The first idea that comes up in the mind of most people when they hear “China” is manufacturing. Of course, the country is the world top exporter. But do know China is also home of some of the deadliest massacres in Human history?
When we tell you about the 15 deadliest massacres in China you will see that these are some of the gravest and deadliest crimes in the history of the world. Leaders have, without a hint of guilt, ordered mass murders to satisfy their egos and greed for power. The deadliest massacres in China are unbelievable and gut-wretched to the core. You will be shocked to hear about the number of people killed in each of these massacres.
In this post, you will learn about 15 deadliest massacres in China.
- Kashgar Massacre
The Battle of Kashgar was a military combat that took place in the year 1934 between the Turkic Muslim Uyghur, Kirghiz fighters under the leadership of Emir Abdullah Bughra, and Turkic separatists on one side and the Hui and Han Chinese soldiers under the leadership of General Ma Zhancang on the other side. The Turkic separatists and Kirghiz fighters trapped the Chinese soldiers in Kashgar. The Chinese Muslim and Chinese forces defeated the Turkic fighters, causing the death of 8000 people.
- Jinhua Massacre
This could possibly be one of the craziest reasons in the world that a massacre occurred. Many men living in Jinhua that were Han Chinese were killed by the Manchus army if they refused to alter their hair to the Manchu’s hairstyle. This style was where the hair was shaved in the front and worn usually with a braid to the back. There were 60,000 men murdered in 1646 for this crazy reason.
- Second Dungan Revolt
The second Dungan Revolt was a rebellion of different Chinese Muslim groups in Gansu and Qinghai against the Qing dynasty. The revolt originated because of the dispute between the two Sufi orders of the same sect. The Wahhabi-inspired Yjhewani groups encouraged the revolt but were crushed by the loyalist Muslims. The mosque leader Ma Yonglin encouraged the masses of Hui, Dongxiang, Bao’an and Salars to revolt against the Qing people. Brigadier General Tang Yanhe ordered the soldiers to kill the rebels. This bloodshed killed a total of 100,000 people.
- Three Massacres in Jiading
Here you have another very hard to believe incident and it is one that reminds us of the tortures and restraints put on the lifestyles of Chinese people by their rulers. The Manchu ruler forced all the Han Chinese men to sport a Manchu hairstyle, and those who refused, were killed. This forced rule led to the death of 100,000 people in Jiading in 1645.
11. Guangzhou Massacre
The Guangzhou massacre occurred in the prosperous port city of Guangzhou in 878- 879 by the rebel army of Huang Chao. The Chinese rebels under Huang Chao were revolting against the Tang dynasty and engaged in a massive slaughter of foreign merchants in the port city. The victims included Muslims, Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians and other foreigners. The death toll rose to 120,000 people.
10. Yangzhou Massacre
This bloodshed of 300,000 individuals occurred in May, 1645 in Yangzhou in the Qing dynasty of China. Mass killings of innocent civilians by the Manchu people and northern Chinese soldiers was done under the command of the Manchu General Dodo. The massacre’s reasons were to punish the resistant efforts put forward by the residents under the Ming official Shi Kefa.
- Kuomintang Anti-Communist Massacre
The Kuomintang Anti-Communist Massacre of April 1927 is known as the Chinese Civil War. It was the violent suppression of the Chinese Communist Party and leftist elements in Shanghai by forces supporting General Chiang Kai-shek in Kuomintang. After the suppression, the conservative Kuomintang or the KMTs carried out a full-scale suppression of the communists in Guangzhou and Changsha. There were mass extinctions of both alleged and actual communists by the nationalist or anti-communist Kuomintang, with the death toll reaching 300,000.
- Dzungar Genocide
The Mongol Buddhist Dzungar people were exterminated by the Manchu Qing dynasty people in China in the year 1755. The Qianlong emperor ordered the genocide because of the rebellion by the Dzungar leader Amursana against the Qing rule. The Qing dynasty under the leadership of Emperor Qianlong destroyed the great nomadic empire – the Dzungar Khanate. A pre-meditated genocide was done to eradicate the Dzungars from China and 480,000 people lost their lives.
- Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet (Chinese civil war)
Jiangxi was a freshly formed southeast province in the Soviet Republic of China that elected communist Leader Mao Zedong as their chairman in 1931. He along with Zhu De established what was thought to be the largest component territory and unrecognized state in 1931 during the Chinese Civil War. This area was often called the Central Soviet Zone but was known under a few names such as Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet, Kiangsi-Fukien Soviet and Central Revolutionary Base. This massacre that caused the death of 700,000 people was to push forward the Communist movement in China.
- Second Sichuan Massacre
Zhang Xianzhong, also known as Huanghu, was a leader of the revolting peasants from the Yan’an wei which today is Shaanxi. He conquered Sichuan in 1644 and declared himself the king and later, the emperor of the Xi Dynasty. His position as the ruler of Sichuan was very brief and he was killed by the invading Qing army. During this rule, he had caused great suffering and was responsible for the death of a million people under his rule.
- First Sichuan Massacre
The first Sichuan massacre occurred between 1221 to 1264 and resulted in the deaths of more than 2,000,000 people. The Mongolian army killed the people of Northern China. Whenever inhabitants rebelled, Genghis Khan commanded his army to strike their heads from their bodies and nearly killing entire populations. This ruthless commander and his generals annihilated every army that got in their way.
- Mongolian Massacre in Western Xia
The first Mongol Invasion of China and Genghis Khan’s first major invasion was the Mongolian Massacre in Western Xia from 1225-1227. This was a series of conflicts between the Western Xia dynasty in northwestern China and the Mongol Empire. Genghis Khan was the Mongol leader who commanded raids against Western in hopes of gaining vassal state and pillage. The actual cause of Genghis Khan’s death is uncertain however he was believed to be killed in action somewhere near the end of the siege in August of 1227. The death toll of this massacre ranges from 1.5 to 3 million casualties.
- Invasion of the Five Barbarians
The death toll of this massacre between 304 to 316 is estimated to be 10,000,000 and there is no exact proven figure. The invasion of the Five Barbarians refers to the series of rebellions and invasions that occurred in China by the non-Han people, commonly known as the Five Barbarians, against the Jin Empire. The non-Han people were residing in North China where the invasions took place. The uprisings helped topple the Jin Empire and ended the Jin dynasty in northern China.
- Dungan Revolt
The death toll of this revolt is estimated to be around 20,000,000. The Dungan revolt took place between 1862 – 1873. Most of the deaths were due to migration and war-related factors of people in Shaanxi and Gansu. The riots started by the Hui and the massacre of the Han Chinese, along with the revenge killing of Hui by the Han caused this deadly Dungan revolt.
- Mongolian Massacre Northern China
One of the most important goals of Genghis Khan was to conquer the Jin dynasty so as to avenge the death of Mongol Khan, the previous ruler of the Mongols. He also wanted to conquer the entire China and establish Mongols as the world power. Genghis Khan declared war in 1211 on China and committed mass murders of all northern Chinese men taller than a wheel. It is said to be the bloodiest war in history and some even say that Genghis Khan killed 60,000,000.
