Abstract
In January of 1942 Western Hunan (Xiangxi 湘西) was rocked by a Miao 苗 uprising against Nationalist rule; it ended in August after leaders had been tricked into surrendering. The goal of this paper is to examine both the beliefs and practices of the Miao warrior culture that underlay the uprising, and their significance for modern Chinese history. The bulk of scholarship on the uprising tends to label its religious factors as “superstition,” while also neglecting the significance of women’s roles in the mobilization process. In contrast, this study describes how beliefs in savior figures and how mass possession rituals led by Miao female mediums were critical in quickly motivating the Miao fighters, with Miao montagnards choosing to die on their feet rather than survive on their knees. Such phenomena were hardly limited to Western Hunan, and thus we can find in other parts of China, and in the world, numerous uprisings featuring charismatic religious figures who staged possession rituals designed to bestow such things as invulnerability in battle.
Keywords
Miao, Western Hunan, resistance, possession rituals, female mediums
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