The Prince of Anhua rebellion, or the Prince of Anhua's uprising, refers to the uprising led by Zhu Zhifan, Prince of Anhua, against the reigning Ming emperor, Zhengde Emperor. This rebellion, which took place in Ningxia, one of the nine military regions on the Ming Chinese border with Mongolia, started on 12 May and ended on 30 May 1519, after 18 days. During this time, General Qiu Yue, who had pretended to join the rebels, led a group of pro-government soldiers to occupy the palace of the Prince of Anhua and capture him.

The Prince of Anhua revolt was one of two princedom rebellions during the Zhengde Emperor's reign, and preceded the Prince of Ning rebellion in 1519.^[1]

Zhu Zhifan was a member of the Ming dynasty and a descendant of Zhu Zhan, Prince of Qing. He was also the sixteenth son of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder and first emperor of the Ming dynasty. In 1492, he inherited the title of Prince of Anhua.^[2] He resided in Ningxia, which was one of the border regional commanderies along the Ming Empire's border with Mongolia. Among the six commandery princes in Ningxia, he held a high rank and was one of the several hundred descendants of Zhu Zhan living in the region.^[3]

The imperial family in Ningxia was led by the Prince of Qing.^[3] The overall command of the region was held by a regional commander (a general), a grand defender (a eunuch), and a grand coordinator (a civil official). The latter two also supervised the members of the imperial family. This division of power and mutual supervision was put in place to prevent excessive independence within the region.^[4]

In 1507, eunuch Liu Jin rose to become the most influential figure in the Ming government. He implemented financial reforms with the goal of increasing state revenues.^[5] These reforms included strict collection of tax arrears and higher duties and levies for military households. However, these changes caused unrest in the northern borderlands of the Ming dynasty.^[2]

Zhu Zhifan criticized Liu Jin to his close confidants, but by 1510, it remained only as words.^[6] The prince's confidants were mostly officers from the Ningxia garrison, such as He Jin (何錦), who received a promotion to regional military commissioner by contributing 270 liang (10 kg) of silver to the state, which he borrowed from the prince. Another officer, Zhou Ang (周昂), also achieved the same rank through a similar contribution of 200 liang. The prince's inner circle also included members of the gentry, such as Sun Jingwen (孫景文), a student from a local Confucian school, and several former students.^[7] Additionally, the prince sought advice from shamans.^[6]

In March 1510, government officials, including Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review Zhou Dong (大理少卿 周東), the eunuch Li Zeng (李增), and Grand Coordinator An Weixue (巡撫都御史 安惟學), arrived in Ningxia to review and potentially increase the tax obligations of military households. He Jin and Sun Jingwen saw this as an opportunity to gain support for their revolt and successfully persuaded a number of officers, including Xu Qin (徐欽).^[8]

On 12 May 1510,^[6] Zhu Zhifan launched a rebellion by inviting the highest civil and military officials of the region—Li Zeng, Regional Commander Jiang Han (姜漢), and the eunuch Director of Firearms, Zheng Guang (鄭廣)—to a banquet in his palace. At the banquet, they were killed by the prince's armed men.^[9] The rebels then occupied important official buildings in the city and killed Zhou Dong, An Weixue, Regional Military Commissioner Yang Zhong (楊忠), and other dignitaries. They also freed prisoners from the city prison. While some lower-ranking officials fled, the majority were intimidated into serving the prince from 13 May. Zhu Zhifan also called for obedience from the commanders of the surrounding garrisons, specifically Regional Vice Commander Yang Ying and Mobile Corps Commander Qiu Yue.^[10] Both faced a difficult decision as their families were in the city. Qiu Yue returned to the city on the same day, placed his troops under the command of Zhou Ang, He Jin, and Ding Guang (丁廣, another member of the prince's entourage) to gain the trust of the rebels, and then claimed to be ill and stayed home.^[10]

Meanwhile, the prince seized the official treasury and collected large contributions from the members of the imperial family present.^[11] He also issued a proclamation, explaining the rebellion as an act of defense of the dynasty and the empire against the treacherous Liu Jin, and distributed it throughout the area. He maintained order in the city by executing several officers and soldiers for looting.^[12]

On May 20, government troops, led by Regional Commander Cao Xiong (曹雄), began operations with a cavalry of over 2,400 soldiers to Lingzhou, which is separated from Ningxia by the Yellow River.^[12] Another detachment positioned itself on the opposite bank of the Yellow River, opposite the city of Ningxia, and blocked river transport. In Yansui, a large garrison in Shaanxi, the generals decided to concentrate 5,000 troops to suppress the rebellion on 20 May. The following day, a select group from the detachment guarding the Yellow River crossed it and attacked a rebel unit guarding the port of Ningxia. They successfully captured 17 ships and weapons before returning to the Lingzhou bank.^[13]

Meanwhile, Qiu Yue pretended to be sick and gathered a group of loyal officers. He also spread false reports through his officers to convince the prince and his confidants that they were in danger of being attacked by government troops. As a result, the prince dispersed most of his troops along the Yellow River and at the city's approaches, leaving only a small number of soldiers within the city itself.^[14]

On 30 May, Qiu Yue once again refused to meet with the prince, who then sent Zhou Ang to check on him. Qiu Yue killed Zhou Ang and, with a hundred men, attacked the prince's palace. He successfully took control of the palace and killed several dozen rebels, including Sun Jingwen. The prince was captured and the remaining rebels surrendered. Qiu Yue immediately announced the capture of the prince to both the loyalists (Cao Xiong) and the rebels in order to demoralize them. He Jin, Ding Guang, and several others attempted to flee to Mongolia but were captured by a patrol on 31 May.^[14] Xu Qin also died while trying to escape on the same day. Yang Jing's troops crossed the Yellow River and entered the city on the same day. Cao Xiong's troops^[15] also crossed the river on 1 June and fought their way through the city, eliminating the remaining rebels.^[16] However, it took several more days to completely eliminate all rebel units in the area.^[14]

After news of the rebellion reached Beijing, the Zhengde Emperor consulted with his Grand Secretaries and ministers and adopted a comprehensive set of measures. He dispatched Shen Ying (神英), Count of Jingyang (涇陽伯), and Yang Yiqing, Censor-in-chief, to lead the counter-rebellion. Both had extensive experience and success in the northwest frontier and in Ningxia itself.^[15] The government expected them to utilize their knowledge of the area and personal connections with local officers. Additionally, the emperor promoted a number of Ningxia officers, including Qiu Yue. He also allocated 300,000 liang (11.2 tons) of silver for the Ningxia soldiers, with each rebel soldier who returned to the government side receiving one liang (37.3 grams). On 2 June, he declared a broad amnesty for the rebels (except for those who committed the most serious crimes), abolished the new tax regulations for the military peasants in Ningxia, and forgave their tax debts. He also granted amnesty for minor crimes committed by princes throughout the empire.^[17] On 2 June, he appointed the eunuch Zhang Yong as the head of military affairs in Ningxia, sending him there with 30,000 men from the capital's garrison. This was the first time in the Ming dynasty that a eunuch had independent command of an army. Additionally, on the recommendation of Yang Yiqing, one million liang of silver were sent to Xuanfu, Datong, and Yansui to cover the costs of troop movements.^[16]

The government in Beijing received news of the prince's capture on 15 June 15 through a report from Cao Xiong. Yang Yiqing, who was on his way to the scene, learned of the end of the rebellion and became concerned that the Beijing army, now no longer needed, would cause more harm than good. He urged for their recall, which was approved by the emperor on 23 June.^[16] On 14 July, Yang Yiqing and Zhang Yong met in Lingzhou while on their way to Ningxia.^[18] They conducted a large-scale investigation into the rebellion, resulting in the arrest of several hundred individuals.^[19] In order to calm the situation, they implemented various measures such as compensating the families of the victims (five liang of silver each) and the injured (three liang).^[20]

Zhang Yong led the captured rebels to Beijing,^[6] arriving on 13 September.^[21] Out of the rebels, only a small number were executed, while 190 (including their family members) were sent to distant border garrisons.^[22] The Zhengde Emperor allowed Zhu Zhifan to commit suicide.^[23] After an investigation, it was discovered that the Prince of Qing had neglected his duties as the head of the local clan, but remained loyal to Zhu Zhifan and even presented him with 10,000 liang of silver. Despite this, the emperor initially maintained his favor with the Prince of Qing and gave him a considerable amount of gold and silver.^[20][a] However, he later changed his mind and forced the Prince of Qing to return the gifts.^[21] Additionally, the emperor abolished his personal guard and reduced his income, as well as the income of lower-ranking members of the imperial family from Ningxia.^[24] The soldiers who played a role in suppressing the rebellion were rewarded, with Qiu Yue receiving the title of Count of Xianning (咸寧).^[25]

During the campaign, Yang Yiqing convinced Zhang Yong to oppose Liu Jin by warning him that his life was in danger due to Liu Jin's plot to stage a coup.^[6] As a result, Zhang Yong joined forces with other eunuchs and successfully overthrew Liu Jin in September 1510.^[26]