The Ispah rebellion was a series of civil wars in the middle of 14th century in Fujian during the Yuan dynasty. The term Ispah might derive from the Persian word "سپاه", meaning "army" or "Sepoy". Thus, the rebellion is also known as the PersianSepoy rebellion in Chinese documents. Under Mongol Empire Yuan rule, more Semu people migrated to the Chinese portcity ofQuanzhou. In 1357, a predominantly Muslim army led by two Quanzhou Muslims, Sayf ad-Din and Amir ad-Din, revolted against the Yuan. The rebel army seized control of Quanzhou, Putian, and even reached the provincial capitalFuzhou. In 1362, the Ispah army collapsed into internal conflict. In 1366, it was eventually crushed by the Han Chinese commander Chen Youding who was loyal to the Yuan dynasty.
Historical background
From the 13th century to the early 14th century in the Yuan dynasty, overseas trade was extremely prosperous in Fujian. As the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, Quanzhou was the largest port in China's largest and possibly the world as well. It was also the largest city in Fujian, with a population exceeding that of Fuzhou, Fujian's administrative center. The Arabs called it "Tiger's claw", which has been used by merchants in Europe and elsewhere. At the time, Quanzhou's population exceeded 2 million, with a wall as long as 30 miles. Jinjiang's river and its harbor, with highly developed trade, had 10,000 ships docked. Quanzhou exported luxuries such as silk, ceramics, copper, and iron, as well as satin, while imports include pearls, ivory, rhino horns, frankincense, etc. The most important imports were spices and herbs. Quanzhou had many foreign residents, such as Arabs, Persians, Europeans, Jews, Indians etc. Around 100 different languages were used. The Quanzhou people labeled these foreigners as Fan. Due to the massive number of foreigners coming in, authorities initially did not want foreigners to stay and interfere with the locals' lifestyles. Quanzhou had large ethnic enclaves, with foreigners and natives often intermarrying and giving birth to mixed children. Although foreigners and natives had some cultural intermingling, the foreigners still practiced and spread their own religions, such as Islam, Christianity, Manichaeism, Hinduism, etc. This religious and ethnic diversity made governance a challenging task.
The origin of the name "Ispah"
There are multiple theories about the origin of the word "Ispah". Some think that "Ispah" originated from the Persian word "سپاه", which means militia, cavalry, or some derived version. It could also be the Persian equivalent of "mercenaries" or borrowed from the name of a city, Isfahan, given that most of the people came from that city. Others believe that Ispah is used for designating troops, instead of as an actual name.
Sunni-Shiite tension
In the early Yuan dynasty, the Mongols gave the IslamicSunniSemuPu Shougeng family public support, since they helped rebel against the Song dynasty and establish the Yuan dynasty. As a result, this family became stronger and had more influence over politics and the economy. Sunni Muslims became more dominant in Quanzhou and excluded the Shiites, causing growing resentment among them. In 1282, the Yuan dynasty stationed 3000 Shiite forces in Quanzhou, but even then there were still too few Shiites in Quanzhou. Near the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the government struggled to deal with various armed rebellions. The Quanzhou Shiite Persians organized the Ispah army to defend their ethnic group, which already had a large Persian population with growing strength. In March 1357, Sayf ad-Din and Amir ad-Din, the commanders of the Ispah army, seized the opportunity to control Quanzhou, and suppressed the formerly dominant Sunni. The Ispah army became one of the strongest forces in Fujian.
Massacre
The soldiers slaughtered large numbers of Semu merchants. This in turn led to the massacre of all other Semu as it was hard to tell the difference between ethnicities. When the uprising was crushed and their graves desecrated, many were forced to flee Quanzhou. Mosques and other foreign architecture buildings were almost all destroyed. Some of the massacres and grave desecrations were reprisals against the descendants of Pu Shougeng, who had murdered the Emperor's relatives, defected and surrendered the cities to the Mongols during their invasion of the Song dynasty. In vengeance for Pu Shougeng's defection to the Yuan dynasty, the military carried out an extermination campaign that killed most of the descendants of Pu Shougeng with their corpses being horrifically mutilated. The few descendants who escaped changed their surnames to Wu or Bo.
Effects
In Quanzhou, many Han Chinese, Arab, Persian, Semu people intermarried and had mixed kids who practiced a diversity of faiths. However, after the rebellion, xenophobia increased, and mixed marriages started becoming taboo in the Yuan dynasty. Some Chinese men were even disowned for marrying foreign women. One such Chinese was Lin Nu, of the Han Chinese Lin family in Quanzhou.
Lin Nu
, son of Lin Lu, traveled to Hormuz in Persia in 1376, married a Persian or an Arab girl, and brought her back to Quanzhou. Lin Nu and his descendants were erased from the family genealogy. His relatives were angry at him for converting to Islam and marrying a Persian girl. Xenophobia was strong at that time due to Persian Semu atrocities, the Yuan quelling of the in the Ispah Rebellion, and the massacre of Semu. The Chinese Lin family felt ashamed so they changed their surname from Lin to Li to avoid associating with their relatives, Lin Nu and his Persian wife's mixed descendants who practiced Islam. Lin Nu was the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty reformer Li Chih, who by that time was not Muslim.
