"In the Middle Kingdom, there is nothing more difficult than eating"
(Chinese proverb)
As you know, today the Celestial Empire (even if it is not called that way, the ancient meaning of its existence has remained the same!) Is the world leader in terms of the number of inhabitants living in it. But it is known not only as the state with the highest population, but also as countless goods that are produced by the skillful hands of the Chinese who do not know how tired they are. The country has long become a kind of unified production workshop, where everything is produced: from needles to cars. The inscription “Made in China” can be found literally on any product purchased in our stores. Reading the price tags, you probably can't go wrong in the country of origin. Hardworking Chinese take on any order. Even the state flags of different countries - and those are produced in the Celestial Empire. But the country was not always so industrially developed. In ancient times, when no one thought about not only developed, but generally about industry in the then still little-known China, some of the local residents preferred not creative work, but "honest confiscation" of property from others. In other words, the meaning of their life was to plunder their compatriots. And if we consider that China was a multimillion state a long time ago, then the number of "robbers" in it was appropriate.
Medieval Chinese city. Chinese miniature.
The weather is to blame for everything …
There were several good reasons why China has been the world's leader in terms of the number of outlaws for several centuries. The main one, of course, was associated with the vast territory of the country, since it was extremely difficult to rule such a great state. Well, the other was just related to the local climate. Floods, washing away everything in their path, happened in those places quite often. Crop failures were not uncommon, dooming entire villages to starvation. It also happened that one misfortune followed another: hordes of gluttonous locusts - a real "Egyptian execution", from Central Asia in a huge cloud, overcoming colossal distances and destroying everything growing in its path, reached the Celestial Empire. After some time, the flock rose and flew further, and what remained after the insects … Yes, there was nothing left on the ground. The crops were eaten clean. Cyclones, which brought powerful downpours on land and caused storms in the ocean, also did their dirty deed: villages and cities located nearby were the first on the path of the destructive force of the elements. And after that, when the elements faded, it was painful to look at the villages: mud mixed with the wreckage of huts and what was left of crops. All this forced the Chinese to embark on a criminal path (there was something, after all, I wanted "here and now"!).
"Free - will …"
Rogue "pranks" reached their climax at a time when the era of the Tang dynasty (618–907) was smoothly moving towards its decline. The robber "groups" were so numerous that they could easily pass for an efficient army of His Imperial Majesty. The only difference was in functions: the "gentlemen of fortune" did not defend the country. In search of prey, they scoured the entire country for years, instilling fear in the local population. The leader of one of these "army" gangs, Wan Chien, managed to build and organize a kind of … a state within a state. Only the state, in its essence, had a bandit order. "The sovereign father" demanded, for example, that he be called, as before - "Wan Pa, thief" ("according to concepts", probably, it was required).
At one time, our remarkable historian V. O. Klyuchevsky, emphasizing the importance of the natural-geographical factor in history, said: "We all came out of the rye field!" And the Chinese, accordingly, came out of rice. "If you are lazy - this wheat!" - this is their proverb. That is why the bulk of the Chinese built their huts along the banks of the rivers (as you know, in China, the two most full-flowing rivers - the Yellow and Yangtze), and some of the population settled along the banks of the canals - and all this despite the fairly frequent floods. And if in our country, and in Europe, robbers "settled" in the forests, then in China reed swamps became their abode. And the main transport for the villains was the most ordinary boat, on which they safely sailed from one river to another, from canal to canal and, as they say, did not know grief.
Southern allies of the Yuan dynasty in 1300: 1 - a peasant spearman, 2 - a military official, 3 - a southerner pirate with a "spear of raging fire". Rice. David Skue.
Or, for example, there was a large flood of the river, destroying everything in its path: crops, dwellings, livestock. Desperate peasants, in order to somehow feed their families, gathered in gangs and were forced to go to rob, since there was no other way to get food. The people gave them the nickname "wan min", meaning "those who left their villages and families." It was in such difficult times that a wave of robberies began to seize more and more new territories of the country, sometimes reaching the imperial palace.
Chinese "rocket scientists". Rice. David Skue.
In the history of China, there was one rare case when someone named Huan Chao, the leader of a bandit army, in the distant 880 managed to expel Emperor Xi-tsun from his own palace. Only a year later, the emperor was able to return to his native abode!
The Tang Dynasty soon ceased to exist. The state turned out to be fragmented. It was only into the hands of the robber clan: after all, in a divided country it is easier to rob.
It is worth noting one thing: in view of the fact that the Chinese were pushed to robbery by natural and geographical factors, and not by "spoiled nature", then, accordingly, the attitude towards these "romantics from the high road" was very loyal. In China, the novel "Swamp Robbers" was even dedicated to them, which in Russia was known as "River Creek".
Commander of the Ming Dynasty 1500: 1 - civilian official; 2 - commander; 3 - standard bearer. Rice. David Skue.
The author of this work was Shi Nai-an, who lived in the XIV century. As an eyewitness to peasant revolts, he described everything he saw, decorating his work with stories from folk tales. The prototypes of the heroes of the novel were the robbers who actually existed at that time. In total, there were a little more than a hundred people in the novel. They were all the leaders of one large detachment. And they received the "honorary title" of swamp robbers because their "lair" was in the Liangshan swamps of Shandong province.
Armor of an officer of the palace guard China, XVII century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
It is a holy cause to protect the people …
Creating his novel, Shi described in detail the creation of a rebellious peasant detachment, fighting against the oppressors of the people, and primarily with selfish government officials. In fact, it was a kind of biography of the entire Chinese people. Something like an "encyclopedia of Chinese life." And note that the leader of the gang, Son Jian, and his accomplices steal mainly from those who are more prosperous. And by combining "business with pleasure," the robbers also contribute to the struggle to build a state with an honest government. For this, appeals to the peasants were invented: "Follow the path of God!" and "Down with tyranny!"
The bulk of the legends that Shi Nai-an included in the "Swamp Thieves" is related to the period of the Sunn dynasty. The Sunn Dynasty replaced the declining Tang Dynasty, and ruled the country from 960 to 1279. But in the XII century this dynasty came to an end. China was engulfed in peasant riots, which led to an unprecedented stream of plunder. All this could not but weaken the state. The Mongols immediately took advantage of this situation. Their numerous army, led by Genghis Khan, swept through China in an avalanche, and in 1279 the state completely came under the "control" of Genghis Khan. For almost a century, the country was under the Mongol yoke. Only in 1367 the country was able to free itself from the invaders. Alas, the next change of power did not affect the peasantry in any way: the country once again plunged into a "quagmire" of robberies, robberies and violence.
Chinese halberd of the 18th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
All the will of God…
The teachings of Confucius, underlying all the basic life principles of the Chinese, were based on unquestioning obedience to the law of the country and God's law, as well as on the idea that any power is power from God. And if so, therefore, the supreme ruler, the emperor, is also God's messenger, who bore, among other things, the title "Son of Heaven." Therefore, disobedience to the imperial power meant an unforgivable disobedience to God's will. However, everyone understood that any dynasty cannot rule indefinitely. The rainy season came, the rivers overflowed, the water of the canals overflowed the banks, and everything returned "to square one" … The people were left without a piece of bread, this gave rise to a wave of riots, the riots were followed by a wave of robberies. And everyone concluded that this was a sign from heaven, that the dynasty "came out of the trust" of heaven. And therefore - another change of power!
Chinese armor of the XII - XIII centuries. Yunnan or Sichuan province. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
"Let's overthrow the Yuan, build the Ming!"
Riots against the troops of Genghis Khan began to flare up in 1335, and then the east of the country was subjected to several devastating floods in a row. The Chinese took this as a sign that the Mongol Yuan Dynasty had lost its power and support from heaven, and it was time to clear the way for a new one!
Zhu Yuan-chjan became the leader of the rebels. He bypassed all candidates for the throne and in 1368 formed the Ming Dynasty. For two decades, he managed to expel the invaders from China and restore here and there the damaged Great Wall of China. But, he did not manage to eradicate the bandit gangs to the end …
Soldiers of the Ming Dynasty 1400: 1 - halberdist; 2 - standard bearer; 3 - arquebusier. Rice. David Skue.
It is curious that one of the factors in the failure of the "operation" to destroy the robbers as a phenomenon was the incredible fame of the "Swamp robbers". At that time, based on the novel, as many as forty-eight plays were composed, which were staged with great success on all theatrical stages of the country. And so it happened that a literary work unwittingly gave rise to generations of supporters and followers of "Swamp robbers". The matter went so far that the members of the Qing dynasty, rightly fearing new popular unrest, under pain of punishment, banned the publication of the continuation of the novel.
