Bai Lang Rebellion The Bai Lang Rebellion , was a Chinese " bandit " rebellion that lasted from mid - 1913 to late - 1914 . Launched against the Republican government of Yuan Shikai , the rebellion was led by Bai Lang ( which can be translated as " White Wolf " , hence the rebellion ' s more common title of White Wolf Rebellion in western media ) . His army was an eclectic mix of anti - Yuan Shikai troops and rebels , bandit groups , and Gelaohui ( secret society ) members , and also allied to southern Guangdong based revolutionaries . Bai Lang : The Individual . Bai Yung - chang , more commonly known by his pseudonym Bai Lang , was born in 1873 , in Henan , to a wealthy family . As a youth Bai took a variety of " hands - on " jobs including employment a government salt transporter and service as an anti - bandit militiaman . Nevertheless , his life changed in 1897 when he was arrested for getting into a fight with an man named Wang Zhen , who died during the altercation . After getting out of jail Bai was only dissuaded from becoming a bandit by his family , and instead turned his martial interests towards a legal outlet ( namely , military service ) . During the last years of Manchu rule he served in China ' s Beiyang Army and was trained in tactics and weaponry in Japan . Upon his return he served as an adjutant to Wu Lu - chen , Imperial commander at Shijiazhuang . During the Chinese Revolution of 1911 the pro - revolutionary General Wu was assassinated by Manchu or Beiyang Army troops loyal to Yuan Shikai , and Bai was forced to return home . After a series of storms ravaged the region ' s crops in late - 1911 , Bai and other local people fell in with the bandit Du Qibin The Rebellion . From 1913 , Bai was leading the bandit group . During the Second Revolution he threw his lot in against Yuan Shikai ' s government . For a year his troops waged a guerrilla war , evading government Beiyang Army troops and ravaging no less than fifty cities in central China . His actions caused mixed outpourings of mass - support and popular outrage , with his army variously called by itself and supporters " The Citizen ' s Punitive Army " , " Citizen ' s Army to Exterminate Bandits " and " The Army to Punish Yuan Shikai " among others . As his fame grew , deserters , bandits and revolutionaries bolstered his divisions and he swiftly moved through Henan , Anhui , Hubei , Shaanxi , Gansu , disrupting swathes of Northern China . In Henan , the city of Yuxian , famed for its vital pharmaceutical industry , was ransacked of everything from medicine to guns and the military governor , Chang Chen - fang , was dismissed for his failure to suppress the uprising . Support from peasants grew due to Bai ' s anti - gentry and anti - tax stance ( slogans like " take from the rich and give to the poor " increased rural support , as did the murder of magistrates and the distribution of grain stores ) . Upon entering Gansu , however , the rebellion encountered strong civil and military resistance . Here , the traditionalist and Confucianist Muslim generals Ma Anliang and Ma Qi backed Yuan Shikai . Bai Lang faced opposition from nearly everyone , from the Tibetans serving under the Gansu - allied Yang Jiqing , the Gansu and Sichuan provincial armies , ethnic Hui and Han militia , and Yuan Shikai ' s own National Beiyang Army . Muslim imams preached anti - Bai announcements , claiming that Shaxide ( Shahid or martyrdom ) awaited those who died to fight him off . Unlike the rural areas in Central and Eastern China , where peasants had helped Bai ' s armies hide and strike out , Muslim families actively refused to support Bai ' s troops , even going so far as to burn themselves to death rather than deal with them . by a mix of ethnic Han and Hui militia commanded by Ma Qi and Ma Anliang . Ma Qixi ' s Muslim Xidaotang humiliated and defeatd Bai ' s bandit forces , who looted the city . The Muslim Generals were reported to be reactionary . Protracted warfare and this lack of public support led to a reversal in the rebels ' treatment of the population ; there was an increase in acts of looting and pillage , as well as strikingly brutal massacres . Eventually , General Ma Anliang ' s passive defence , rather than chasing the far more agile rebel army , succeeded in wearing down Bai . The Tibetans attacked and drove Bai ' s army into retreat , with Ma Qixi ' s troops chasing them out of the Province . According to Gansu legend , Bai Lang died at Daliuzhuang , with his corpse decapitated and head put on display . However , official Chinese documents say he vanished in Shanxi and his body was never found . Yuan Shikai ordered Bai Lang ' s family tombs destroyed , and had the corpses cut to pieces . Bai ' s headless body was left to rot . Yan Xishan crushed the remnants of Bai Lang ' s bandit army in late 1914 . Atrocities done by Bai Lang ' s Bandit gangs . Bai Lang ' s forces raped , killed , and pillaged . His troops became notoriously anti - Muslim , with some Shaanxi men in his army holding vendettas with Muslims that dated back to the Dungan revolt . Henan and Shaanxi troops were notable for anti - Manchu and anti - Muslim sentiment , massacring thousands of Muslims at Taozhou . Mass rape , looting , and killing also took place in Minzhou . Support from Southern Revolutionaries . Staunchly against Yuan Shikai ' s government , Bai developed an alliance with Dr . Sun Yatsen . Huang Xing , a friend of Sun , sent letters to Bai as well as weapons and ammunition . Sun hoped for further bandit uprisings in Shaanxi , calling on the population to " return to glory " like Bai Lang ' s gangs . Yuan Shikai ' s Beiyang regime knew of Bai Lang ' s connections with Sun Yatsen , but refused to make public of them for fear it would cause greater support for the rebellion . Outside of arms and supplies , however , Sun ' s influence on Bai Lang ' s bandit troops was minimal . Mostly uneducated , most could be divided between Robin Hood " freedom fighters " who believed they were taking on a corrupt regime , and brigands who lived for plunder and survival . Though Sun Yatsen and Huang Xing promised to make him Governor of Gansu , along with crates of propaganda posters on the subject . However , when Sun Yatsen turned to the Soviets for support , and resurrected the Kuomintang in the 1920s he sharply turned against the western style , federalist democracy he preached during this time when he was aligned with Bai Lang . He then turned to the Soviet style single party model , and organized the Northern Expedition without the help of bandit gangs like Bai Lang . This nationalist Kuomintang later included the Muslim warlords who Bai Lang fought against .