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Li Wenmao
Cantonese opera actor from Heshan who led performers into the Red Turban rising of 1854 and became a prince of the Dacheng regime in Guangxi
A mountain camp at night, with a beacon fire burning on a wooden platform at the upper left, several white tents on the slope and a red cloth tied to a rope; a wooden palisade with a gate stands at the right beyond a timber bridge over a rough river, under a clouded moon.
Also known as Prince Pingjing
Li Wenmao came from Heshan in Guangdong and was a Cantonese opera actor known for martial roles. When the Heaven and Earth Society lodges of Guangdong rose in 1854, he brought the opera troupes into the revolt and shared its leadership with Chen Kai of Foshan; their siege of Guangzhou failed. The following year the rebels moved into Guangxi, took Xunzhou and set up the Dacheng regime, which named Li Prince Pingjing, and in 1856 he captured Liuzhou. After a failed attack on Guilin he died soon afterwards; sources put his death in 1857 or 1858. Histories of Cantonese opera usually hold that the Qing authorities then banned local Cantonese troupes, a ban relaxed only in the Tongzhi reign.
Life and times
Dates Birth year unknown; rose in revolt in 1854; died 1857 or 1858