Li Yonghe

Li Yonghe was a 19th-century rebel leader from Yunnan province, Qing dynasty China.

Rebellion In the autumn of 1859, as the Qing dynasty was plagued by the Taiping Rebellion, Nian rebellion and Panthay rebellion, Li Yonghe, with two brothers Lan Chaoding and Lan Chaozhu raised a rebellion in their home province of Yunnan. They pledged to "kill rich landlords and officials" and to "defend the poor peasants." They used the name Daming Shuntian , or "Great Ming following Heaven". Li declared himself "King-following-Heaven" , while Lan Chaoding and Lan Chaozhu were declared Grand Marshal and Vice Marshal respectively.

In September 1859, Li and Lan became members of the outlaw brotherhood Gelaohui, with whom they had significant contact with through the opium trafficking trade. The total casualties of the rebellion are estimated at over 100,000.

The rebellion was one of the first in China to have explicitly anti-Western politics, framing Europeans and Americans as "enemies of Heaven."