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80-772: Anqing was built during the Southern Song dynasty in 1217. Anqing was held by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for almost nine years, from June 1853 to December 1861. It served as the capital of the Taiping's Anhui province during this period. The final Battle of Anqing , in which the Qing forces laid siege to the city, began in 1860, and the Xiang Army and other Qing forces were able to retake Anqing by December 1861. The constant battles around Anqing devastated

160-621: A 1856 purge that spiraled into the further purge of more Taiping leaders. The kingdom gradually lost ground and in June 1864, in the face of Qing advance, Hong died following a period of illness and was succeeded by his son, Hong Tianguifu . Nanjing fell a month later. Hong Xiuquan, born "Hong Huoxiu", was the third and youngest son of a Hakka family living in the village of Fuyuan Springs (also referred to as Fuyuanshui village ), Hua county (now part of Huadu District ) in Guangzhou . His father

240-674: 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

320-616: 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 missions in China began working from Portuguese Macao , Pazhou , and Guangzhou . Their household staff and

400-509: 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. Four months before the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan abdicated in favour of Hong Tianguifu , his eldest son, who

480-439: 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 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

560-671: A former charcoal and firewood salesman of Guangxi , who claimed to act as a voice of the Supreme Emperor. Feng Yunshan formed the God Worshipping Society in Guangxi after a missionary journey there in 1844 to spread Hong's ideas. In 1847, Hong became the leader of the secret society. The Taiping faith, inspired by missionary Christianity, says one historian, "developed into a dynamic new Chinese religion... Taiping Christianity". Hong presented this religion as

640-662: A leader in the Li Yonghe rebellion in Sichuan. 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. Within the land that it controlled, the Taiping Heavenly Army established totalitarian, theocratic, and highly militarised rule. In 1the Gan Prince Hong Rengan, with

720-528: A rampage, burning 40,000 Manchus to death within the city. They first killed all the Manchu men, and then the Manchu women and Manchu children were burned to ashes. 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

800-670: A rebel army and routed the Qing forces at Jintian , marking the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion. He then declared himself the Heavenly King of the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace. Taiping rebels captured the city of Nanjing in March 1853 and declared it the Heavenly Capital of the kingdom, after which Hong withdrew to his new palace and began ruling through proclamations. He became increasingly suspicious of Yang Xiuqing , his fellow Taiping leader, and engineered Yang's murder in

880-518: A revival and a restoration of the ancient classical faith in Shangdi. 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 guerrilla activity, and then into civil war . In some Marxist historiography, the Taiping Rebellion is viewed as a proto-communist uprising. The Jintian Uprising began in 1850 in Guangxi. On 11 January 1851 (the 11th day of

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960-467: A sword and golden seal with which to slay the demons infesting Heaven. Furthermore, he did so with the help of his celestial older-brother and a heavenly army. The father figure later informed Hong that his given name violated taboos and had to be changed, suggesting as one option the "Hong Xiuquan" moniker ultimately adopted by Hong. In later embellishments, Hong would declare that he also saw Confucius being punished by Hong's celestial father for leading

1040-486: A symbolic gesture to purge China of Confucianism, he and the cousin asked for two giant swords, three chi (1 meter (3.3 ft)) long and nine jin (about 4.5 kg), called the "demon-slaying swords" ( 斬妖劍 ), to be forged. Hong began by burning all Confucian and Buddhist statues and books in his house, and began preaching to his community about his visions. Some of his earliest converts were relatives of his who had also failed their examinations and belonged to

1120-651: A wealthy schoolmate elsewhere for a year of study and became a village schoolteacher upon his return. In 1836, at the age of 22, Hong returned to Guangzhou to retake the imperial examinations. While in Guangzhou, Hong heard Edwin Stevens , a foreign missionary, and his interpreter preaching about Christianity. From them, Hong received a set of pamphlets entitled "Good Words for Exhorting the Age", which were written by Liang Fa , Stevens's assistant, and contained excerpts from

1200-430: A yellow-silk shroud without a coffin according to Taiping custom, near the former Ming Imperial Palace . He was succeeded by his teenage son, Hong Tianguifu . On 30 July 1864, Qing forces exhumed, beheaded, and cremated Hong Xiuquan's body. Zeng Guofan had ordered this done to verify Hong Xiuquan's death. The ashes were blasted out of a cannon to ensure that his remains had no resting place, as an eternal punishment for

1280-694: Is located in the southwestern part of Anhui province, and on the northern shore of the lower Yangtze. To the north are the Dabie Mountains . Neighbouring prefectures are: The total area of the prefecture is 16,300 square kilometres (6,290 sq mi), with an urban area of 550 square kilometres (212 sq mi), which is only 3.4% of the total. Anqing has a four-season, monsoon -influenced humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa ), with chilly, damp winters and very hot, humid summers. Cold northwesterly winds from Siberia can occasionally cause nightly temperatures to drop below freezing (although snow

1360-664: Is therefore quite different from the rest of the province, which is predominantly Huizhou -speaking. Huangmei Opera is performed in the local dialect. The early presence of actors from Anqing in the world of Peking opera (Beijing Opera) has significantly impacted the development of this renowned Chinese theatrical art form. This influence is evident in various aspects, including language accents and cultural nuances within Peking Opera. The prefecture-level city of Anqing administers 10 county-level divisions , including 3 districts , 2 county-level cities and 5 counties . Anqing

1440-540: Is unclear. Tianpu Province, Jiangnan Province, and Sufu Province are all within present-day Jiangsu Province . Tianjing Province included the Taiping Prefecture , which borders Nanjing. Other provinces mentioned in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom sources are: Anhui , Jiangxi , Hubei , Zhejiang , Hunan , Fujian , Henan , Shandong (珊東), Guangxi , Guangdong , Yunnan , Sichuan , Guizhou , Shaanxi , Gansu , Zuili (罪隸), etc. However, most of them were under

1520-586: Is uncommon), while summer can see extended periods of 35 °C (95 °F)+ days. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 4.3 °C (39.7 °F) in January to 29.2 °C (84.6 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 17.20 °C (63.0 °F). Precipitation tends to reach a maximum in tandem with the meiyu (plum rains) while wintertime rainfall is generally light. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 30% in March to 54% in August,

1600-689: The Nicene Creed and said Arius was correct. 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. The Heavenly King proclaimed that he intended to establish a new dynasty of China. In its first year, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom minted coins that were 23 mm × 26 mm (0.91 in × 1.02 in) in diameter, weighing around 4.1 g (0.14 oz). The kingdom's name

1680-534: The Qing dynasty . The Heavenly Kingdom , or Heavenly Dynasty , 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 and convert to Protestant Christianity , Hong Xiuquan led an army that controlled a significant part of southern China during

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1760-661: The "God Worshipers" themselves. Both claimed to enter trances which allowed them to speak as a member of the Trinity ; God the Father in the case of Yang and Jesus Christ in the case of Xiao. When Hong and Feng returned in the summer of 1849, they investigated Yang and Xiao's claims and declared them to be genuine. Hong ministered to the faithful in outdoor meetings strongly resembling the Baptist tent revivals he had witnessed with Issachar Roberts. Most of Hong Xiuquan's knowledge of

1840-439: The "Hong Xiuquan's Former Residence Memorial Museum" ( 洪秀全故居紀念館 ), in his birthplace, where there is a longan tree planted by him. The museum's plate is written by the famous literary figure Guo Moruo (1892–1978). The residence and Book Chamber Building were renovated in 1961. There has been an active academic debate on the degree to which Hong is similar or dissimilar to Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi . Scholars that promote

1920-459: The Bible along with homilies and other material prepared by Liang. Supposedly, Hong only briefly looked over these pamphlets and did not pay much attention to them at the time. Unsurprisingly, he again failed the imperial examinations, which had a pass rate of less than one percent. In 1837, Hong attempted and failed the imperial examinations for a third time, leading to a nervous breakdown . He

2000-589: The Bible. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was based on Hong Xiuquan's syncretism with Christianity , which differed from mainstream Christian prayers, rituals, and holidays. The libraries of the Buddhist monasteries were destroyed, almost completely in the case of the Yangtze delta. Temples of Daoism , Confucianism, and other traditional beliefs were often converted to churches, schools or hospitals or defaced. In letters to missionary Joseph Edkins , Hong rejected

2080-591: The Flank King ). 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,

2160-533: The Hakka minority, Feng Yunshan and Hong Rengan . He collaborated with them to destroy holy statues in small villages, to the ire of local citizens and officials. Hong and his converts' acts were considered sacrilegious and they were persecuted by Confucians who forced them to leave their positions as village tutors. In April 1844, Hong, Feng Yunshan, and two other relatives of Hong left Hua county to travel and preach. They first journeyed to Guangzhou and preached in

2240-622: The One True God", his first substantial work. In November 1844, after having preached in Guangxi for five months, Hong returned home without Feng and resumed his previous job as a village teacher, while continuing to write religious tracts. In 1847, Hong Xiuquan was invited by a member of the Chinese Union to study with the American Southern Baptist missionary Reverend Issachar Jacox Roberts . Hong accepted

2320-462: The Taiping Rebellion. 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. In the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, there were three levels of local government: province (省), commandery (郡), and county (縣). According to a regulation promulgated in 1861 (the eleventh year of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, 太平天囯辛酉十一年),

2400-463: 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

2480-425: The Taiping élite had Yang and his family murdered in a purge that subsequently spun out of control, resulting in the further purge of its main perpetrator Wei Changhui. Following a failed attempt by the Taiping rebels to take Shanghai in 1860, Qing government forces, aided by Western officers, slowly gained ground. In the spring of 1864, Tianjing was besieged and dangerously low on food supplies. Hong's solution

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2560-577: 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. 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

2640-494: The age of five. He was able to recite the Four Books after five or six years. He then took the local entry-level civil service examinations and placed first. A few years later, he traveled to the provincial capital of Guangzhou to take the provincial examinations. He was unsuccessful and, his parents being unable to afford to continue his education, he was forced to return to agricultural work. The next year, he accompanied

2720-885: The approval of his cousin the Heavenly King, advocated several new policies, including: 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"

2800-460: The authorities, and responded by fleeing to join Hong's movement. The rising tension between the sect and the authorities was probably the most important factor in Hong's eventual decision to rebel. By 1850, Hong had between 10,000 and 30,000 followers. The authorities were alarmed at the growing size of the sect, and ordered them to disperse. A local force was sent to attack them when they refused, but

2880-645: The bus operators in Anqing, the Anqing Zhongbei Bus Company, is owned by a joint venture between Nanjing Public Utilities Development (formerly Nanjing Zhongbei) and RATP Dev Transdev Asia (RDTA). RDTA itself is a joint venture between Transdev and RATP Dev . Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom , or the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic monarchy which sought to overthrow

2960-481: The capital of their movement. After establishing his capital at Nanjing, Hong implemented an ambitious reform and modernization program. He created an elaborate civil bureaucracy, reformed the calendar used in his kingdom, outlawed opium use, and introduced a number of reforms designed to make women more socially equal to men. Hong ruled by making frequent proclamations from his Heavenly Palace, demanding strict compliance with various moral and religious rules. Most trade

3040-527: The city of Guilin , to which they laid siege . However, the fortifications of Guilin proved too strong, and Hong and his followers eventually gave up and set out northwards, towards Hunan . Here, they encountered an elite militia created by a local member of the gentry specifically to put down peasant rebellions. The two forces fought at Soyi Ford on 10 June 1852; the rebels were forced into retreat, and 20% of their troops were killed. However, in March 1853, Hong's forces managed to take Nanjing and turned it into

3120-535: The city receives 1,831 hours of bright sunshine annually. Anqing has one Yangtze River crossing , the Anqing Yangtze River Bridge . Anqing Tianzhushan Airport serves the city. The Nanjing–Anqing Intercity Railway opened in December 2015, allowing a 90-minute journey time to Nanjing , and 3 hours to Shanghai . Wuhan-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway is also under construction. One of

3200-542: The city, and it took long to fully recover. In 1938, the Japanese occupied Anqing, which again caused major damage to the city. Following the Japanese defeat, the capital of Anhui was moved to Hefei, which eventually lead to Anqing's gradual loss of status as one of the "Five Tigers of the Yangtze". The people of Anqing have a unique dialect that mixed with the Gan Chinese , Wu Chinese and Lower Yangtze Mandarin . It

3280-532: The control of the Qing dynasty. 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

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3360-576: The country were divided into 21 provinces, each with 11 commanderies, except for Jiangnan Province, which had 12 commanderies. However, this was planned for the establishment after the unification of the country, and the establishment during the revolution was not planned in this way. According to existing documents, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established five new provinces: Tianjing Province (天京省), Jiangnan Province (江南省), Tianpu Province (天浦省), Sufu Province (蘇福省), and Guifu Province (貴福省). The boundaries of its territory are unknown. The location of Guifu Province

3440-415: The courtesy name "Renkun." His sister, Hong Xuanjiao , became the commander of the female battalion during the Taiping Rebellion . Hong showed an interest in scholarship at an early age, so his family made financial sacrifices to provide a formal education for him, in the hope that he could one day complete all of the civil service examinations . Hong began studying at a primary school in his village at

3520-497: The elder brother that he had seen was Jesus Christ , and he had been directed to rid the world of demon worship. This interpretation led him to conclude that he was the literal son of God and younger brother to Jesus. In contrast to some of the later leaders of his movement, Hong appears to have genuinely believed in his ascent to Heaven and divine mission. After coming to this conclusion Hong began destroying idols and enthusiastically preaching his interpretation of Christianity. As

3600-605: The establishment of the "Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping". Note that in the seventh line, the name of the then yet-to-come kingdom is mentioned. 《斬邪留正詩》 Poem on Executing the Evil and Preserving the Righteous 手握乾坤殺伐權， In my hand I wield the Universe and the power to attack and kill, 斬邪留正解民懸。 I slay the evil, preserve the righteous, and relieve the people's suffering. 眼通西北江山外， My eyes see through beyond

3680-426: The execution of 70,000 people in Guangzhou , eventually one million people were killed throughout central Guangdong. 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. Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan (1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864), born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun ,

3760-525: The first lunar month), incidentally Hong Xiuquan's birthday, Hong declared himself " Heavenly King " of a new dynasty, the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace". 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. In 1853,

3840-420: The founding of the "Heavenly Kingdom of Transcendent Peace" on 11 January 1851. Despite this evidence of planning, Hong and his followers faced immediate challenges. The local Green Standard Army outnumbered them ten to one, and had recruited the help of the river pirates to keep the rebellion contained to Jintian. After a month of preparation the rebels managed to break through the blockade and fight their way to

3920-428: 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". He would also declare that he saw Confucius being punished by Hong's celestial father for leading

4000-465: The imperial examinations for the fourth and final time. It was only then, prompted by a visit by his cousin, that Hong took time to carefully examine the Christian pamphlets he had received. After reading these pamphlets, Hong came to believe that they had given him the key to interpreting his visions: his celestial father was God the Father (whom he identified with Shangdi from Chinese tradition),

4080-622: The imperial system. The deity of the Old Testament punished evil nations and rewarded those who followed his commandments, even music, food, and marriage laws. Hong made some minor changes in the text, such as correcting misprints and improving the prose style, but adapted the meaning elsewhere to fit his own theology and moral teachings. For instance, in Genesis 27:25 the Israelites did not drink wine, and in Genesis 38:16–26 he omitted

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4160-519: The imperial troops were routed and a deputy magistrate killed. A full-scale attack was launched by government forces in the first month of 1851, in what came to be known as the Jintian Uprising , named after the town of Jintian (which became Guiping , Guangxi ) where the sect was based. Hong's followers emerged victorious and beheaded the Manchu commander of the government army. Hong declared

4240-561: The invitation and traveled to Guangzhou with his cousin, Hong Rengan. Once there, Hong studied Karl Gützlaff's translations of the Old and New Testaments, converted to Protestantism and requested to be baptized by Roberts. Roberts refused to do so, possibly due to Hong being tricked by the other converts into requesting monetary aid from Roberts. Hong left Guangzhou on 12 July 1847 to search for Feng Yunshan. Although robbed of all of his possessions, including his demon-slaying sword, by bandits in

4320-455: The killing of troops loyal to Yang, in an event known as the Tianjing incident . The internal schism significantly weakened Taiping forces. 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,

4400-439: 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 Islam by his 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

4480-475: The opinion that a strong similarity exists between Li and Hong note that both rallied a large number of people behind a religious or spiritual cause in order to challenge the status quo . Scholars disputing a close relationship note that Li's political intentions are debatable. The following poem, titled Poem on Executing the Evil and Preserving the Righteous ( 斬邪留正詩 ), written in 1837 by Hong Xiuquan, illustrates his religious thinking and goal that later led to

4560-399: The outlying areas before heading northwest to White Tiger Village. There, Hong and Feng Yunshan parted ways before traveling some 400 kilometers (250 mi) to the southwest to the village of Sigu, Guiping county , Guangxi , where distant relatives of Hong's resided, including two early converts who had returned home. It is in or near Sigu that Hong begins to draft "Exhortations to Worship

4640-411: The people astray. His acquaintances would later claim that after awakening from his dreams Hong became more careful, friendly, and open, while his pace became imposing and firm and his height and size increased. Hong stopped studying for the imperial examinations and sought work as a teacher. For the next several years Hong taught at several schools around the area of his hometown. In 1843, Hong failed

4720-426: The people astray. 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 ,

4800-403: 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

4880-442: 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. Many within the Kingdom who resisted were subject to torture. In 1859, Hong Rengan ,

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4960-466: 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 . Farmers were heavily overtaxed, rents rose dramatically, and peasants started to desert their lands in droves. The Qing military had recently suffered

5040-407: The scriptures came from the books known as "Good Words to Admonish the Age" written by the Chinese preacher Liang Fa , as well as a localized Bible translated into Chinese. Many Western missionaries grew jealous of Hong and his local ministry. These competing missionaries were fond of spreading defamatory rumors such as his "lack of baptism." (Hong and his cousin were in fact both baptized according to

5120-422: The sexual relations between the father and his son's widow. Hong preached a mixture of communal utopianism, evangelism and oriental syncretism. While proclaiming sexual equality, the sect segregated men from women and encouraged all its followers to pay their assets into a communal treasury. When Hong returned to Guangxi, he found that Feng Yunshan had accumulated a following of around 2,000 converts. Guangxi

5200-435: The town of Meizixun , he eventually reached Thistle Mountain on 27 August 1847. There, he reunited with Feng and discovered the "Society of God-Worshippers" that Feng had founded. In January 1848, Feng Yunshan was arrested and banished to Guangdong , and Hong Xiuquan left for Guangdong shortly thereafter to once again reunite with Feng. In Feng and Hong's absence, Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui jointly emerged to lead

5280-531: The town of Yongan (distinct from places named Yong'an ), which fell to them on 25 September 1851. Hong and his troops remained in Yongan for three months, sustained by local landowners who were hostile to the Manchu-ruled Qing dynasty. The imperial army regrouped and launched another attack on the rebels in Yongan. Having run out of gunpowder, Hong's followers fought their way out by sword, and made for

5360-550: 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

5440-457: The uprising. Views and opinions on Hong differ greatly. The Communists under Mao Zedong generally admired Hong and his rebellion as a legitimate peasant uprising that anticipated their own. Sun Yat-sen came from the same area as Hong and was said to have identified with Hong since his childhood days. To honor his legacy, the People's Republic of China established a small museum in 1959,

5520-625: The visions was God the Father , his celestial elder brother was Jesus Christ , and he had been directed to rid the world of demon worship. He rejected Confucianism and began propagating a fusion of Christianity, Daoism and millenarianism , which Hong presented as a restoration of the ancient Chinese faith in Shangdi . His associate Feng Yunshan then founded the God Worshipping Society to spread Hong's teachings. By 1850, Hong's sect had over 10,000 followers and increasingly came into conflict with Qing authorities. In January 1851, Hong organized

5600-428: The way prescribed in the pamphlet "Good words to admonish the age"). In 1847, Hong began his translation and adaptation of the Bible, what came to be known as "Authorized Taiping Version of the Bible", or " The Taiping Bible ", which he based on Gutzlaff's translation. He presented his followers with the Bible as a vision of the authentic religion that had existed in ancient China before it was wiped out by Confucius and

5680-605: 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

5760-507: Was Hong Jingyang, a farmer and elected headman and his mother was surnamed Wang. No less than nine different dates are given for Hong Xiuquan's birth: Jian Youwen established based on documentary evidence that Hong was born on 1 January 1814. This date is accepted by most scholars, including noted Chinese historian Luo Ergang . Some sources claim his family was "well to do". He and his family moved to Guanlubu Village shortly after his birth. Upon marrying his wife Lai Xiying, Hong received

5840-429: Was a Chinese revolutionary and religious leader who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty . He established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over large portions of southern China, with himself as its " Heavenly King ". Born into a Hakka family in Guangzhou , Hong claimed to have experienced mystical visions after failing the imperial examinations . He came to believe that his celestial father he saw in

5920-534: Was a dangerous area at this time with many bandit groups based in the mountains and pirates on the rivers. Perhaps due to these more pressing concerns, the authorities were largely tolerant of Hong and his followers. However, the instability of the region meant that Hong's followers were inevitably drawn into conflict with other groups, not least because of their predominantly Hakka ethnicity. There are records of numerous incidents when local villages and clans, as well as groups of pirates and bandits, came into conflict with

6000-494: Was delirious for days to the point that his family feared for his life. While convalescing , Hong dreamed of visiting Heaven, where he discovered that he possessed a celestial family distinct from his earthly family, which included a heavenly father, mother, elder brother, sister-in-law, wife, and son. His heavenly father, wearing a black dragon robe and high-brimmed hat with a long golden beard, lamented that men were worshiping demons rather than he himself, and presented Hong with

6080-532: Was inscribed on the obverse and "Holy Treasure" ( Chinese : 聖寶 ) on the reverse; the kingdom also issued paper notes. 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. Similar purges were taken while defeating the Red Turban Rebellion (1854–1856) . In Guangdong , Governor Ye Mingchen oversaw

6160-789: 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. Just before his execution, Taiping Loyal King Li Xiucheng advised his enemies that war with

6240-478: Was suppressed, and some communal land ownership was introduced. Polygamy was forbidden and men and women were separated, although Hong and other leaders maintained groups of concubines. Yang Xiuqing , also known as the "Eastern King", was a fellow Taiping leader who had directed successful military campaigns, and who often claimed to speak with the voice of God. Hong became increasingly suspicious of Yang's ambitions and his network of spies. In 1856, he and others in

6320-403: Was to order his subjects to eat manna , which had been translated into Chinese as sweetened dew and a medicinal herb. Hong himself gathered weeds from the grounds of his palace, which he then ate. Hong fell ill in April 1864, possibly due to his ingestion of the weeds, and died on 1 June 1864. Although Hong likely died of his illness, suicide by poison has also been suggested. He was buried in

6400-433: 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. Only

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