The Nian Rebellion was a large-scale anti-Qing peasant uprising that broke out in the mid-19th century in the Huai River and Yellow River regions of northern China, at the same time as the Taiping Rebellion. Centered in northern Anhui, it grew out of scattered Nian bands. In 1855, the rebels chose Zhang Lexing as their leader and established a five-banner military structure to coordinate their campaigns. In its later stages, the movement split into eastern and western forces and adopted mobile tactics, at one point killing the Qing general Sengge Rinchen. In 1868, Qing forces successively crushed both the eastern and western Nian armies, bringing the rebellion to a final defeat.
