Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Chinese
: ,1 pinyin
: Tàipíng Tiānguó; Hakka: Thai-phìn Thiên-koet, lit. "Great Peaceful Kingdom of Heaven" or "Heavenly Kingdom") was an oppositional state in China from 1851 to 1864, established by Hong Xiuquan
, the leader of the Taiping Rebellion
(1850–1864). Its capital was at Tianjing (京, Wade-Giles
: Tienching, "Heavenly Capital"), present-day Nanjing
.
A heterodox
Christian
convert, Hong led an army that controlled much of southern China, with about 30 million people. The rebel Kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of Confucianism
, Buddhism
and Chinese folk religion
by a form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the younger brother of Jesus
. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government defeated the rebellion with the eventual aid of French
and British
forces. The conflict was one of the deadliest wars in history, with about 25 million killed, mainly civilians.
suffered a series of natural disasters, economic problems, and defeats at the hands of the Western powers, in particular, the humiliating defeat in 1842 by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War
. The Qing, ethnically Manchu
, were seen by much of the Chinese population, majority Han, as ineffective and corrupt foreign rulers. Anti-Manchu sentiment was strongest in the south among the laboring classes, and it was these disaffected who flocked to join the charismatic visionary Hong Xiuquan
.
After Hong failed to pass the examinations
that would make him one of the elite, he studied the Bible
with the help of a Protestant missionary. One day he claimed to have had a vision to the effect that he was the younger brother of Jesus
. After his vision, he felt it was his duty to spread Christianity
and overthrow the foreign rule of the Qing. Hong's associate Yang Xiuqing
was a former firewood salesman of Guangxi
, who claimed to be able to act as a voice of God
to direct the people and gain political power.
Feng Yunshan
formed the Society of God Worshippers (Chinese
: , Pinyin
: Bai Shangdi Hui), in Guangxi province after a missionary journey there in 1844 to spread Hong's ideas. In 1847 Hong become the leader of the secret society. The sect's power grew in the late 1840s, initially suppressing groups of bandits and pirates, but persecution by Qing authorities spurred the movement into a guerrilla rebellion
and then into civil war
.
, and ignored "New Testament
ideas of humility and kindness", as well as "the Christian ideas of original sin
and redemption
."
began in 1850 in Guangxi
Province. By early January 1851, a ten thousand-strong rebel army had had routed Imperial troops in the Jintian Uprising
. On January 11, 1851, his birthday, Hong Xiuquan declared himself "Heavenly King" (王, Tianwang) of a new dynasty, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace".
In 1853 the Taiping forces captured Nanjing
, making it their capital and renaming it Tianjing
, "Heavenly Capital". Hong built his Palace of Heavenly King
there by converting the former residence of Qing officials.
At its height, the Heavenly Kingdom encompassed much of south and central China, centered on the fertile Yangtze river valley. Control of the river meant that the Taipings could easily supply their capital. From there, the Taipings sent armies west into the upper reaches of the Yangtze, and north to capture the Imperial capital of Beijing
. The attempt to take Beijing failed.
With their leader largely out of the picture, Taiping delegates tried to widen their popular support with the Chinese middle classes and forge alliances with European powers, but failed on both counts. The Europeans decided to stay neutral. Inside China, the rebellion faced resistance from the traditionalist middle class because of their hostility to Chinese customs and Confucian values. The land-owning upper class, unsettled by the Taipings' peasant mannerisms and their policy of strict separation of the sexes, even for married couples, sided with the Imperial forces and their Western allies.
In 1859 Hong Rengan
, a cousin of Hong, joined the Taiping in Nanjing, and was given considerable power by Hong. He developed an ambitious plan to expand the Kingdom's boundaries. In 1860 the Taiping were successful in taking Hangzhou
and Suzhou
to the east (See also: Second rout the Army Group Jiangnan
), but failed to take Shanghai
, which marked the beginning of the decline of the Kingdom.
An attempt to take Shanghai
in August 1860 was initially successful but finally repulsed by a force of Chinese troops and European officers under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward
. This army would later become the "Ever Victorious Army
", led by "Chinese" Gordon
, and would be instrumental in the defeat of the Taiping rebels. Imperial forces were reorganized under the command of Zeng Guofan
and Li Hongzhang
, and the Imperial reconquest began in earnest. By early 1864 Imperial control in most areas was well established.
Hong declared that God would defend Nanjing, but in June 1864, with Imperial forces approaching, he died of food poisoning as the result of eating wild vegetables as the city began to run out of food. He was sick for twenty days before the Imperial forces could take the city. Only a few days after his death the Imperial forces took the city. His body was buried in the former Ming Imperial Palace
where it was later exhumed by the conquering Zeng to verify his death, and cremated. Hong's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising.
Four months before the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping, Hong Xiuquan abdicated in favour of Hong Tianguifu
, his eldest son, fifteen years old. Hong Tianguifu was unable to do anything to restore the Kingdom, so the Kingdom was quickly destroyed when Nanjing fell in July 1864 to the Imperial armies after vicious street-by-street fighting. Most of the princes were executed by Qing Imperials in Jinling Town , Nanjing.
Although the fall of Nanjing in 1864 marked the destruction of the Taiping regime, the fight was not yet over. There were still several hundred thousand Taiping rebel troops continuing the fight, with more than a quarter million fighting in the border regions of Jiangxi
and Fujian
. It would take seven years to finally put down all remnants of the Taiping Rebellion. In August 1871 the last Taiping rebel army, led by Shi Dakai
's commander, General Li Fuzhong , was completely wiped out by the Imperial forces in the border region of Hunan
, Guizhou
and Guangxi
.
and highly militarized rule
.
, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace" has long been considered heretical
by major branches of Christianity.
The movement's founder, Hong Xiuquan, had tried and failed to earn his shengyuan civil service degree numerous times. After one such failure in 1836, Hong overheard a Chinese Protestant missionary (Liang Fa
) preaching and took home some Chinese translation of Bible tracts which had been translated by Robert Morrison, including a pamphlet titled "Good Words for Exhorting the Age" by Liang Fa
. "Hong and his cousin were both baptized according to Liang's directions. The missionary was probably Edwin Stevens of New England
, who operated illegally in China. In 1843, after Hong's final failure at the exams, he had what some regard as a nervous breakdown and others as a mystical revelation, connecting his in-depth readings of the Christian tracts to strange dreams he had been having for the past six years. In his dreams, a bearded man with golden hair and a black robe called himself Jehovah
, gave him a sword, and taught him to slay demons beside a younger man whom Hong addressed as "Elder Brother".
Hong Xiuquan came to believe that the figures in his dreams were God the Father and Jesus Christ and that they were revealing his destiny as a slayer of demons and the leader of a new Heavenly Kingdom on Earth. The demons were later interpreted by him to be the Qing and false religions.
Hong developed a literalist understanding of the Bible and added a third testament
of annotations to the Taiping's Bible
. These developed a Oneness theology
. He rejected the doctrine of the Trinity
, saying "God is the Father and embodies myriads of phenomena; Christ is the Son, who was manifest in the body... The Wind of the Holy Spirit, God, is also a Son... God is one who gives shapes to things, molds things into forms, who created heaven and created earth, who begins and ends all things, yet has no beginning or end himself..." and " God and the Savior are one. "
Hong's deputy Yang Xiuqing
later took the title "Comforting Holy Wind", as he was keen to gain titles. Yang Xiuqing's religious motivations are disputed.
. The kingdom's name was inscribed on the obverse and "Holy Treasure" on the reverse.
Ranked below the "King of Heaven" Hong Xiuquan, the territory was divided among provincial rulers called king
s or prince
s, initially there were fivethe Kings of the Four Quarters and the King of the Yi ("flanks"). Of the original rulers, the West King and South King were killed in combat in 1852. The East King was murdered by the North King during a coup d'état in 1856, and the North King himself was subsequently killed. The kings' names were:
The later leaders of the movement were 'Princes':
Other princes include:
In the later years of the Taiping Rebellion
, the territory was divided among many, for a time into the thousands, of provincial rulers called prince
s, depending on the whims of Hong.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: ,1 pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Tàipíng Tiānguó; Hakka: Thai-phìn Thiên-koet, lit. "Great Peaceful Kingdom of Heaven" or "Heavenly Kingdom") was an oppositional state in China from 1851 to 1864, established by Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan , born Hong Renkun, style name Huoxiu , was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.-Early...
, the leader of the Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
(1850–1864). Its capital was at Tianjing (京, Wade-Giles
Wade-Giles
Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most...
: Tienching, "Heavenly Capital"), present-day Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
.
A heterodox
Heterodoxy
Heterodoxy is generally defined as "any opinions or doctrines at variance with an official or orthodox position". As an adjective, heterodox is commonly used to describe a subject as "characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards"...
Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
convert, Hong led an army that controlled much of southern China, with about 30 million people. The rebel Kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
, Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion
Chinese folk religion or Shenism , which is a term of considerable debate, are labels used to describe the collection of ethnic religious traditions which have been a main belief system in China and among Han Chinese ethnic groups for most of the civilization's history until today...
by a form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the younger brother of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government defeated the rebellion with the eventual aid of French
Second French Empire
The Second French Empire or French Empire was the Imperial Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic, in France.-Rule of Napoleon III:...
and British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
forces. The conflict was one of the deadliest wars in history, with about 25 million killed, mainly civilians.
History of the Taiping Rebellion
Origins of the Rebellion
In the mid-19th century, China under the Qing DynastyQing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
suffered a series of natural disasters, economic problems, and defeats at the hands of the Western powers, in particular, the humiliating defeat in 1842 by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War
First Opium War
The First Anglo-Chinese War , known popularly as the First Opium War or simply the Opium War, was fought between the United Kingdom and the Qing Dynasty of China over their conflicting viewpoints on diplomatic relations, trade, and the administration of justice...
. The Qing, ethnically Manchu
Manchu
The Manchu people or Man are an ethnic minority of China who originated in Manchuria . During their rise in the 17th century, with the help of the Ming dynasty rebels , they came to power in China and founded the Qing Dynasty, which ruled China until the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, which...
, were seen by much of the Chinese population, majority Han, as ineffective and corrupt foreign rulers. Anti-Manchu sentiment was strongest in the south among the laboring classes, and it was these disaffected who flocked to join the charismatic visionary Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan , born Hong Renkun, style name Huoxiu , was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.-Early...
.
After Hong failed to pass the examinations
Imperial examination
The Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...
that would make him one of the elite, he studied the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
with the help of a Protestant missionary. One day he claimed to have had a vision to the effect that he was the younger brother of Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. After his vision, he felt it was his duty to spread Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and overthrow the foreign rule of the Qing. Hong's associate Yang Xiuqing
Yang Xiuqing
Yang Xiuqing , , was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion.Yang was a firewood seller in Guangxi before he joined the rebellion. In 1848 he converted to Christianity after reporting that he had experienced visions of God. In 1850 he began to claim that he could miraculously...
was a former firewood salesman of Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
, who claimed to be able to act as a voice of God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
to direct the people and gain political power.
Feng Yunshan
Feng Yunshan
Feng Yunshan was an important leader during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government 1850–1864. Feng was a companion of Hong Xiuquan from the very earliest days of the rebellion. Feng was the founder of the "God Worshipers" during the 1840s. This was the very first form the Taiping...
formed the Society of God Worshippers (Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: , Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Bai Shangdi Hui), in Guangxi province after a missionary journey there in 1844 to spread Hong's ideas. In 1847 Hong become the leader of the secret society. The sect's power grew in the late 1840s, initially suppressing groups of bandits and pirates, but persecution by Qing authorities spurred the movement into a guerrilla rebellion
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
and then into civil war
Civil war
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same nation state or republic, or, less commonly, between two countries created from a formerly-united nation state....
.
Hong's religion
According to an assessment in the Encyclopædia Britannica, Hong's Christian ideology was largely concerned with the suppression of vices, as formulated in the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, and ignored "New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
ideas of humility and kindness", as well as "the Christian ideas of original sin
Original sin
Original sin is, according to a Christian theological doctrine, humanity's state of sin resulting from the Fall of Man. This condition has been characterized in many ways, ranging from something as insignificant as a slight deficiency, or a tendency toward sin yet without collective guilt, referred...
and redemption
Redemption (theology)
Redemption is a concept common to several theologies. It is generally associated with the efforts of people within a faith to overcome their shortcomings and achieve the moral positions exemplified in their faith.- In Buddhism :...
."
Establishment of the Kingdom
The Taiping RebellionTaiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
began in 1850 in Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
Province. By early January 1851, a ten thousand-strong rebel army had had routed Imperial troops in the Jintian Uprising
Jintian Uprising
The Jintian Uprising was an armed revolt formally declared by Hong Xiuquan on 11 February 1851 during the late Qing Dynasty. The uprising was named after Jintian , the place where it took place...
. On January 11, 1851, his birthday, Hong Xiuquan declared himself "Heavenly King" (王, Tianwang) of a new dynasty, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace".
Capital at Tianjing (Nanjing)
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
, making it their capital and renaming it Tianjing
Tianjing
Tianjing is the name given to Nanjing by Hong Xiuquan, king of the "Heavenly Kingdom of the Great Peace", during the Taiping Rebellion, in imperial China, from 1853 to 1864.- Brief history :...
, "Heavenly Capital". Hong built his Palace of Heavenly King
Presidential Palace (Nanjing)
The Presidential Palace in Nanjing, China, housed the Office of the President of the Republic of China before the republic relocated to Taiwan in 1949. It is now a museum, the China Modern History Museum. It is located at 292 Changjiang Road, in the Xuanwu District of Nanjing.-History:In the Ming...
there by converting the former residence of Qing officials.
At its height, the Heavenly Kingdom encompassed much of south and central China, centered on the fertile Yangtze river valley. Control of the river meant that the Taipings could easily supply their capital. From there, the Taipings sent armies west into the upper reaches of the Yangtze, and north to capture the Imperial capital of Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. The attempt to take Beijing failed.
Internal conflict
In 1853 Hong withdrew from active control of policies and administration, ruling exclusively by written proclamations often in religious language. Hong disagreed with Yang in certain matters of policy and became increasingly suspicious of Yang's ambitions, his extensive network of spies, and his declarations when "speaking as God". Yang and his family were put to death by Hong's followers in 1856, followed by the killing of troops loyal to Yang.With their leader largely out of the picture, Taiping delegates tried to widen their popular support with the Chinese middle classes and forge alliances with European powers, but failed on both counts. The Europeans decided to stay neutral. Inside China, the rebellion faced resistance from the traditionalist middle class because of their hostility to Chinese customs and Confucian values. The land-owning upper class, unsettled by the Taipings' peasant mannerisms and their policy of strict separation of the sexes, even for married couples, sided with the Imperial forces and their Western allies.
In 1859 Hong Rengan
Hong Rengan
Hong Rengan was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was the cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Prince Gan resembled the role of a Prime Minister...
, a cousin of Hong, joined the Taiping in Nanjing, and was given considerable power by Hong. He developed an ambitious plan to expand the Kingdom's boundaries. In 1860 the Taiping were successful in taking Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
and Suzhou
Suzhou
Suzhou , previously transliterated as Su-chou, Suchow, and Soochow, is a major city located in the southeast of Jiangsu Province in Eastern China, located adjacent to Shanghai Municipality. The city is situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Taihu Lake and is a part...
to the east (See also: Second rout the Army Group Jiangnan
Second rout the Army Group Jiangnan
The Second rout of the Jiangnan Army Group or the Jiangnan DaYing; was the deployment of the Qing government's Green Standard Army to crush the Taiping Rebellion...
), but failed to take Shanghai
Battle of Shanghai (1861)
The Battle of Shanghai was a major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion that occurred from June 1861 to July 1862. British and French troops used modern artillery on a large scale for the first time in China...
, which marked the beginning of the decline of the Kingdom.
The fall of the Kingdom
Battle of Shanghai (1861)
The Battle of Shanghai was a major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion that occurred from June 1861 to July 1862. British and French troops used modern artillery on a large scale for the first time in China...
in August 1860 was initially successful but finally repulsed by a force of Chinese troops and European officers under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward
Frederick Townsend Ward
Frederick Townsend Ward was an American sailor, mercenary, and soldier of fortune famous for his military victories for Imperial China during the Taiping Rebellion.-Early life:...
. This army would later become the "Ever Victorious Army
Ever Victorious Army
The Ever Victorious Army was the name given to an imperial army in late-19th–century China. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing Dynasty against the rebels of the Nien and Taiping Rebellions....
", led by "Chinese" Gordon
Charles George Gordon
Major-General Charles George Gordon, CB , known as "Chinese" Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British army officer and administrator....
, and would be instrumental in the defeat of the Taiping rebels. Imperial forces were reorganized under the command of Zeng Guofan
Zeng Guofan
Zeng Guofan was an eminent Han Chinese official, military general, and devout Confucian scholar of the late Qing Dynasty in China....
and Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang or Li Hung-chang , Marquis Suyi of the First Class , GCVO, was a leading statesman of the late Qing Empire...
, and the Imperial reconquest began in earnest. By early 1864 Imperial control in most areas was well established.
Hong declared that God would defend Nanjing, but in June 1864, with Imperial forces approaching, he died of food poisoning as the result of eating wild vegetables as the city began to run out of food. He was sick for twenty days before the Imperial forces could take the city. Only a few days after his death the Imperial forces took the city. His body was buried in the former Ming Imperial Palace
Ming Palace, Nanjing
Ming Palace in Nanjing, present day Jiangsu province, China was the 14th century imperial palace of the Hongwu Emperor, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty.- History :...
where it was later exhumed by the conquering Zeng to verify his death, and cremated. Hong's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising.
Four months before the fall of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping, Hong Xiuquan abdicated in favour of Hong Tianguifu
Hong Tianguifu
Hong Tianguifu , also called Hong Tiangui and in Qing historical record, Hong Futian , was the second and last king of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping. He is popularly referred to as the Junior Lord . Officially, like his father Hong Xiuquan, he was the King of Heaven...
, his eldest son, fifteen years old. Hong Tianguifu was unable to do anything to restore the Kingdom, so the Kingdom was quickly destroyed when Nanjing fell in July 1864 to the Imperial armies after vicious street-by-street fighting. Most of the princes were executed by Qing Imperials in Jinling Town , Nanjing.
Although the fall of Nanjing in 1864 marked the destruction of the Taiping regime, the fight was not yet over. There were still several hundred thousand Taiping rebel troops continuing the fight, with more than a quarter million fighting in the border regions of Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
and Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
. It would take seven years to finally put down all remnants of the Taiping Rebellion. In August 1871 the last Taiping rebel army, led by Shi Dakai
Shi Dakai
Shi Dakai , born in Guigang, Guangxi, also known as Wing King or phonetically translated as E-Wang, was one of the most highly acclaimed leaders in the Taiping Rebellion and a poet....
's commander, General Li Fuzhong , was completely wiped out by the Imperial forces in the border region of Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...
, Guizhou
Guizhou
' is a province of the People's Republic of China located in the southwestern part of the country. Its provincial capital city is Guiyang.- History :...
and Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
.
The Heavenly Kingdom's policies
Within the land that it controlled, the Taiping Heavenly Army established a theocraticTheocracy
Theocracy is a form of organization in which the official policy is to be governed by immediate divine guidance or by officials who are regarded as divinely guided, or simply pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religious sect or religion....
and highly militarized rule
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
.
- The subject of study for the examinations for officials (formerly civil service examCivil service examCivil service examinations are examinations implemented in various countries for admission to the civil service. They are intended as a method to achieve an effective, rational public administration on a merit system....
s) changed from the Confucian classicsConfucianismConfucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...
to the BibleBibleThe Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. - Private propertyPrivate propertyPrivate property is the right of persons and firms to obtain, own, control, employ, dispose of, and bequeath land, capital, and other forms of property. Private property is distinguishable from public property, which refers to assets owned by a state, community or government rather than by...
ownership was abolished and all land was held and distributed by the state. - A solar calendarSolar calendarA solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicate the position of the earth on its revolution around the sun .-Tropical solar calendars:...
replaced the lunar calendarLunar calendarA lunar calendar is a calendar that is based on cycles of the lunar phase. A common purely lunar calendar is the Islamic calendar or Hijri calendar. A feature of the Islamic calendar is that a year is always 12 months, so the months are not linked with the seasons and drift each solar year by 11 to...
. - Foot bindingFoot bindingFoot binding was the custom of binding the feet of young girls painfully tight to prevent further growth. The practice probably originated among court dancers in the early Song dynasty, but spread to upper class families and eventually became common among all classes. The tiny narrow feet were...
was banned. (The Hakka peopleHakka peopleThe Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....
had never followed this tradition, and consequently the Hakka women had always been able to work the fields.) - The society was declared classSocial classSocial classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
less and the sexes were declared equal. It was the first Chinese regime ever to admit women to examinations. - The sexes were rigorously separated; there were separate army units consisting of women only; until 1855, not even married couples were allowed to live together or have sexual relations.
- The Qing-dictated queue hairstyleQueue (hairstyle)The queue or cue is a hairstyle in which the hair is worn long and gathered up into a ponytail. It was worn traditionally by certain Native American groups and the Manchu of Manchuria.-Manchu Queue:...
was abandoned in favor of wearing the hair long. - Other new laws were promulgated including the prohibition of opiumOpiumOpium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
, gamblingGamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
, tobaccoTobaccoTobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, alcoholAlcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
, polygamyPolygamyPolygamy is a marriage which includes more than two partners...
(including concubinageConcubinageConcubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
), slaverySlaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, and prostitutionProstitutionProstitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. These all carried draconian penalties.
Theology
Although ostensibly ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace" has long been considered heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
by major branches of Christianity.
The movement's founder, Hong Xiuquan, had tried and failed to earn his shengyuan civil service degree numerous times. After one such failure in 1836, Hong overheard a Chinese Protestant missionary (Liang Fa
Liang Fa
Liang Fa was the first Chinese Protestant minister and evangelist. He was ordained by Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China....
) preaching and took home some Chinese translation of Bible tracts which had been translated by Robert Morrison, including a pamphlet titled "Good Words for Exhorting the Age" by Liang Fa
Liang Fa
Liang Fa was the first Chinese Protestant minister and evangelist. He was ordained by Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China....
. "Hong and his cousin were both baptized according to Liang's directions. The missionary was probably Edwin Stevens of New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
, who operated illegally in China. In 1843, after Hong's final failure at the exams, he had what some regard as a nervous breakdown and others as a mystical revelation, connecting his in-depth readings of the Christian tracts to strange dreams he had been having for the past six years. In his dreams, a bearded man with golden hair and a black robe called himself Jehovah
Jehovah
Jehovah is an anglicized representation of Hebrew , a vocalization of the Tetragrammaton , the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible....
, gave him a sword, and taught him to slay demons beside a younger man whom Hong addressed as "Elder Brother".
Hong Xiuquan came to believe that the figures in his dreams were God the Father and Jesus Christ and that they were revealing his destiny as a slayer of demons and the leader of a new Heavenly Kingdom on Earth. The demons were later interpreted by him to be the Qing and false religions.
Hong developed a literalist understanding of the Bible and added a third testament
Testament
A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true.Testament can refer to:* Old Testament, the large, first section of the holy scriptures of Christianity, incorporating the Jewish Scriptures...
of annotations to the Taiping's Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
. These developed a Oneness theology
Oneness Pentecostalism
Oneness Pentecostalism refers to a grouping of denominations and believers within Pentecostal Christianity, all of whom subscribe to the nontrinitarian theological doctrine of Oneness...
. He rejected the doctrine of the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, saying "God is the Father and embodies myriads of phenomena; Christ is the Son, who was manifest in the body... The Wind of the Holy Spirit, God, is also a Son... God is one who gives shapes to things, molds things into forms, who created heaven and created earth, who begins and ends all things, yet has no beginning or end himself..." and " God and the Savior are one. "
Hong's deputy Yang Xiuqing
Yang Xiuqing
Yang Xiuqing , , was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion.Yang was a firewood seller in Guangxi before he joined the rebellion. In 1848 he converted to Christianity after reporting that he had experienced visions of God. In 1850 he began to claim that he could miraculously...
later took the title "Comforting Holy Wind", as he was keen to gain titles. Yang Xiuqing's religious motivations are disputed.
Currency
In its first year, the Heavenly Kingdom minted coins that were 23 mm to 26 mm in diameter, weighing around 4.1 gGram
The gram is a metric system unit of mass....
. The kingdom's name was inscribed on the obverse and "Holy Treasure" on the reverse.
Administration
Monarch
A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
s or prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
s, initially there were fivethe Kings of the Four Quarters and the King of the Yi ("flanks"). Of the original rulers, the West King and South King were killed in combat in 1852. The East King was murdered by the North King during a coup d'état in 1856, and the North King himself was subsequently killed. The kings' names were:
- South King , Feng YunshanFeng YunshanFeng Yunshan was an important leader during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government 1850–1864. Feng was a companion of Hong Xiuquan from the very earliest days of the rebellion. Feng was the founder of the "God Worshipers" during the 1840s. This was the very first form the Taiping...
(d. 1852) - East King , Yang XiuqingYang XiuqingYang Xiuqing , , was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion.Yang was a firewood seller in Guangxi before he joined the rebellion. In 1848 he converted to Christianity after reporting that he had experienced visions of God. In 1850 he began to claim that he could miraculously...
(d. 1856) - West King , Xiao ChaoguiXiao ChaoguiXiao Chaogui was an important leader during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government 1850-1864. He was a brother-in-law to Hong Xiuquan and was able to serve as a mouth piece for Jesus Christ during many 'heavenly visitations' Jesus paid to the Taiping...
(d. 1852) - North King , Wei ChanghuiWei ChanghuiWei Changhui was the North King of the Taiping Rebellion.-Pre-Rebellion involvement:During the early days of the movement during the 1840s, Wei was converted to Christianity by Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan...
(d. 1856) - Yi King , Shi DakaiShi DakaiShi Dakai , born in Guigang, Guangxi, also known as Wing King or phonetically translated as E-Wang, was one of the most highly acclaimed leaders in the Taiping Rebellion and a poet....
(captured and executed by Qing Imperials in 1863)
The later leaders of the movement were 'Princes':
- Zhong Prince , Li XiuchengLi XiuchengLi Xiucheng was an eminent military leader of the Taiping Rebellion, and known during his military tenure as the Loyal King . This title was given because a Qing general attempted to bribe him to kill Hong Xiuquan, but he refused and told Hong Xiuquan. His many victories also made Hong very happy...
(18231864, captured and executed by Qing Imperials) - Ying Prince , Chen Yucheng (18371862)
- Gan Prince , Hong RenganHong RenganHong Rengan was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was the cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Prince Gan resembled the role of a Prime Minister...
(18221864; cousin of Hong Xiuquan, executed) - Jun Prince , Lai WenkwokLai WenkwokLai Wenguang , born in Meizhou, Guangdong, and later worked in Guangxi, was an eminent military leader of the Taiping Rebellion and Nien Rebellion, and known during his military tenure as the King of Zun . He served under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration, and was Hong Xiuquan's wife young...
(18271868) - Fu Prince , Hong Renda
- Tian Gui (Tien Kuei)
Other princes include:
- An Prince , Hong Renfa , Hong Xiuquan's eldest brother
- Yong Prince , Hong Rengui
- Fu Prince , Hong Renfu
In the later years of the Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
, the territory was divided among many, for a time into the thousands, of provincial rulers called prince
Prince
Prince is a general term for a ruler, monarch or member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in the nobility of some European states. The feminine equivalent is a princess...
s, depending on the whims of Hong.
Further reading
- Jonathan Spence, God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan (1996) ISBN 0-393-03844-0
- Thomas H. Reilly, The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Rebellion and the Blasphemy of Empire (2004) ISBN 0-295-98430-9
- Lindley, Augustus, Ti-ping Tien-Kwoh: The History of the Ti-Ping Revolution (1866, reprinted 1970) Google books access
- Hsiu-ch°êng Li, translator, The Autobiography of the Chung-Wang (Confession of the Loyal Prince) (reprinted 1970) ISBN 978-0-275-02723-0
- Carr, Caleb, The Devil Soldier: The American Soldier of Fortune Who Became a God in China (1994) ISBN 0-679-76128-4
- Gray, Jack, Rebellions and Revolutions: China from the 1800s to the 1980s (1990), ISBN 0-19-821576-2
Additional sources
| Personal Name | Period of Reign | |
|---|---|---|
Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan , born Hong Renkun, style name Huoxiu , was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.-Early... — |
||
Hong Tianguifu Hong Tianguifu , also called Hong Tiangui and in Qing historical record, Hong Futian , was the second and last king of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping. He is popularly referred to as the Junior Lord . Officially, like his father Hong Xiuquan, he was the King of Heaven... — |