This book examines the origins of the Muslim Incident (elsewhere called the Panthay Rebellion of 1856-73) during the Xianfeng and Tongzhi reigns (1850-1875), including such secondary factors as religious, political, social, economic influences and such immediate causes as competition among mining companies and a massacre of Muslims in the provincial capital in 1856, which incited Muslims to revolt. The Incident continued for eighteen years until it was finally settled, and each contributing factor and resulting influence deserve individual analysis. Both Chinese and Muslims learned a lesson in this tragedy, and Yunnan has not suffered from the recurrence of similar major upheavals.