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Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
(1851–1861) 太平天國 God's Heavenly Kingdom (1861) 上帝天國 Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of the Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, and Heavenly King (1861–1864) 天父天兄天王太平天國 | |||||||||
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| 1851–1864 | |||||||||
| Seal of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom 太平天國㞢璽  | |||||||||
Outline of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Held at various time during the Taiping Rebellion
Early period
Late period
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| Capital | Tianjing (now Nanjing) | ||||||||
| Religion | God Worshipping Society | ||||||||
| Government | Theocratic absolute monarchy | ||||||||
| Taiping Heavenly King | |||||||||
• 1851–1864 | Hong Xiuquan | ||||||||
• 1864 | Hong Tianguifu | ||||||||
| Kings/Prince | |||||||||
• 1851–1852 | Feng Yunshan (South King) | ||||||||
• 1851–1856 | Yang Xiuqing (East King) | ||||||||
• 1851–1852 | Xiao Chaogui (West King) | ||||||||
• 1851–1856 | Wei Changhui (North King) | ||||||||
• 1851–1863 | Shi Dakai (Wing King) | ||||||||
• 1859–1864 | Hong Rengan (Shield King) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Late modern period | ||||||||
| 11 January 1851 | |||||||||
| 19 March 1853 | |||||||||
| 1856 | |||||||||
| 19 July 1864 | |||||||||
• Capture of Hong Tianguifu | 25 October 1864 | ||||||||
| Currency | Shengbao (cash) | ||||||||
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| Today part of | China | ||||||||
| Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Royal seal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
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| Traditional Chinese | 太平天囯 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 太平天国 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning |
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The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic absolute monarchy which sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The Heavenly Kingdom, or Heavenly Dynasty,[1][a] was led by Hong Xiuquan. Its capital was at Tianjing, present-day Nanjing. The unsuccessful war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion.
A self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ[3] and convert to Protestant Christianity, Hong Xiuquan led an army that controlled a significant part of southern China during the middle of the 19th century, eventually expanding to a size of nearly 30 million people. The rebel kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of Buddhism, Confucianism, Chinese folk religion, and Islambyhis form of Christianity, holding that he was the second son of God and 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.
During the 19th century, the Qing territories experienced a series of famines, natural disasters, economic problems and defeats at the hands of foreign powers; these events have come to be collectively known as China's "century of humiliation".[5] Farmers were heavily overtaxed, rents rose dramatically, and peasants started to desert their lands in droves. The Qing military had recently suffered a disastrous defeat in the First Opium War, while the Chinese economy was severely impacted by a trade imbalance caused by the large-scale and illicit importation of opium. Banditry became more common, and numerous secret societies and self-defence units formed, all of which led to an increase in small-scale warfare.
Protestant missionaries began working from Macao, Pazhou, and Guangzhou. Their household staff and the printers they employed corrected and adapted the missionaries' message to reach the Chinese and they began to particularly frequent the prefectural and provincial examinations, where local scholars competed for the chance to rise to power in the imperial civil service. One of the native tracts, Liang Fa's nine-part, 500-page tome called Good Words to Admonish the Age, found its way into the hands of Hong Xiuquan in the mid-1830s. Hong initially leafed through it without interest. After several failures during the examinations and a nervous breakdown, however, Hong told friends and family of a dream in which he was greeted by a golden-haired, bearded man and a younger man whom he addressed as "Elder Brother".[6] He would also declare that he saw Confucius being punished by Hong's celestial father for leading the people astray.[7] Hong worked another six years as a tutor before his brother convinced him that Liang's tract was worth examination. When he read the tract he saw his long-past dream in terms of Christian symbolism: he was the younger brother of Jesus and had met God the Father, Shangdi. He now felt it was his duty to restore the faith in the native Han religion and overthrow the Qing. He was joined by Yang Xiuqing, a former charcoal and firewood salesman of Guangxi, who claimed to act as a voice of the Supreme Emperor.[8]
Feng Yunshan formed the Society of God Worshippers (Chinese: 拜上帝會; pinyin: Bài Shàngdì Huì) in Guangxi after a missionary journey there in 1844 to spread Hong's ideas.[9] In 1847, Hong became the leader of the secret society.[10] The Taiping faith, inspired by missionary Christianity, says one historian, "developed into a dynamic new Chinese religion... Taiping Christianity". Hong presented this religion as a revival and a restoration of the ancient classical faith in Shangdi.[11] 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.
In some Marxist historiography, the Taiping Rebellion is viewed as a proto-communist uprising.[12]
The Jintian Uprising began in 1850 in Guangxi. On 11 January 1851 (the 11th day of the first lunar month), incidentally Hong Xiuquan's birthday, Hong declared himself "Heavenly King" of a new dynasty, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace".[13][14] After minor clashes, the violence escalated into the uprising in February 1851, in which a 10,000-strong rebel army routed and defeated a smaller Qing force. Feng Yushan was to be the strategist of the rebellion and the administrator of the kingdom during its early days, until his death in 1852.[15][page needed]
In 1853, the Taiping forces captured Nanjing, making it their capital and renaming it Tianjing ('heavenly capital'). Hong converted the office of the Viceroy of Liangjiang into his Palace of Heavenly King. Since Hong claimed he had been instructed in his dream to exterminate all Manchu "demons", the rebels they set out to kill the entire Manchu population. When Nanjing was occupied, the Taiping rebels went on a rampage, burning 40,000 Manchus to death within the city.[16] They first killed all the Manchu men, and then the Manchu women and Manchu children were burned to ashes.[17][18]
At its height, the Heavenly Kingdom controlled south China, centred on the fertile Yangtze River Valley. Control of the river meant that the Taiping could easily supply their capital. From there, the Taiping rebels sent armies west into the upper reaches of the Yangtze, and north to capture Beijing, the capital of the Qing dynasty. The attempt to take Beijing failed.
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, in an event known as the Tianjing Incident. The internal schism significantly weakened Taiping forces.[19][20]
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 Taiping rebels' peasant mannerisms and their policy of strict separation of the sexes, even for married couples, sided with the Qing forces and their Western allies.[citation needed]
In 1859, Hong Rengan, a cousin of Hong, joined the Taiping Rebellion in Nanjing, and was given considerable power by Hong. He developed an ambitious plan to expand the kingdom's boundaries. In 1860, the Taiping rebels were successful in taking Hangzhou and Suzhou to the east, 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.[15] This army would later become the "Ever Victorious Army", led by Charles "Chinese" Gordon, and would be instrumental in the defeat of the Taiping rebels. Imperial forces were reorganised under the command of Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang, and the Qing government's re-conquest began in earnest. By early 1864, Qing control in most areas was well established.
With Qing forces beginning an attack on Nanjing, Hong declared that God would defend the city, but in June 1864, with Qing 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 Qing forces could take the city. Although Hong likely died of his illness, suicide by poison has also been suggested.[21] Only a few days after his death Qing forces took control of Nanjing. His body was buried and was later exhumed by 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.[22]
Four months before the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan abdicated in favour of Hong Tianguifu, his eldest son, who was 14 years old then. Hong Tianguifu was unable to do anything to restore the kingdom, so the kingdom was quickly destroyed when Nanjing fell in July 1864 to Qing forces after vicious fighting in the streets. Most of the so-called princes were executed by Qing officials in Jinling Town (金陵城), Nanjing.
Although the fall of Nanjing in 1864 marked the destruction of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, There were still several thousands of Taiping rebels continuing to resist Qing forces. It took seven years to finally put down all remnants of the Taiping Rebellion.[23] In August 1871, the last Taiping rebel army, led by Shi Dakai's commander Li Fuzhong (李福忠), was completely wiped out by the Qing forces in the border region of Hunan, Guizhou, and Guangxi.
25 provinces were mentioned in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sources:[24][verification needed]
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The Heavenly King was the highest position in the Heavenly Kingdom. The sole people to hold this position were Hong Xiuquan and his son Hong Tianguifu.
Ranked below the "King of Heaven" Hong Xiuquan, the territory was divided among provincial rulers called kings or princes; initially there were five – the Kings of the Four Cardinal Directions and the Flank King[citation needed]). 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 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:
Leaders of concurrent rebellions were similarly granted the title of King, such Lan Chaozhu, a leader in the Li Yonghe rebellion in Sichuan.[25]
In the later years of the Taiping Rebellion, the territory was divided among many, for a time into the dozens, of provincial rulers called princes, depending on the whims of Hong.
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Within the land that it controlled, the Taiping Heavenly Army established a totalitarian, theocratic, and highly militarised rule.[26]
In 1859 the Gan Prince Hong Rengan, with the approval of his cousin the Heavenly King, advocated several new policies, including:[30]
While the Taiping rebels did not have the support of Western governments, they were relatively modernised in terms of weapons. An ever growing number of Western weapons dealers and black marketeers sold Western weapons such as modern muskets, rifles, and cannons to the rebels. As early as 1853, Taiping Tianguo soldiers had been using guns and ammunition sold by Westerners. Rifles and gunpowder were smuggled into China by English and American traders as "snuff and umbrellas". They were partially equipped with surplus equipment sold by various Western companies and military units' stores, both small arms and artillery. One shipment of weaponry from an American dealer in April 1862 already "well known for their dealings with rebels" was listed as 2,783 (percussion cap) muskets, 66 carbines, 4 rifles, and 895 field artillery guns, as well as carrying passports signed by the Loyal King. Almost two months later, a ship was stopped with 48 cases of muskets, and another ship with 5000 muskets. Mercenaries from the West also joined the Taiping forces, though most were motivated by opportunities for plunder during the rebellion rather than joining for ideological reasons. The Taiping forces constructed iron foundries where they were making heavy cannons, described by Westerners as vastly superior to Qing cannons.[31] Just before his execution, Taiping Loyal King Li Xiucheng advised his enemies that war with the Western powers was coming and the Qing must buy the best Western cannons and gun carriages, and have the best Chinese craftsmen learn to build exact copies, teaching other craftsmen as well.[32]
Initially, the followers of Hong Xiuquan were called God Worshippers. Hong's faith was inspired by visions he reported in which the Shangdi, the Supreme Emperor, or "Jehovah", greeted him in Heaven. Hong had earlier been in contact with Protestant missionaries and read the Bible. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was based on Hong Xiuquan's syncretism with Christianity, which differed from mainstream Christian prayers, rituals, and holidays.[33] The libraries of the Buddhist monasteries were destroyed, almost completely in the case of the Yangtze delta.[34] Temples of Daoism, Confucianism, and other traditional beliefs were often converted to churches, schools or hospitals or defaced.[35]
In letters to missionary Joseph Edkins, Hong rejected the Nicene Creed and said Arius was correct.[36]
The Heavenly Kingdom maintained the concept of the imperial Chinese tributary system in mandating all of the "ten thousand nations in the world" to submit and make the annual tribute missions to the Heavenly Court.[37] The Heavenly King proclaimed that he intended to establish a new dynasty of China.[38]
In its first year, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom minted coins that were 23 mm to 26 mm in diameter, weighing around 4.1 g. The kingdom's name was inscribed on the obverse and "Holy Treasure" (Chinese: 聖寶) on the reverse; the kingdom also issued paper notes.[39]
With the collapse of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Qing dynasty launched waves of massacres against the Hakka, killing 30,000 Hakkas each day throughout China during the height of the Hakka massacres.[40] Similar purges were taken while defeating the Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856). In Guangdong, Governor Ye Mingchen oversaw the execution of 70,000 people in Guangzhou, eventually one million people were killed throughout central Guangdong.[41][42] Another major impact was the bloody Punti-Hakka Clan Wars (1855 and 1867), which would cause the deaths of a million people. The Cantonese opera was purged completely.[43]
For a fuller selection, please see the section Taiping Rebellion: Further reading
