The most prominent of the anti-Mongol societies and sects was the White Lotus, a secret Buddhist organization heavily influenced by Manichaeism.

A long-planned uprising broke out in May 1351 in central China among peasants gathered to reconstruct the dikes on the Yellow River.

Han Shantong became the leader of the rebels, claiming to be a descendant of the Song emperor Huizong and an incarnation of Maitreya Buddha.

[1] In 1357–58, Song troops occupied considerable territories in the North China Plain, and Han Lin'er relocated with the government to the conquered Kaifeng.

[2] In January 1363, the army of another rebel state, Wu, made a surprise attack on Anfeng and killed the de facto leader of the Song regime, Liu Futong.