Black Flag Rumors and the Black River Basin: Powerbrokers and the State in the Tonkin-China Borderlands

In 1890, Qing authorities in Yunnan Province found themselves faced with a rebellion led by Ngụy Danh Cao, the leader of a group of refugees from northern Tonkin. Proclaiming himself a former commander in the Black Flag Army, and thus an ally of the Qing government, Ngụy Danh Cao led several thousand refugees into Muäng La, a Tai area bordering the newly delineated Tonkin Protectorate. Within six months, he attempted to seize control of Muäng La. His failed rebellion and eventual capture revealed not only the plasticity of the Tonkin-China borderline, but also the Protectorate's reliance on personal networks in its projection of authority.