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Abstract Guolu groups were mainly active in the border areas of Sichuan， Hubei， Hunan， Shaanxi， and Guizhou， whose deep mountains and primary forests were suitable for Guolu to survive. The areas were far away from the state power and beyond the reach of troops to cut them down. Guolu could advance and retreat freely at any time and disappear in the mountains. In 1781， why did a sudden increase of Guolu take place in the border areas of the three provinces of Sichuan， Hubei and Hunan？ Guolu emerged in Sichuan from the beginning of Emperor Qianlong's ruling， and continued to gather and develop in the forests， forming a unique geographical and social community. The expansion of Guolu also resulted from the intensification of social conflicts in the late Qianlong period. Taking those incidents as the trigger， under the supervision of Emperor Qianlong himself， a campaign to eradicate Guolu across Sichuan， Hubei， Hunan， Guizhou， and Shaanxi began，resulted in not only the exile of Wen Shou， Sichuan Governor， to Yili， but also the decreed dismissals of many magistrates. There have been some academic studies on the Guolu in Sichuan. After 1949， many scholars associated the origin of the Gelaohui with Guolu. However， in Gelaohui's private documents， no clue has been found to prove that it originated from Guolu. This article argues that the farfetched comparison between Huolu and Gelaohui is， to a considerable extent， an adaptation of the Qing Court's official accounts that stigmatized Gelaohui. This is a prominent example of how official discourse of hegemony on marginalized groups has influenced the studies of Guolu today.
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Received: 31 May 2023
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2023, Vol. 62 
