Late Middle Ages · East Asia · War

1350

Red Turban discontent spreads in Yuan China

1350

Persistent flooding of the Yellow River, plague outbreaks, and forced corvée labor on a colossal river-rerouting project pushed peasants in Henan and Anhui into open millenarian rebellion. Followers of the White Lotus society wrapped red cloth around their heads and waited for the Maitreya Buddha and the end of Mongol rule.