Wang Cong'er (1777-1798) was a native of Xiangyang City. She started out as a circus performer, and later became a leader of the White Lotus Sect.¹ The White Lotus Sect originated during the Yuan dynasty. Based on Buddhist beliefs, it is considered a heretical cult and a subversive organization which was involved in uprisings against the government.² Wang and her husband Qi Lin engaged in White Lotus Sect recruitment and organizing of anti-government activities among the peasant population.³ In 1796, the White Lotus Sect planned to launch a rebellion on New Year's Eve, but their plans were leaked to the Qing government authorities. Qi Lin and more than a hundred other sect members were killed by government forces.⁴

Wang Cong'er rallied the rebels, and Qi Lin's followers elected her as the Supreme Sect Leader. Within a month, she was leading more than 40,000 followers against government troops. She attacked Luyan Station and killed Imperial Investigator Wang Diansun.⁵ Then she moved south, taking county after county before rendezvousing with other White Lotus Sect generals. Wang Cong'er was elected the Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect.⁶ The Imperial court sent armies to surround the White Lotus rebels, but Wang Cong'er shifted the battleground to the mountains and forests of Sichuan, Hubei, and Shanxi, where she repeatedly discomfited the government troops using guerilla warfare. Out of ideas for what to throw at the Wang Cong'er problem, the Qing Emperor repeatedly changed the commanders for the anti-rebel forces.⁷ The contemporary records of the Qing Court stated that "the deadliest of all the rebels are those led by Madam Wang, wife of Qi" and "it is said that all the rebel factions from Hubei and Shanxi were stirred up by Wang".⁸

The Qing General Ming Liang finally came up with the plan of recruiting local landlords to build forts and lock the civilians inside the forts whenever the rebels were in the area, effectively cutting off the rebels from the civilian sympathizers who were a key part of their supply chain.⁹ In 1798, Qing troops surrounded Wang's troops in Yunxi, Hubei. After several battles, the outnumbered rebels still could not break through the government blockade.¹⁰ When the rebel's defense line was finally broken, Wang and her followers retreated to Mao Hill. There, cornered by the imperial army, Wang, her co-commander Yao Zhifu, and her female troopers all leapt over the cliff to their deaths.¹¹

X.T.

Notes

1. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
   The Heroine Wang Cong'er
2. The Evolution of the White Lotus Sect (Chinese article)
   The Propaganda and Sorcery of the White Lotus Sect (Chinese article)
3. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
4. The Heroine Wang Cong'er
5. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
   The Heroine Wang Cong'er
6. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
7. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
8. The White Lotus Sect and Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
9. The Heroine Wang Cong'er
10. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
    The Heroine Wang Cong'er
11. Supreme Commander of the Eight Armies of the White Lotus Sect - Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)
    The White Lotus Sect and Wang Cong'er (Chinese article)