This is an incomplete list of some of the rebellions, revolts and revolutions that have occurred in China.
Xia dynasty The rebellion of Han Zhuo, a 20-year semi-mythological interregnum of the Xia dynasty, in which Han Zhuo murdered Xiang of Xia and installed himself as ruler until his defeat by Shao Kang and the restoration of the Xia.
Zhou dynasty Rebellion of the Three Guards (late 11th century BC) was a three-year rebellion of the Shang and three uncles of King Cheng of Zhou against their nephew and his regent, the Duke of Zhou. Compatriots Rebellion (842 BC) was an uprising against King Li of Zhou, ending with the King's exile, establishing the interregnum Gonghe Regency until King Xuan of Zhou took the throne.
Qin dynasty The Dazexiang Uprising (; July – December 209 BC) was the first uprising against Qin rule following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Chen Sheng and Wu Guang were both army officers who were ordered to lead their bands of commoner soldiers north to participate in the defense of Yuyang (漁陽). However, they were stopped halfway in Dazexiang, Qixian (modern Suzhou, Anhui) by a severe rainstorm and flooding. Harsh Qin law stated that anyone who showed up late for a government job would be executed, regardless of the nature of the delay. Chen and Wu realized they could never make it on time, and decided to organize a band that would rebel against the government, and declared they would rather fight than accept execution. They became the center of armed uprisings all over China, and in a few months, their strength congregated to around ten thousand men, composed mostly of discontented peasants. However, on the battlefield, they were no match for the highly professional Qin soldiers, and the uprising was in trouble in less than a year. Liu Bang's Insurrection (206 BC) was a popular revolt that overthrew the Qin dynasty and, after a period of contention, crowned Liu Bang the first emperor of the Han dynasty.
Western Han dynasty The Rebellion of the Seven States or Kingdoms (, 154 BC) was a revolt by members of the Han imperial family against attempts to centralize the government under Emperor Jing.
At the beginning of the Han dynasty, Emperor Gao had made many of his relatives princes of certain sections, about one-third to one-half of the empire. This was an attempt to consolidate Liu family rule over the parts of China that were not ruled directly from the capital under the junxian (郡縣) commandery system. During the reign of Emperor Wen, these princes were still setting their own laws, but they were also casting their own coins (albeit with Emperor Wen's approval) and collecting their own taxes. Many princes were effectively ignoring the imperial government's authority within their own principalities. When Jing became emperor in 157 BC, the rich Principality of Wu was especially domineering. Liu Pi, therefore, started a rebellion. The princes participating were: Liu Pi, the Prince of Wu; Liu Wu, the Prince of Chu; Liu Ang, the Prince of Jiaoxi Xing; Liu Sui (劉遂), the Prince of Zhao; Liu Xiongqu (劉雄渠), the Prince of Jiaodong (roughly modern Qingdao, Shandong); Liu Xian (劉賢), the Prince of Zaichuan (roughly part of modern Weifang, Shandong); and Liu Piguang (劉辟光), the Prince of Jinan (roughly modern Jinan, Shandong)
Two other principalities agreed to join—Qi (modern central Shandong) and Jibei (modern northwestern Shandong)— but neither actually did. Liu Jianglü (劉將閭), the Prince of Qi, changed his mind at the last moment and chose to resist the rebellion forces. Liu Zhi (劉志), the Prince of Jibei, was put under house arrest by the commander of his guards and prevented from joining the rebellion. Three other princes were persuaded to join, but either refused, or did not actually agree to join Liu An (劉安), the Prince of Huainan (roughly modern Lu'an, Anhui).
Other participants included Liu Ci (劉賜), the Prince of Lujiang (roughly modern Chaohu, Anhui), and Liu Bo (劉勃), the Prince of Hengshan (roughly part of modern Lu'an, Anhui). The princes also requested help from the southern independent kingdoms of Donghai (modern Zhejiang) and Minyue (modern Fujian), and the powerful northern Xiongnu. Donghai and Minyue sent troops to participate in the campaign, but Xiongnu, after initially promising to do so as well, did not. The seven princes, as part of their political propaganda, claimed that Chao Cuo was aiming to wipe out the principalities, and that they would be satisfied if Chao were executed.
Xin dynasty Lülin (綠林) or Lülin Force (綠林兵) refers, as an umbrella term, to one of the two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's Xin dynasty in the modern southern Henan and northern Hubei region who banded together to pool their strengths, and whose collective strength eventually led to the downfall of the Xin dynasty and the establishment of a temporary reinstatement of the Han dynasty under Liu Xuan (Gengshi Emperor). Many Lülin leaders became important members of Gengshi Emperor's government, but infighting and incompetence (both of the emperor and his officials) in governing the empire led to the fall of the regime after only two years, paving the way for the eventual rise for Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu). The name Lülin came from the Lülin Mountains (in modern Yichang, Hubei), where the rebels had their stronghold for a while.
In AD 17, Jing Province (modern Hubei, Hunan, and southern Henan) was suffering from a famine that was greatly exacerbated by the corruption and incompetence of Xin officials. The victims of the famine were reduced to consuming wild plants, and even those were in short supply, causing the suffering people to attack each other. Two men named Wang Kuang (王匡) and Wang Feng (王鳳), both from Xinshi (新市, in modern Jingmen, Hubei), became arbiters in some of these disputes, and they became the leaders of the starving people. They were later joined by many others, including Ma Wu (馬武), Wang Chang (王常), and Cheng Dan (成丹). Within a few months, 7,000 to 8,000 men gathered together under their commands. They had their base at Lülin Mountain, and their modus operandi was to attack and pillage villages far from the cities for food. This carried on for several years, during which they grew to tens of thousands in size.
Wang sent messengers issuing pardons in hopes of causing these rebels to disband. Once the messengers returned to the Xin capital Chang'an, some honestly reported that the rebels gathered because the harsh laws made it impossible for them to make a living, and therefore they were forced to rebel. Some, in order to flatter Wang Mang, told him that these were simply evil resistors who needed to be killed, or that this was a temporary phenomenon. Wang listened to those who flattered him and generally relieved those who told the truth from their posts. Wang made no further attempts to pacify the rebels, but instead decided to suppress them by force. In reality, the rebels were forced into rebellion to survive, and they were hoping that eventually, when the famine was over, they could return home to farm. As a result, they never dared to attack cities.
In AD 21, the governor of Jing Province mobilized 20,000 soldiers to attack the Lülin rebels, and a battle was fought at Yundu (雲杜), a major victory for the rebels, who killed thousands of government soldiers and captured their food supply and arms. When the governor tried to retreat, his route was temporarily cut off by Ma Wu who allowed him to escape, not wanting to offend the government more than the rebels had done already. Instead, the Lülin rebels roved near the area, capturing many women, and then returning to the Lülin Mountain. By this point, they had 50,000 men. Chimei (赤眉) refers, as an umbrella term, to one of the two major agrarian rebellion movements against Wang Mang's Xin dynasty, initially active in the modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu region, that eventually led to Wang Mang's downfall by draining his resources, allowing the leader of the other movement (the Lülin), Liu Xuan (Gengshi Emperor) to overthrow Wang and temporarily establish an incarnation of the Han dynasty under him. Eventually, Chimei forces overthrew Gengshi Emperor and placed their own puppet emperor, Liu Penzi, on the throne briefly, before the Chimei leaders' incompetence in ruling the territories under their control, which matched their brilliance on the battlefield, caused the people to rebel against them, forcing them to try to withdraw home. When their path was blocked by Liu Xiu (Emperor Guangwu)'s newly established Eastern Han regime, they surrendered to him.
Circa AD 17, due to Wang Mang's incompetence in ruling—particularly in the implementation of his land reform policy—and a major Yellow River flood affecting modern Shandong and northern Jiangsu regions, the people, who could no longer subsist on farming, were forced into rebellion to try to survive. The rebellions were numerous and fractured.
Eastern Han dynasty The Yellow Turban Rebellion or Yellow Scarves Rebellion (; AD 184) was a peasant rebellion against Emperor Ling. It is named for the scarves the rebels wrapped around their heads. They were associated with secret Taoist societies, and the rebellion marked an important point in the history of Taoism. The rebellion is the opening event in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong.
A major cause of the Yellow Turban Rebellion was an agrarian crisis where famine forced many farmers and former military settlers in the north to seek employment in the south, whose large landowners took advantage of the labor surplus and amassed large fortunes. The situation was further aggravated by smaller floods along the lower course of the Yellow River. Further pressure was added on the peasants by high taxes imposed on them in order to build fortifications along the Silk Road, and garrisons against foreign infiltrations and invasions. From AD 170 on, landlords and peasants formed irregular armed bands, setting the stage for class conflict.
At the same time, the Han dynasty showed internal weakness. The power of the landowners had been a problem for a long time already (see Wang Mang), but in the run-up to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the court eunuchs, in particular, gained considerable influence over the emperor, which they abused to enrich themselves. Ten of the most powerful eunuchs formed a group known as the Ten Regular Attendants and the emperor referred to one of them, Zhang Rang, as his "foster father." Consequently, the government was widely regarded as corrupt and incapable. Against this backdrop, the famines and floods were seen as an indication that a decadent emperor had lost his mandate of heaven.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion was led by Zhang Jiao (or Zhang Jue) and his two younger brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, who were born in Julu District, Ye Prefecture. The brothers had founded a Taoist religious sect in Shandong Province. They considered themselves followers of the "Way of Supreme Peace" and venerated the deity Huang-Lao, who according to Zhang Jiao had given him a sacred book called the Crucial Keys to the Way of Peace (Tai Ping Yao Shu). Zhang Jiao was said to be a sorcerer and styled himself as the Great Teacher. The sect propagated the principles of equal rights of all peoples and equal distribution of land; when the rebellion was proclaimed, the sixteen-word slogan was created by Zhang Jiao: 苍天已死，黄天当立，岁在甲子，天下大吉 ("The Blue Sky (ie. the Han dynasty) has perished, the Yellow Sky (ie. the rebellion) will soon rise; in this year of Jia Zi, let there be prosperity in the world!") The Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion (AD 184) was a religious rebellion instigated by Zhang Lu, the grandson of the Taoist leader Zhang Daoling. The name of the rebellion derives from the name of his movement, the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice (), in turn, named for the amount of rice paid as dues or for cures.