The Taiping Rebellion was a rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan who was a Christian convert. He version of Christianity was a bit strange though; he integrated ancestor worship into the religion, saying that the ancestors were God and Jesus’ wives. Hong believe he was Jesus’ very own little brother. This was considered blasphemous by the western Christian world, but it was exactly what some people in China wanted to hear. Hong gathered a following during the time of turmoil surrounding the Opium Wars. People were frustrated with the Manchus, and Hong gave them something to believe in, and later, an alternative government. Hong’s group began fighting banditry in the 1840’s, and later began fighting the Manchus themselves. Hong had a lot of support in the south, and this is where he built his empire. 20,000 people took up arms when he called them too it. (Fairbanks)
He declared a new nation in 1851: the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, or 太 平 天 國 (tai4 ping2 tian1 guo2). (“Taiping Rebellion”) The people who followed Hong let their hair grow out in defiance of the Qing statute requiring them to shave the front of their heads. It was a “China for the Chinese” movement that was intertwined with a different form of religion. At first, people were very optimistic for its success. The movement had a strong, virtuous leader, and enthusiastic followers. When Hong declared that he had a kingdom, the claim wasn’t entirely without validity: there was a good chunk of Taiping controlled land in China.
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The picture above depicts a battle scene from the war of the Taiping rebellion. It was extremely bloody, and an estimated 30 million people died as a result of it – most of them Chinese. (“Taiping Rebellion”) The Manchus couldn’t handle the southern, humid climate of the battle fields where the war was fought. It was the last major war fought primarily with sharp-edged, hand-to-hand weapons that the world would see. (Fairbanks) The rebellion eventually failed, and the Qing reclaimed control. This is mostly because of a steady decline in the competency, vituosity of its leaders. In the end, there were very few good leaders left for the movement, and they showed up far too late to save it. (The old leadership of the new kingdom killed eachother off.) The Manchu commanders Li Hongzheng and Zeng Guofan were instrumental in putting the rebellion down.
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