The Panthay Rebellion occurred between 1856 and 1872 in Yunnan province. This rebellion has traditionally been characterized as a religious conflict between Han Chinese and Muslim Chinese, generally referred to as Hui. It has also been explicitly characterized as a Hui revolt against central Qing authority. Generalizations such as these, though they have lasting power, are fraught with historical misconceptions and stereotypes. Many contemporary studies have demonstrated the convoluted nature of this rebellion and how this historical event serves to explain some of the key weaknesses within the Qing Empire in the nineteenth century. This paper seeks to explain one of a multitude of factors that characterized the nature of this rebellion. Particularly, this paper will explore the growing ethnic strife between the Han and Hui groups as immigrant Han moved into Yunnan in the nineteenth century. The Hui had for a length of time maintained forms of social, cultural and ethnic power and solidarity in the area. However, growing disparities over land and material resources contributed to rising social, political, and economic tensions in Yunnan which contributed to the culmination of the ethnic violence that characterized the Panthay Rebellion.

The Pressure of Identity: Han-Hui Violence and the Origins of the Panthay Rebellion and Hui-Han Violence in Nineteenth Century Yunnan