The Nian Rebellion () was an armed uprising that took place in northern China from 1851 to 1868, contemporaneously with Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864) in South China. The rebellion failed to topple the Qing dynasty, but caused immense economic devastation and loss of life that became major long-term factors in the collapse of the Qing regime in the early 20th century. Origin Nian is a word borrowed from the Huaibei dialect, a form of Central Plains Mandarin, where it was used to refer to loosely affiliated gangs or groups or “bandits”. The Nian movement was formed in the late 1840s by Zhang Lexing and, by 1851, numbered approximately 40,000. Unlike the Taiping Rebellion movement, the Nian initially had no clear goals or objectives, aside from criticism of the Qing government. Their slogan was "'kill the rich and aid the poor.'" However, the Nian were provoked into taking direct action against the Imperial regime following a series of environmental disasters. The 1851 Yellow River flood deluged hundreds of thousands of square miles and caused immense loss of life. The Qing government slowly began cleaning up after the disaster but could not provide effective aid, as government finances had been drained during the First Opium War and the ongoing Taiping Rebellion. The damage created by the disaster had still not been repaired when, in 1855, the river burst its banks again, drowning thousands and devastating the fertile province of Jiangsu. Along with the destruction caused by the floods famine spread. At the time, the Qing government was trying to negotiate a deal with the European powers, and as state finances had been so severely depleted, the regime was again unable to provide effective relief. This enraged the Nian movement, which blamed the Europeans for contributing to the nation troubles, and increasingly viewed the Qing government as incompetent. The Nian rebels seemed to have been influenced by the previous 1794 White Lotus Rebellion, recruiting from secret societies and sects such as the White Lotus, and actively borrowing their terminology and symbols, examples being the practice of sworn brotherhood, five colours of banners, flags with eight trigrams, and the widespread use of units of woman warriors. Zhang Lexing, leader of the rebellion, used the title "Bright King of the Great Han", an address reminiscent of White Lotus leadership positions. Political scientists Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer suggest that the rebellion was fueled, at least