More than 60 years before the first world war began,
China was to be the theater of a far deadlier military conflict
These events later to become a new record in modern-day history would be known as the Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion arose in 1850. At that period, China was ruled by the Manchu Qing
Dynasty that has seized power in
1644. However
The immense "Zhong Guo" or middle Empire as it was also called, was feeble against the colonial Western powers.
Indeed the British Empire had successfully enforced the trading of opium and gained control of Hong Kong after the First Opium War,
imposing one of the many unequal treaties China would be the subject of.
The British also share the alongside France and the United States concessions in Shanghai, increasing their influence in China.
Chinese goods were in high demand at the time and in addition to trading, many European authorities
saw china as a land to spread Christianity, as had been done in many colonies and occupied territory in the past.
Jesuit missionaries had been dispatched from Europe since the 16th century,
but in the 19th century, many more branches of Christianity started to evangelize in China,
such as orthodoxy from the Russian Empire,
and Protestantism from the British.
Traditionally the vast majority of the Chinese population worshipped the Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Taoism or
Confucianism.
The Qing Emperors had even adopted the confucianist doctrine as their official religion.
Chinese authorities therefore resented the spread of this foreign cult in their lands and several Emperors denounced the Christian presence. Emperors Yongzheng,
Jiaqing, and Daguang had successively criticized or even banned the preaching of Christianity in some circumstances.
However, a
significant proportion of the Chinese people still adopted and embraced this new religion and many churches were built in western influenced areas.
One such convert was Hong Xiu Quan
Xiu Quan was born in a poor family from the Hua county in Guangdong province, in southern China on the 1st of January 1840 as
He seemed to show promising scholar skills
His parents decided to finance primary education for him. After brilliantly succeeded the preliminary civil servant
examinations, ranking first,
Xiu Quan then moved to Guangzhou, or Canton, the largest city in the region, and a strong Western sphere of influence,
to take the Imperial examinations.
These were a necessary test for any person aspiring to become a high rank civil servant or climb the social ladder.
However, the young student was unsuccessful and had to return broke to agricultural life in his home village.
In 1836 at the age of 22 he returned to Guangzhou to take the examinations again.
It was there that he met Edwin Stevens, an American Christian illegally acting as a missionary.
This was Xiu Quan first interaction of Christianity and although he did not pay much attention to the foreign religion,
he still took the preachers translated pamphlets.
The young student had to face another fail in the Imperial examinations.
The next year, he tried and failed once more, which resulted in a complete nervous breakdown due to all the efforts and sacrifices
he had to indure to take the tests. In his delirious visions,
he dreamed that he was part of a celestial family, being the son of a Supreme Being.
Furthermore he discovered Confucianism to be a wrong path of worship, now believing himself a supernatural being.
He awoke more serene than ever before.
Xiu Quan began a teaching career and started to teach in several schools.
In 1843, at the age of 29 he attempted to take the Imperial examinations once again and was
unsuccessful. In despair, the young man got interested in Christianity.
He carefully studied the pamphlets that Edward Stephens had given to him,
which in time led him to conclude that his celestial father was God himself.
He was therefore a brother of Jesus Christ.
The now enlightened Xiu Quan started preaching his vision, and he was able to convert some of his relatives and friends,
as well as other people from around his home village.
With his devout cousin Hong Ren Gang,
Xiu Quan had two swords forged, that he baptized the demon slaying swords.
The cultists began to destroy Confucianist statues around the village and went to evangelize nearby settlements.
These outrageous acts led the villagers to expel them.
Xiu Quan and his converts briefly preached in the town of Canton,
and then traveled to the province of Guangxi in the West, that would become their headquarters.
In November 1844 he was allowed to return home to continue his teaching career, and he used the opportunity to develop further his new cult.
In 1847 Hong Xiu Quan and his cousin Ren Gang decided to pursue their study of Christianity with the help of another
American missionary, Issachar Jacox Roberts, in the town of Canton.
Later that year,
he was reunited with one of his first converts, and distant cousin
Feng Yun Shan, who had founded the Society of God Worshippers back in Guangxi province, a sect following Hong
Xiu Quan's interpretation of christianity. The movement grew strong and Xiu Quan wrote many texts of a free adaptation of the bible,
eventually creating his own Taiping bible, or "bible of the great Peace".
His influence was so strong that it spiked jealousy in many Western missionaries.
The young cult leader and his followers settled in Guangxi province, numbering more than 2,000 men and women.
The Chinese authorities do not clash of them at a time due to a troubling bandit presence in the region.
Paradoxically, many bandits joined the Society of God worshippers.
Inevitably, tension sparked between the Society and the local authorities
In 1850 Hong Xiu Quan counted practically 30,000 followers
Confident, some main figures such as Feng Yun Shan
started to speak of a complete rebellion against the Qing authorities.
The local administrators grew concerned, and in December
they dispatched troops to force a dispersion of the Society.To their surprise,
The God Worshippers successfully routed the Imperial forces and even executed a magistrate.
Outraged, on the 11th of January 1851,
the Chinese authorities launched a full attack on the base of the sect,
dispatching more than 7,000 men to crush the insurgents.
Once again, the indoctrinated followers repelled the imperial troops and executed the Manchu military commander
There the same day, Hong Xiu Quan
officially declared the Taiping heavenly kingdom to be founded. A new country defying the great Qing,
where he would be the supreme heavenly king.
Every day, more converts flocked to the Taiping kingdom. To simplify administration,
Hong named several lesser Kings, corresponding to the cardinal points.
Feng Yun Shan, one of the most influential figures became the South King.
The Qing regularly sent troops to crush the rebellion,
but the strong devotion and confidence of the pseudo Christians always allowed to prevail.
In May 1852,
the Taiping rebels started to march to Guangzhou County to evade the pursuing Qing.
On the 24th,
during a Qing skirmish, an imperial hand gunner managed to shoot Feng Yun Shan in his litter chair, and the wound would prove to be fatal.
In an enraged retalition, Hong ordered the city of Guangzhou to be breached and all inhabitants to be executed
The Taiping, heavenly kingdom continued to thrive. Its ambitious military leaders such as Yang Xiuqing, the East king,
Wei Changhui, the North King,
and Qin Rigang, one of Hong Xiuquan's trusted friends, decided in march 1853
to attack the town of Wuhan, and then Nanjing, the most important city of all southern China.
The three commanders led an army of half a million men and easily captured Nanjing
Hong established it as the Taiping capital, renaming it Tianjing, or "heavenly capital"
All manchu inhabitants, an ethnicity shared with the imperial family and high rank mandarins, were executed or thrown out of the town.
Expeditions were held to secure and gain more land around the town with moderate success.
In ten years, Hong Xiu Quan and his followers had been able to create their own Christianity, assemble a huge army and
establish their own country in southern China. However,
internal conflicts would soon trouble the prosperity of the kingdom.
Thank you for watching my first video, the second part will be linked in the description.
If you enjoyed it, please like it and subscribe to the channel
Should you have any questions relating to the topic, feel free to ask them in the comment section below :)