Du Wenxiu (,

Xiao'erjing Xiao'erjing, Xiaorjing, Xiaojing or Benjing, is a Arabic script, Perso-Arabic script used to write Sinitic languages, including Lanyin Mandarin, Zhongyuan Mandarin, Northeastern Mandarin, and Dungan language, Dungan. It is used on occasion ...

: ; 1823 – 1872) was the Chinese Muslim leader of the

Panthay Rebellion The Panthay Rebellion (1856–1873), also known as the Du Wenxiu Rebellion (Tu Wen-hsiu Rebellion), was a rebellion of the Muslim Hui people and other (Muslim as well as non-Muslim) ethnic groups against the Manchu-led Qing dynasty in southwe ...

, an anti-Qing revolt in China during the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. Du Wenxiu was ethnically Han from both his parents and not Hui but was raised as a Muslim and led his rebellion as an anti-Manchu rebellion instead of a religious war by Muslims against non-Muslims.

Early life and background

Born in Yongchang (now

Baoshan, Yunnan Baoshan ( zh, c=, p=Bǎoshān ; ), historically also Yongchang ( zh, c=, p=Yǒngchāng), is a prefecture-level city in western Yunnan, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. Baoshan is the second-biggest metropolitan area in western Yunnan ...

), Du Wenxiu was the son of a Muslim Hui. His original name was Yang Xiu (杨秀). Du was educated in the Chinese classics and like the sons of other elite Hui families; studied for the Chinese civil service exams. At the age of sixteen he passed the first exam; obtaining his xiucai degree. He became respected among Yunnanese Hui when he and two others travelled to Beijing and petitioned the imperial court for compensation for the 1845 Baoshan Massacre of the Hui. After he failed to secure a settlement from the Qing administration, Du traveled through western Yunnan's trading networks on behalf of his family. The experience of his travels made him conscious of the commercial, political, and multiethnic landscape of Yunnan. The rebellion started after massacres of Hui perpetrated by the Qing authorities. Du used anti-

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

rhetoric in his rebellion against the Qing, calling for Han to join the Hui to overthrow the Manchu-led Qing dynasty after 200 years of their rule. Du invited the fellow Hui Muslim leader Ma Rulong to join him in driving the Manchus out and "recover China". For his war against Manchu "oppression", Du "became a Muslim hero", while Ma Rulong defected to the Qing. On multiple occasions Kunming was attacked and sacked by Du Wenxiu's forces. He was the father of Du Fengyang, who also participated in the rebellion. Ma Shilin, a descendant of

Ma Mingxin Ma Mingxin (1719–1781) () was a Chinese Sufi master, the founder of the Jahriyya ''menhuan'' (Naqshbandi Sufi order).