The Trail of the Black Banner Army

The site is located in Xiaoliuguanzhuang Village, 3 kilometres southwest of Liulin Town.

Song Jingshi (1842–1871) was a farmer born in Xiaoliuguanzhuang. He grew up in poverty and worked as a hired farm labourer from childhood. He practised martial arts and developed superb fighting skills.

After 1861, reinforcements marched north through western Shandong. Inspired by this movement, an uprising of the Five Banner Troops — Green, Yellow, Red, White and Black — broke out in Guanxian County, led by Yang Tai from Qilihancun Village. Song Jingshi commanded the Black Banner Army.

Disciplined and battle-hardened, the Black Banner Army won wide support among poor peasants. Within several years, Song led his troops to capture numerous prefectures and counties. They fought the Qing army across Shanxi, Hebei, Shandong and Henan provinces, repeatedly defeating government troops, which eventually led to the dismissal of Sheng Bao, a renowned Qing military commander.

Later, the Black Banner Army joined forces with the Taiping Army and the Nian Army. They defeated and killed Prince Senggelinqin of the Qing imperial house. In the end, the uprising collapsed under overwhelming enemy numbers.

Following the defeat, Xiaoliuguanzhuang Village was razed to the ground. More than 2,000 families of the rebels were massacred, and thousands of hectares of farmland were confiscated by the government and awarded to military officers and local tyrants who had suppressed the uprising.

According to historical records: after the uprising failed, Song Jingshi changed his name and wandered around the country, making a living by street performing and teaching martial arts. He was betrayed by a traitor and executed by the Governor of Anhui Province. Folk legend tells a different story: Song fled to Northeast China under an assumed name and worked as a blacksmith. He even secretly returned to his hometown in his later years.

In 1952, Chen Baichen headed the Song Jingshi Historical Research Group and conducted a thorough field investigation in Liulin Town, sorting out the whole story of the uprising. Their research became the basis for the feature film Song Jingshi. It was New China’s first feature film themed on peasant uprisings, bringing the peasant leader Song Jingshi from Guanxian County nationwide fame