small Swords Society was a variant of the Heaven and Earth Societies (

Tiandihui The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui ...

) that organised the Red Turban Rebellion in

province, and used their symbolism. The Society succeeded in seizing

Tong'an Tong'an District () is a northern mainland district of Amoy which faces Quemoy County, Republic of China. To the north is Anxi and Nan'an, and to the south is Jimei. Tong'an is also east of Lianxiang and Changqin to the West. It covers

Zhangzhou Zhangzhou (), alternately romanized as Changchow, is a prefecture-level city in Fujian Province, China. The prefecture around the city proper comprises the southeast corner of the province, facing the Taiwan Strait and surrounding the prefect ...

, and Zhangpu in Fujian province, but was forced to withdraw after heavy fighting, continuing resistance at sea until 1858. While in Xiamen, they allied with forces of the Red Turban Rebellion in

Humen The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site of the Pearl River's discha ...

to seize the city of

Huizhou Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in central-east Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Hey ...

, near

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong ...

province, helping to galvanise that insurrection. In 1851 the Society occupied the Chinese city of Shanghai without invading the foreign concessions. The

circuit intendant A circuit ( or ) was a historical political division of China and is a historical and modern administrative unit in Japan. The primary level of administrative division of Korea under the Joseon and in modern North and South Korea employs the sam ...

was forced to flee. Large numbers of Chinese refugees from surrounding areas flooded into the foreign concessions in this period, dramatically increasing the population there and giving rise to the prevalent '' longtang'' or '' shikumen''-style housing which came to dominate

by the early 20th Century. The Society's headquarters were in the Yu Garden of Shanghai, at the heart of the old city and today a popular tourist attraction and shopping district. There is a small museum displaying artefacts of the Society in the gardens. The Small Sword Society in Shanghai initially declared the re-establishment of ''Da Ming Guo'' (), the Great Ming State, and elected Liu Lichuan as leader, who wrote to the Heavenly King of the Taiping Tianguo to join his rebellion, subsequently adopting the Taiping Tianguo name. The society took steps to issue currency, encourage trade and stabilise the food supply. Conflict broke out between the Fujian and Guangdong factions, over whether they should leave with the loot they had acquired. At first, the British and American authorities remained neutral, while the French supported the imperial government. However, some British and American sailors joined up with the Small Swords Society. When French troops were sent in to support Qing imperial troops, this caused the situation of Westerners fighting Westerners. The British and American authorities then declared the sailors' actions illegal and joined in support for the imperial armies. The society's forces tried to break out from the siege but was destroyed in February 1855. Remnant forces regrouped with the Taiping army.

References

{{Authority control Military units and formations established in the 1850s Rebel groups in China 19th century in Shanghai Rebellions in the Qing dynasty 19th century in China 19th-century conflicts