| Occupation of Ningbo | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Taiping Rebellion (Eastern Expedition) | |||||
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| Belligerents | |||||
 France  United Kingdom | Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
|
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| Strength | |||||
| 60,000 | |||||
The Occupation of Ningbo was the five-month period in 1861 and 1862 during which the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom successfully occupied the city of Ningbo during the Taiping Rebellion. British and French support eventually allowed the Qing to retake the city.
In December 1861, the Taiping, having already controlled the hinterlands of Zhejiang for many months, began marching on Ningbo under the command of Huang Chengzhong and Fan Youzeng. [1] When the Taiping neared the city, they were approached by British, French, and American diplomats who attempted to dissuade them from taking the city. [2] Although Western diplomats had previously been successful in warning off the Taipings, they were ultimately only able to extract promises that foreign interests would not be harmed. [2] On December 9, 1861, 60,000 Taiping stormed Ningbo. Despite the fact that the British had been training the local Qing forces, there was no military opposition to the Taiping's capture Ningbo. [3]
The capture of Ningbo provided the Taiping with access to the sea and the opportunity to demonstrate that Taiping rule would not harm foreign interests. [3] Initially, foreign reaction to the occupation was positive, even from those who were normally critical of the Taiping, such as Harry Parkes and S. Wells Williams. [4] However, although the Taiping were well-disciplined and took steps conducive to trade, later missives became more negative and the British began to prepare for an eventual retaking of the city by the Qing. [5]
Chen Zhengyue, a bagongsheng and member of the wealthiest household in Ying County, developed a plan to retake Ningbo. [6] He convinced the Qing troops to attempt to retake Ningbo, collaborated with foreign armies to organize an allied action, and provided funding for the expedition. [7]
On May 10, 1862, Zheng Afu, the personal servant of Frederick E. B. Harvey, and Apak, a coastal pirate who commanded a fleet of 150 small, armed boats, successfully incited a British attack by firing upon HMS Encounter from the Taiping side of the river. [8] This false flag attack killed two British soldiers and caused Roderick Dew, the commander of the Encounter, and the French to begin a full-scale artillery barrage on the Taiping with six gunships. [8] Peasants and pirates then stormed Ningbo. [8] Zheng was personally responsible for directing the torture and summary execution of captives in the aftermath of the operation. [8]
After Ningbo was retaken by the Qing, Apak and his pirate fleet began blockading the river and disrupting trade with the city. [8]
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The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted from 1850 until the fall of Tianjing in 1864, although the last rebel army was not wiped out until August 1871. The conflict resulted in approximately 20 to 30 million deaths, approximately one-twentieth to one-tenth of China's population at the time. The established Qing government won decisively, although at great cost to its fiscal and political structure.
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Ningbo, formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea. Ningbo is the southern economic center of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis. The port of Ningbo–Zhoushan, spread across several locations, is the world's busiest port by cargo tonnage and world's third-busiest container port since 2010.
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Small Swords Society or Small Sword Society was a political and military organisation active in Shanghai, China, and neighbouring areas amid the Taiping Rebellion, between about 1840 and 1855. Members of the society, rebelling against the Qing dynasty, occupied old Shanghai and many of the surrounding villages. Chinese gentry and merchants 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.
The Xiang Army or Hunan Army was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called tuanlian to contain the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China. The name is taken from the Hunan region where the Army was raised. The Army was financed through local nobles and gentry, as opposed to through the centralized Manchu-led Qing dynasty. The army was mostly disbanded by Zeng after the re-capture of the Taiping capital at Nanking.
Jiangnan Daying or the Jiangnan Battalion; was an army group assembled by the Qing dynasty. The army group consist of mostly Green Standard Army, and their goal was to quell the Taiping Rebellion around the Jiangnan region. The army group twice encircled Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but were defeated by the Taiping forces on both occasions.
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The Battle of Shanghai (太平軍二攻上海) was a major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion that occurred from June 1861 to July 1862. British and French troops used modern artillery on a large scale for the first time in China. Cannon fire inflicted heavy casualties on the Taiping forces, whose commander Li Xiucheng was wounded in the left leg by a shot fired from a cannon.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, officially the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic absolute monarchy which sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The Heavenly Kingdom, or Heavenly Dynasty, was led by Hong Xiuquan. Its capital was at Tianjing, present-day Nanjing. The unsuccessful war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion.
The Red Turban Rebellion of 1854–1856 was a rebellion by members of the Tiandihui in the Guangdong province of South China.
The Battle of Anqing (安慶之戰) was a prolonged siege of the prefecture-level city of Anqing in Anhui, China, initiated by Hunan Army forces loyal to the Qing Dynasty against the armies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The siege began in September 1860 and ended on September 5, 1861, when imperial forces under the command of Zeng Guoquan breached the walls of the city and occupied it.
Events from the year 1860 in China.
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HMS Kestrel was a Clown-class gunboat of the Royal Navy. She was launched in 1856, serving in China and Japan in the 1850s and 1860s. She saw action during the Second Opium War and the Taiping Rebellion.
