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Banner Soldier in Manchuria 1840-1860-Alex W

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Banner Soldier in Manchuria 1840-1860-Alex W

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I was finally called upon as just a young man in the 1840's for my duty as a Manchu bannerman soldier to serve the great Qing dynasty in the face of Western imperials, though my positioning was brief and, to be honest, quite boring. I remember little of it, other than sitting around and trading stories of relatives in the South and on the coasts who had served or become addicted. In the following decade I married, returned to the family house to care for my ailing parents (for, as the oldest son, it fell upon me to care for them in their final days) and moved in to take over the farm. A few years after the passing of my parents trainings began regularly again, as stories of rebel advances in the south and the west reached our small village. The Qing have prevailed for now, but our great empire seems to have a good deal of weaknesses. I can only hope our great Manchu dynasty can prove to the world it is strong enough to meet any challenge.

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For the last several years, the rise in the opium trade has made its way to the Shandong Province. As more time passes, I am slowly growing more and more worrisome that opium will completely change my families morals and priorities. My older brother, who was physical harmed during a small uprising got addicted to opium when he used it to try to numb the pain. I can see the opium directly affecting his farming and work ethic. With our Mom and Dad not being able to help out as much as they used to on the farm, I rely on my brother to help me basically maintain the farm and turn a small profit for our family.  Without his full attention and help, I will be unable to provide enough crops and livestock for our family to eat and sell. I am starting to question if I need to move my family in case the opium crisis gets worse., or if there is another drought. But where would I Go?

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During the first opium war in the 1840s, I was forced to flee my city of Shanghai, due to its volatile position for British warships to come through the Huangpu River. I was a young man at the time, and my family and i had no choice but to flee to the nearby countryside. It was a terrifying week, but we were able to flee the city safely.

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As a family whose members worked for Tibet Amban, Bstandzin's family became nearly one of the most powerful aristocratic family near the Lhasa. It's not just because of the land, gold, serfs the family owned but it's because of the connection they made with the power of central government. One of the biggest benefits working for Amban is the convenience of getting information. Bstandzin is basically the first person who knew about the invasion of Britain. As a man who was almost the first aristocrats climbing through the tree of Qing, Bstandzin is very smart. He decided that he was going to send armies to the east boundary to fight British. His strategy worked. Tibetan sword army is one of the bravest and strongest army in all the army who fought with Britain and Bstandzin himself was commended by the emperor although they finally lost the war. Through the Opium war, the wisdom and ambition of Bstandzin realized that Qing was not as strong as he thought so and there're far more opportunities in the world than what he could saw in China. Therefore, Bstandzin started to remove the power and wealth he gained from Qing to his own place, sent secret ambassadors to set up connections with British Raj, and wait for further movements of western people and Qing.

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My family is located near the yellow river in Shandong province which is the middle of Beijing and Jiangsu, two regions that were highly affected by the opium war. As peasants we do not have the means to purchase opium, but my husband sadly got into it and became addicted. It very much affected our family since now most of the money is used for opium. Not only that, but our area has also been affected by floods which resulted in famine. As peasants, we were the ones that was affected the most. Significant amount of the farmers got very weak due to the consumption of opium topped with hunger from the famine. Another thing that affected our family a lot was the silver drain.  We use copper as a currency, but when it comes to paying taxes we have to exchange it to silver and with the silver drain a lot more copper are required in the exchange than usual. This phenomenon left us with very little to none money left to fulfill our basic necessities. Due to my husband's addiction topped with the silver drain, I knew I had to do something in order for our family to survive. As a woman, I know my place, so never will I have the courage to tell my husband to quit, instead, I decided to use a small plot of land outside our house to plant the poppy plants that will later be turned into opium, so he would not need to spend money on purchasing them. When it comes to harvesting time, I realized that there was a lot of it so I also decided to sell it some people around the area.

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When I saw the horrors that opium addiction had incurred upon the people and nation... it sickened me. When I tried to convince my colleagues to put an end to this epidemic, they took a hit of their pipes and scoffed at me. My prediction that the opium epidemic would be China's outfall was proven correct when the First Opium War began and after a short period of time resulted in British victory. This only strengthened my resolve to industrialize China which opium was getting in the way of. To see our once great civilization reduced to subservience by powers on the opposite side of Eurasia is what angered me most. I do hope that following this disaster of a war I can now convince the rest of the Imperial court to embrace industrialization seeing the technological terror known as the 'Nemesis' annihilate our fleet of wooden Junks singlehandedly. There is still a lot of work to do and many stubborn old fools to win over, may China one day overcome this disgrace and once again be a world power.

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My family was of Hui descent and practicing Muslims. Thus they were fearful of the Muslim massacres that the Qing were executing in the region of Yunnan, because they lived more in the rural region of the province they weren't majorly affected by the actual massacre but they felt the presence and for the rest of the 19th century would continue to be very cautious of the Ruling class. They lived outside of the direct realm of the Taiping Rebellion but still suffered some unrest from the other rebellions and issues that the country was facing at the time. They also felt the effects of the opium wars not in terms of direct contact with the opium but more in the realm of money problems. They ended up selling off some of their lands but remained a fairly strong family in the community. Because of their Muslim heritage, they were interested in the Muslim rebellions that were happening around this time. At the moment no one is directly involved but the issues that they as a family as well as their country are making it more and more likely that they will want to fight back for equal rights with their religious freedoms.

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Opium has taken on grip on everyone and everything in my region. Because we are not far from the river option can be acquired and traded very easily. The farmer we used to serve has since become addicted to opium so he abounded his farm leaving us nowhere to work. My family now has instead chosen to do what we must and try to make money from serving opium smugglers. Most of my family including me has started to use opium I fear that we will become hopelessly addicted with no money or hope like so many other less fortunate downtrodden people have become. I hope opium is outlawed so the economy can function how it had been previously for years and my family can go back to working on a farm instead of smuggling opium, the opium wars have effected the poor the most with inflation and societal dysfunction.

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Opium has taken on grip on everyone and everything in my region. Because we are not far from the river option can be acquired and traded very easily. The farmer we used to serve has since become addicted to opium so he abounded his farm leaving us nowhere to work. My family now has instead chosen to do what we must and try to make money from serving opium smugglers. Most of my family including me has started to use opium I fear that we will become hopelessly addicted with no money or hope like so many other less fortunate downtrodden people have become. I hope opium is outlawed so the economy can function how it had been previously for years and my family can go back to working on a farm instead of smuggling opium, the opium wars have effected the poor the most with inflation and societal dysfunction.

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I am deathly afraid of the complications that the Opium War presents our family. We already live day to day off the land and at the mercy of the weather and our farm owner, I cannot imagine what may happen if I bear witness to my husband engaging in the trade or activity. Our son, now 14, has begun working alongside us and is keen on his studies. Though we have little to no money, we do have a future through him. While I do not wish to engage in the trade, we may have to in order to afford better resources and eventually opportunities for our child. Perhaps even an attempt at the provincial exams to get our family's foot in the door. The war will either be our way out, or may permanently seal this family's lineage as one of turmoil and disgrace. Two families on our shared land have already begun smuggling opium, and I suspect a third. They do not work their land as often now, and I worry that their lack of work ethic will soon become ours if any missteps are made. Famine is already becoming evident, and getting distracted would worsen it tenfold. Being close to the Yangzi River provides us with a financial path not unlike the silk road, but the one we may choose has far worse repercussions than the other.

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My family was a part of the bannerman. To be more specific, they were soldiers. They were higher in the ranks of the banner, but not elite. As such they received land and a salary from the government. This land and eventually the money became family-owned as the bannerman title became hereditary. During this time initial rise of the opium crisis, my family - for the most part - stayed away.  They had a disdain for the drug for the most part, but would use it for recreational use. Having access to more consistent pay than that of a typical peasant, the selling of livestock or family never became an issue they needed to address. The wars, however, took quite a toll on the family as many were included and killed in both of the opium wars. This resulted in a gradual separation from their interest in the military as a collective family.

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In 1840, when the First Opium War was emerging, I went to the town fair once to sell my handicrafts as usual. Because of the loss of education, every time I go to town, I can only hear some recent news from bureaucrats, talented people selected through the imperial examinations, always love to chat in the afternoon.

People rarely trade with foreign provinces since Sichuan's complex landscape, which is characterized by mountains and elevations ranging from 500 to 2,000 meters, and fertile land. Each family is in a subsistence mode, relying on regular weekly trips to the town market to make ends meet. By chance, I heard that in 1841, the Sichuan government sent more than 700 veterans to participate in the First Opium War, and the casualties were quite heavy. In the following year, we heard rumors that the defenders of the major regions of China, such as Ningbo, Shanghai, and Yuyao, had raised their white flags and surrendered before the enemy could open fire. At that time, Sichuan was still a peaceful place, not aware that the crisis brought by the war was destroying the whole Chinese people step by step. It was not until 1842 that the Qing army's last attack in the First Opium War ended in defeat with the signing of the unequal Treaty of Nanking, which satisfied most of the British demands.

In1853, a day I will never forget in my life, my father Zhang Qifan had passed away. As the eldest son of the family, I took it upon myself to organize the funeral for my father, take care of my two younger brothers, and hardly maintain the finances of the family. On the next day of my father’s funeral, my only son Zhang Zhiyuan told me that he wanted to give up the imperial examination which he prepared for a long time and joined the Jingtian uprising. After that, a great change had begun in my family, even though my wife tried to dissuade him. Zhiyuan was an obedient, thoughtful, and gallant child. This was a long absence of seven years. During this tough time, my daughter married the son of a friend from the neighborhood and our family began to do lots of farming and making abundant bamboo strip products to survive.

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Trading tea was my family business. Not only did Qing and officials love tea, but a number of foreigners also love tea, especially Britain people. My wife gave birth to my sons, one is 9, and the other one is just 4. I also got a daughter, but she wasn't important, she cannot inherit the tea trading. Around 1840, British people stopped using silver to exchange tea but opium. My uncle told me that combine opium and tobacco, and then smoke them together, it was amazing. He and many tea farmers smoked a lot one day. I smoked twice a week since I realized that my sons need money to grow up and obtain the degrees to be an official. I kept the tea trading with Britain. Although they gave me opium, I sold opium to someone who was addicted to opium to acquire silver or some valuable goods. In 1842, foreigners immigrated to Fujian, they traded with us for tea. Someone said that our tea farmer led to the Opium War because we obtained an amount of money and silver from trading with Britain. After several years, some people escape from the south of Fujian, and they told me that Taiping killed their whole family. I gave them jobs and let them live with us. Some relatives, like my father's brother, followed Taiping and started to rebel against Qing. Around 1850, some strong men were recruited for militaries. Although my son was just 19 years old, he also went to the army, and I never saw him anymore. Around 1858, an increasing number of foreigners moved in, to continue trading with them, I was able to speak English, and let my daughter marry a foreigner for a stable trade relationship.

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Being located in China's southwest, far from the control of the central government, opium became extremely lucrative. The miner's friend left his job in the iron mine to assist his family in the cultivation of opium poppies. After being convinced by the large amount of money promised to him, the miner began slipping crates of opium in with the shipments of iron ore going out to the coast. After the Opium War, and the forced legalization of the opium trade, the miner too left his job at the mine to become a full-time opium merchant with his friend, both became fairly wealthy in the process.

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As a not very successful textile trader in Ningbo, I did end up turning to the opium trade. Ningbo’s port had been opened as one of the 5 cities, and I was very interested in getting in on trading international opium. My wife was rather against the idea, but I needed to make ends meet for us and our son, who was now almost 14 years old. Through this trade we would become rather wealthy, until 20 years later when we would have to flee the city and leave most of our possessions due to the Taiping rebellion and their occupation of the city. We hid in the countryside for about 6 months with my fathers family who were rather poor farmers. After the Taiping occupation was over we returned to Ningbo to find most of our possessions still there. Trade on the coast was not nearly as badly affected as it was further inland so we got lucky. My son and I worked to reestablish the family business, this time returning to textiles and silks deciding to not deal with opium anymore. We traded extensively with the British and were very interested in foreign cultures. A Presbyterian church was built close by, and my family and I began to attend; eventually we converted to Presbyterianism which made trade with the Christian west easier.

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It is harder and harder to make a living, Zhiqing soon observed the Taiping Army started to march towards Zhejiang. The price of food gets higher and higher, the rumours of the cruelty and the violence of the Taiping Army travelled through the cities. However, Zhiqing decides to accept all the things peacefully, as he thought that he can do nothing to help anyways. In 1860, the Taiping Army came to Yuhang and soon took over the city. In the chaos, Zhiqing was luckily enough to escape out of the city, and flee to Mount Mo Gan, which is about 80 miles away after 3 days and night. At this point, all he left in the pocket is a copy of Mengzi and a walking stick.
It was not until the winter of 1863, Zhiqing restarted his life in the village under Mount Mo Gan, called Anji, and served as a teacher of home school.
2 years after that, the Qing government  sucesscully retrieved the control of Zhejiang, and are asking for the returning of refugees and farmers. Zhiqing, as he is good at read, write and even a bit of accounting and math, started to helping the rebuilding of Yuhang, and is luckily enough to resume his little printing house, despite he is too disappointed with the circumstance, and is too tired to do anything after the years of suffering.
Within in great pain, Zhiqing remarried, and raised his first son Zhicheng in his 40s.
Zhicheng is very talent, different from his father, who is disappointed with the system and have nearly no ambition towards anything now, Zhicheng is influenced with the family bussiness greatly -- he likes reading and learning so much, and so his father decided that let him try Keju again.

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Though far from the source of the Opium trade, the Bughra family were not immune to its effects. One day, while entertaining guests in his home, the family patriarch Isma’il heard a distressing story from a friend - his son Abdullah had been spotted lounging in an opium den. Isma’il initially disbelieved this assertion, but when he next saw Abdullah he questioned him. Abdullah admitted to the claims. He did not expect his father to fly into a rage, but rage he did; Isma'il angrily demanded Abdullah abandon his use of the drug, and told him to repent to Allah. The quran, after all, could not be more explicit with regards to such substances. Abdullah was shaken by his father’s display of righteous fury, and relented to his demands. Ismail's reaction was probably overblown. Abdullah was most likely not addicted, and had simply experimented out of curiosity (and possibly boredom).

In 1864, Xinjiang fell into rebellion. Dungan soldiers in the city of Ürümqi revolted against the Manchu authorities. The Bughra family had worked alongside Imperial officials for generations - when Chinese rule came to the province, the family moved with it. This beneficial relationship, however, was also the family’s downfall. Isma'il could do nothing but watch as Dungan rebels torched, and looted imperial storehouses - storehouses that held much of his valuable merchandise. In the chaos, the caravansery burned to the ground, and the family camels were either killed or stolen. The Bughras had not been targeted specifically by the rebels, but their business could not survive the sudden evaporation of imperial infrastructure. Thus began a decade of hard times for the Bughras.

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Being a trader living in Hong Kong, I was heavily involved with the opium trade throughout the first opium war and afterward. I found it very important to establish as large of a business as possible in order to be able to create some sort of wealth to pass down to future generations, and create a more powerful lineage. Opium is not the only thing that I traded, seeing as it was still in my interest to establish a strong legitimate business. I was able to use the other products I traded with the west, like tea and linen, to help cover up the sale of opium. The short time of prohibition proved to be worrying, but was able to pay off those who might have taken issue with my business. I also used this time to build a family to leave my wealth to, although the upbringing of my children took a bit of a backseat considering the external business affairs I dealt with. I was able to use my profits to help protect me and my family during times of civil unrest, however.

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Due to us bannermen proving to be inept soldiers: our wages have been lowered. While the decrease in pay was well deserved, it infuriated many. My uncle and some of his friends tried to make a rousing speech towards Manchu tradition in the capital, but it fell on deaf ears. Not to mention, my father also passed recently, so our family's income has lowered considerably. The status of a banner elite isn't what it used to be, this is no less evident with my brother, who even with my mother's help, has been struggling to find a profitable marriage. One of my cousins has even gone as far as quitting his position as a bannerman altogether and is moving to the new treaty port of Shanghai to see if he can find work smuggling opium. No doubt these are dark times for my family.

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Wang Han is a  peasant who work as a tenant farmer for his landlord in Anqing Anhui Province China. The character got married 5 years ago. (Born in 1818, in the year of 1835 when he was 17). His wife is appointed by his parents. They had three Children, but one died while his wife is giving birth (so only two survived, 2 boys, one born in 1836, and another in 1838). He works hard as a tenant peasant (someone who work for the landlord to earn food to support his family's living.) The family is not directly affected by the first opium war occured between 1839 and 1842, since the warfare took majorly on the sea and provinces like Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangzhou. The English has not reached Anqing, Anhui. However, the government now need to collect more taxes and Han needs to work harder than before so that he can still support his family because there is three mouth to feed. In rural parts of Anqing suburb, Han is lucky enough that he is neither know what an opium is, nor have the time to smoke it during the era. As the time passes and they are entering 1850s, the second opium war occurred in 1856, it did not directly affect the family either and Han had a relative kind landlord. His boys are 14 and 16. Unfortunately they do not have the privilege to study to take the test so they may become gentries, even to survive was difficult, but with the help of the boys and his wife sometimes go to sell small handmade objects or agricultural products in the downtown market, Han's family is going to make it, although more treaties are signed and  inflation of copper coins and heavier they are taxed. However, Anhui was a mess during 1855-1860 due to Taipingtianguo. Han and his sons are perceived as vital labor forces for the landlord so the landlord treat his family really nice and since the landlord has good relationships with the local officials. Han and his family are able to bring some food and flee to the mountain with the landlord when Taipingtianguo are slaughtering and destroying the city.  

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Wang Han is a  peasant who work as a tenant farmer for his landlord in Anqing Anhui Province China. The character got married 5 years ago. (Born in 1818, in the year of 1835 when he was 17). His wife is appointed by his parents. They had three Children, but one died while his wife is giving birth (so only two survived, 2 boys, one born in 1836, and another in 1838). He works hard as a tenant peasant (someone who work for the landlord to earn food to support his family's living.) The family is not directly affected by the first opium war occured between 1839 and 1842, since the warfare took majorly on the sea and provinces like Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangzhou. The English has not reached Anqing, Anhui. However, the government now need to collect more taxes and Han needs to work harder than before so that he can still support his family because there is three mouth to feed. In rural parts of Anqing suburb, Han is lucky enough that he is neither know what an opium is, nor have the time to smoke it during the era. As the time passes and they are entering 1850s, the second opium war occurred in 1856, it did not directly affect the family either and Han had a relative kind landlord. His boys are 14 and 16. Unfortunately they do not have the privilege to study to take the test so they may become gentries, even to survive was difficult, but with the help of the boys and his wife sometimes go to sell small handmade objects or agricultural products in the downtown market, Han's family is going to make it, although more treaties are signed and  inflation of copper coins and heavier they are taxed. However, Anhui was a mess during 1855-1860 due to Taipingtianguo. Han and his sons are perceived as vital labor forces for the landlord so the landlord treat his family really nice and since the landlord has good relationships with the local officials. Han and his family are able to bring some food and flee to the mountain with the landlord when Taipingtianguo are slaughtering and destroying the city.  

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Layouts of houses: Manchu house (left), Han house (middle), and Korean house (right).

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The borderland between Choson Korea and Manchuria, for the last couple of decades, had been uninhabited due to the Qing’s order to maintain a buffer zone between the two states. However, by the 1850s, Russia began to encroach on Manchuria, even signing the Treaty of Aigun in 1858, which opened the northern frontier of Manchuria to Russia. My family had previously only entered this buffer zone illegally to poach ginseng. However, due to the overharvesting and frequent poaching of ginseng in the early nineteenth century, there was no longer much ginseng to harvest. Seeing the lack of profit in legal ginseng harvesting and the threat from Russia, in 1960, the Qing government slowly started to allow residents to settle in previously prohibited areas in Jilin. Though, in this initial period of migration, the Qing government and Choson government agreed that Koreans and Chinese peoples were prohibited from crossing the Tumen River from either side and settling, thus maintaining a boundary. Despite this, my family illegally crossed the river in 1867 and settled. Famine had struck the Hamgyong Province in Korea due to uncultivatable land, so in order to not starve and continue to have a reliable source of food, my family had to migrate. My family was one among several thousand Koreans to cross during the 1860s-1870s.

Although there were Qing and Choson officials meant to keep foreigners from crossing the border, by 1867, the punishments for crossing became so lenient. This leniency and lack of Qing authorities to control immigration can probably be explained by the political turmoil happening in other regions of the Qing dynasty, such as with the Taiping rebellions. Furthermore, the general relationship between Choson Korea and the Qing was adapting and this boundary between the two states became further blurred due to this mass migration into and out of Choson Korea.

Because the state of my family’s settlement on the north side of the Tumen River was technically illegal, they changed their hairstyles and clothing to match the Qing peoples. Soon enough, they became registered as Qing subjects and paid taxes to the government. Although, appearance-wise, Koreans were essentially pressured to assimilate, their houses remained largely traditionally Korean. Houses were largely out of sight from Qing officials and, in general, many officials did not care to or were unwilling to regulate building practices. My family was able to build a Korean style house, with a heated floor, one large floor seating area, and three fire holes in the kitchen.

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Opium has breached my way into my family, my husband has stopped working and spends any money we receive in order to further abuse his addiction like many other men in my region. I fear that part of his pathway to addiction was because we were unable to pay taxes as the cost of silver has increased beyond our abilities to pay. For now I have decided to hide the addiction from my young son as I wish to keep this reality away from his life, although this has grown to a great struggle as he has noticed we can no longer pay for what we have. To make matters worse the Nian rebels have come too close to home as they recently entered the Shangdong Providence due to a famine making it even more impossible for farming causing my village to be in severe debt. I hope that things turn around for my son and I soon.

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In order to keep my business afloat, I had to turn to smuggling and selling Opium as it was one of the most coveted and easily profitable items on the market. Smuggling in the Shaanxi province was very easy as there was little government control because of the ongoing issue with England as well as the struggle against the Taiping rebellion. Because of these many factors I was able to make lots of money as well as stay out of the conflicts taking place. After the law started to catch up, I quickly got rid of all the Opium I had by either selling it or disposing of it in some form and returning to my normal business practices on the Silk Road and funneling trade from the Southeastern area to the rest of the Northwest.

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My wife passed away from the cholera pandemic in 1854. It left my family devastated as I now became a single father of two boys who are 8 and 10 and one girl who is 2. The grief is sometimes unbearable for me. It seems that my children are stronger than me at times. My boys are a huge help in taking care of their younger sister while also focusing on their studies. I work long hours as a gentry a few towns over and often times get home late after everyone has gone to bed. My sons make dinner for themselves and my daughter. I am proud of the young men they are turning into. I put a lot of responsibility on them but they have handled it thus far.
My wife and I were in an arranged marriage  but we truly loved each other. We had been together for 12 years and created a beautiful family together. She did a wonderful job raising our three children and I will try my best to continue that for her. When I get home from work and everyones asleep, I will walk out and sit in my shed and talk to her. The opium sometimes lets me see her. That is why I use it everyday, for the chance that I might see her again.
I am not proud of it and must never let my sons know about my usage but it is impossible to fight the urge to see her. Living in the Fujian province makes the opium trade routes easily accessible and I have the money to afford it. I know I should stop but I have no one in my life that will help me.

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Opium has breached my way into my family, my husband has stopped working and spends any money we receive in order to further abuse his addiction like many other men in my region. I fear that part of his pathway to addiction was because we were unable to pay taxes as the cost of silver has increased beyond our abilities to pay. For now I have decided to hide the addiction from my young son as I wish to keep this reality away from his life, although this has grown to a great struggle as he has noticed we can no longer pay for what we have. To make matters worse the Nian rebels have come too close to home as they recently entered the Shangdong Providence due to a famine making it even more impossible for farming causing my village to be in severe debt. I hope that things turn around for my son and I soon.

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Tensions had been rising since Opium trade routes opened in Hunan province making their way up to Changsha and even along the Yangze river. Local gentry had tried to raise funds for militia purposes as rebellion continued breaking out but most of us have nothing to offer. As more and more people leave to fight, flee, or become involved in the sale or smuggling of Opium, fields dried up and silver saw a shortage; famine and violence became more common.

In 1855 Changsha was captured by the Taiping rebels and I decided to join the local military that had formed by local gentry and nobles. After proving myself in the army I was awarded gentry status and able to pursue civil services. With my salary that I had managed to save from my service I helped my parents buy a small patch of land next to their already existing farm and we were able to begin selling more agricultural produce. However, sales were still low as the economy was trying to recover from years of war, natural disaster, and turmoil. It was enough to regain stability and enabled me to pursue a low-ranking civil service job in Changsha.

In 1865 my parents arranged a marriage to someone from also from Chángdé. In 1867 we had a son. I vow that he never has to see such violence in his own lifetime. With hope I can continue to provide for my family enough that he can pursue his education and carry on the gentry status unlike myself who was awarded this opportunity only by chance of being recruited into the Hunan army.