The Taiping Rebellion was probably the most significant event that occurred in China prior to the creation of the Peoples Republic in 1949. This rebellion ran from 1851 to 1864 as an attempt to overthrow the ruling Qing (Manchu) Dynasty and create a whole new community that was egalitarian and puritanical nature grounded on quasi-Christian beliefs. This conflict was probably the bloodiest one in the history of the world, resulting in the deaths of over 20 million people. The uprising was so significant in Chinas history that even the communists under Mao Zedong acknowledged it and claimed it as part of the revolutionary heritage of the peasantry. At the same time as well, one could detect a pattern on how the Chinese government have been dealing with religious movements to the present from the Taipings of the 19th century to the Falun Gong in the present regardless of the change in regimes.
How did Hong Xiuqian arrive at his new vision of a Heavenly Kingdom
The leader of the movement was Hong Xiuquan. He was born in a village in Guangdong province to a family of farmers in 1814. At the age of seven, he began formal education at a place called the Book Chamber House until he was fifteen when his parents could no longer subsidize his schooling owing to their economic situation. Owing to his ability to recite the Four Classics proficiently, he became a tutor to the children of his village in order to be able to continue his education albeit privately. He took the preliminary examinations in his village and got first place. Buoyed by his success, he took the first-degree civil service examinations in the province where he met his first failure. He would eventually fail this very difficult exam three more times for the passing rate of this highly competitive examinations was 1 percent.
Hongs enlightenment began in 1836 while visiting Guangzhou (Canton) to take the civil service examinations when he encountered (Protestant) Christian missionaries teaching a religion considered alien to the Chinese yet out of a mixture of interest and intrigue, received summaries of and translations of the bible in Chinese. These translations were done by the Chinese missionary Liang Fa. After his last failure at the civil service examinations, Hong suffered a nervous breakdown and during his convalescence it was said he experienced mystical visions. Of these many visions, one particular vision had given him the impetus to start something new. This was the dream where Hong was carried to heaven and met a black-robed golden-bearded man who gave him a sword and magic seal, along with a mandate to purge China of the demons plaguing it. As his movement was gaining ground, he had an able lieutenant in Yang Xiuqing who served as the voice of God. He had proven to be a valuable partner to Hong as both men were more educated and served as the intellectual and spiritual bedrock.
Later on in his life, he understood this vision as an encounter with the Christian God whom the Chinese called Shangdi and Jesus Christ, who was revealed to be his older brother, making him the younger brother of the Messiah and was given a mission of saving China from utter chaos and destruction brought about by the devils plaguing it from the corrupt imperial officials to the greedy foreigners exploiting the Chinese people through their high-handedness and unfair practices. This was the result of his careful and thorough examination of the Christian tracts he had received and destroying all the Confucian and Buddhist materials in his house as he began to sell his vision and new ideas to the people in his village. He further increased his knowledge of Christianity under an American Baptist missionary named Issachar Roberts and was subsequently baptized into Christianity.
The result of which was Hong preached a brand of Christianity that had Protestant influences, owing to Roberts unorthodox style of evangelization and teaching as well as Liangs indigenized version. Under his version of Christianity, where he proclaimed himself as the younger brother of Christ, he promised social reforms, consistent with Christian teachings, equality, separation of the sexes and the abolition of the evil practices of Confucianism such as the practice of foot-binding among women. They also attempted to create a distinct culture where men continue to sport long hair but different from the pig-tailed queue of the Qings. Because of this, and with the help of Yang, he was able to gradually gain a huge following. When the Qings persecuted them, it was only then that they began to raise and army not only to defend themselves but also to challenge the Qings and attempt to overthrow it.
Why did the peasants of Guangxi rally around his cause What roles did religious belief, ethnic tensions, economic distress and social tensions play in fueling the rebellion
There were underlying circumstances that helped give rise to the Taiping Rebellion. One was the existing political and social system of China under the Qing Dynasty. Despite being a foreign regime, the Qings inherited the same traits as the Mings whom they deposed and were captivated by the trappings of power that surrounded them in the Forbidden City. They were no different from the Mings though the rest of the population resented them because they were foreign. Like previous dynasties before them, they were out of touch with the rest of the empire as eunuchs did the actual administration while keeping the emperor completely ensconced yet isolated and they were very oppressive to the people. This was further exacerbated by the governors of the provinces who acted like petty emperors in their own fiefdoms which practiced a semblance of feudalism that kept the lower classes poor and did little to alleviate their plight in a (Confucian) society that emphasized everyones position in society and that they must know their place in order to maintain harmony. To speak out or be out of place was considered a breach in the norms and did not sit well with society.
The poverty and suffering of the people was further exacerbated by natural calamities that came in the form of droughts and the perennial flooding of Chinas major rivers, the Yangtze and Huang Ho (Yellow) which led to famines, contributing to more deaths. Owing to their superstitious nature, a lot of people regarded these calamities as a sign that the Qings did not have the Mandate of Heaven, the hallmark of the political legitimacy in any dynasty. The loss of this mandate would invite movements to emerge and challenge the incumbent dynasty and attempt to overthrow it and replace it with a new one based on the character of the new set of rulers.
Another factor was the arrival of the foreigners who came to secure concessions in China. They came in two forms traders seeking markets for their products and a place to start a business to further gain more profit and missionaries and teachers, both Catholic and Protestant out to win more souls for their faith and congregation as well as bring civilization to a people who believed they were more civilized than the westerners (Spence, 4-8). The Chinese were wary of the former because of their intentions and this became apparent following the Opium Wars where the defeated Chinese imperial leaders were compelled to sign unequal treaties that led to the cession of some of their territories to these foreign devils who not only exploited their natural resources, but also enslaved their people and lived with impunity owing to the extraterritorial rights they enjoyed which gave them immunity from the local laws and courts even if they were found guilty of a crime. At the same time, the defeat of the Qings in the Opium Wars to the superior technological might of the western powers destroyed their prestige within their subjects as their invincibility was revealed to be false. At the same time, this further validated the hunches of the superstitious that the Qings had indeed lost the Mandate of Heaven.
On the distaff side, it was the foreign missionaries and teachers that were considered the friendliest barbarians as opposed to the merchants and soldiers who exploited the people. The poorest in society found escape through Christian teachings and Christianity gradually gained a following. Their promises of heavenly rewards and other Christian virtues somewhat had an appeal to those disillusioned with Confucian teachings they found too rigid as well as the corrupt and insensitive political leaders who left them to their devices. The missionaries managed to win a struggle to translate the Scriptures into Chinese as the Qings refused owing to their xenophobic nature. As the Bible was translated into Chinese, more and more adherents came in and these local adherents would be the new evangelists spreading the word in their native language and were proven to be more effective. One such evangelist was Liang Fa, whose tracts were read by Hong (Reilly 78-79).
Like the other Christian missionaries, the poor of Guangxi were drawn to Hong charismatic preaching for the very same reasons stated above. The difference was Hong believed he was given a mission and he needed to organize an army to rid China of the demons that plague it and he found willing recruits among the poor and his teachings, which was his own interpretation of the Scriptures was more appealing for it had nationalistic flavor as he succeeded in localizing or indigenzing Christianity though it deviated from the original teachings since he proclaimed himself as the younger brother of Christ. These impoverished masses had borne the oppression of the Qings far too long that there had been several attempts to overthrow it but they were unsuccessful for lack of unity and the quality of their forces when arrayed against the imperial army not to mention the lack of a strong leader that could unify them under a common cause. Hongs arrival into the scene somewhat gave the anti-Qing movement a proverbial shot in the arm.
Why was the Qing response initially so inadequate, and how did it become more effective
The Taping forces Hong created was made up mainly of the Hakka people. Hongs authoritarian and charismatic leadership made it possible for him to raise a very competent army despite their peasant background. They manufactured their own weapons covertly as there was an existing law that forbade subjects to own weapons. They were able to produce a plethora of weapons, including cannons that were dug up from ancient sites or newly manufactured and had proven to be effective though crude.
Amazingly, the military organization of the Taipings revolved around an ancient idealized model which was centered on a series of units made up of over ten thousand men with a detailed command structure which was subdivided into two branches strategic and administrative or training which was flexible and rigorous. The military commanders widely distributed manuals such as military regulations, construction of camps and fortifications and combat formations. Discipline was rigidly enforced and punishments were severe when infractions were committed. When combined with Hongs teachings which motivated them, they were virtually invincible which enabled them to capture Nanjing and made it their capital for eleven years (Hooker Reilly, 118-119).
As for the Manchus initial setbacks, this was attributed to the centralized military organization. The imperial government forbade the creation of independent military organizations for fear they may undermine their authority. Furthermore, the apparent obstinacy of the imperial leaders in refusing to reform their military forces following their defeat in the Opium Wars made it even worse as the Taipings soundly defeated them.
Following their setback, the Qings reversed their policies and allowed provincial leaders to raise new armies which were better equipped with modern firearms and this time organized and made up of foreign mercenaries and led by Frederick Townsend Ward and later, Charles Gordon following Wards death. This well-equipped and well-trained force were up to the task of taking on the Taipings and they were so successful that they were called the Ever Victorious Army for they never suffered defeat at the hands of the Taipings (Hooker).
How are we to understand the Western reactions to the rebellion
Westerners had mixed reactions to the rebellion. One one hand, it was welcomed in the sense that some sectors found the Qings stubborn and even supported the Taipings with the hope that they could help reform China and make it more receptive to them owing to Hongs adherence to Christianity and his crusade to rid China of its old ways. This mainly came from the Christian missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, who were initially persecuted by the imperial government in their attempt to spread Christianity in China. Following the creation of the Taiping kingdom in Nanjing, the Taipings or God-worshippers made a very good impression on foreign missionaries who would visit and found a seemingly orderly society where the residents were made to (forcibly) to adhere to Christianity and renounce their old beliefs which impressed the foreign missionaries (Reilly, 120).
Upon the establishment of the Taiping kingdom in Nanjing however, western attitudes to the Taipings changed when news of the atrocities they were committing in neighboring areas raised fears and anxieties of their attitudes, especially when they found about Hongs perverted or distorted view of Christianity which they found blasphemous especially when hearing that he proclaimed himself as the son of God and younger brother of Christ. For some businessmen, they were also a threat to the Opium trade as the Taipings also banned the trade in their territory, threatening their business interests. What further raised western anxieties was that the Taipings were moving into the cities where they had enclaves and the media helped heighten the fears that the atrocities would be brought upon them as well. These accounts made them gradually become less supportive of the Taipings to the point of being openly hostile as evidenced when British and French troops opened fire at Taiping forces approaching Shanghai.
What were the weakness of the new Taiping regime in Nanjing
Despite their earlier success leading to the capture of Nanjing, the Taipings eventually collapsed owing to the weaknesses that showed later on. Despite Hongs charismatic leadership, the defects of the Taiping dynasty were beginning to unravel and thereby undermine the prestige and the invincibility as well as the moral legitimacy of the Taipings. On top of which was Hong himself. In Nanjing, their capital, the Taipings behaved like the Qings they wanted to replace in the sense that they also followed the same hierarchical structure of an imperial court. Owing to his self-styled divine authority, Hong did not actively participate in the administration of his kingdom and was rarely seen in public, leaving administrative matters to his lieutenants. Despite teaching Christianity albeit based on his interpretation of the Scriptures, Hong maintained concubines numbering thousands which ran counter to Christian teachings of monogamy. His lieutenants also practiced the same thing. It was because of this that the foreign missionaries who at first used to admire the Taipings became disillusioned because of Hongs perversion of the faith to the point of even calling it a heresy (Hooker).
Based on the account of his former religious mentor, Issachar Roberts, Hong was mentally unstable after spending nearly two years with him in Nanjing. He ruled like an emperor and named his relatives and lieutenants as kings of the north, south, east and west. Unfortunately, a power struggle ensued between them with Hong supporting the East king on one occasion only to turn against him subsequently for fear of being betrayed and conspiring to overthrow him. He even made two of his illiterate brothers kings to contain the others out of suspicion to make sure they would not challenge his authority (Spence, 243). When the Taipings were besieged, thereby starving the people, he forbade his subjects to take refuge outside Nanjing and ordered them to eat what claimed was manna from heaven but was in fact poisonous plants growing within the city under the pain of death.
The Taiping rulers also failed to live up to their promises of creating a utopian society of equality and freedom owing to their haphazard way of administering their kingdom. There was no civil administration that would directly meet the needs of their followers. They failed to implement the promised reforms such as land reform that could have ensured the continued loyalty of the people as well as keep them happy as their needs were met. The sight of their leaders emulating Qing practices made them even more disillusioned. The Taipings concentrated primarily in maintaining their army and focused too much in administering the cities but failed to extend this in the rural areas that were covered in their territory (Hooker).
Militarily, because of Hongs emerging incompetence on account of his mental instability and the chaos it had caused, the Taipings failed to coordinate with the other uprisings occurring elsewhere in the southwest and northwest of China that was also happening at the same time where they could have had the chance to consolidate to form a much stronger front against the Qings who were also preoccupied with the Second Opium War against the British and the French and were eventually defeated by the latter and subjected to yet another humiliating treaty (Hooker).
In conclusion, the Taiping Rebellion underscores why incumbent regimes, from the Qings to the Peoples Republic are very wary of religious movements, whether it is Christianity, (Tibetan) Buddhism or a spiritual sect like the Falun Gong. They are foreign in nature and despite their spiritual leanings, pose a threat to the security and stability of the Chinese state.
Looking at it from another perspective, the Taiping Rebelion had validated itself as one of the significant events in Chinas history in the sense that the communists acknowledged it as the early struggle of the masses against a corrupt and oppressive regime even though it subscribed to a different ideology. In addition, it succeeded where other uprisings had failed and their success, exposed the weaknesses of the dying dynasty and paved the way for future uprisings to succeed.
How did Hong Xiuqian arrive at his new vision of a Heavenly Kingdom
The leader of the movement was Hong Xiuquan. He was born in a village in Guangdong province to a family of farmers in 1814. At the age of seven, he began formal education at a place called the Book Chamber House until he was fifteen when his parents could no longer subsidize his schooling owing to their economic situation. Owing to his ability to recite the Four Classics proficiently, he became a tutor to the children of his village in order to be able to continue his education albeit privately. He took the preliminary examinations in his village and got first place. Buoyed by his success, he took the first-degree civil service examinations in the province where he met his first failure. He would eventually fail this very difficult exam three more times for the passing rate of this highly competitive examinations was 1 percent.
Hongs enlightenment began in 1836 while visiting Guangzhou (Canton) to take the civil service examinations when he encountered (Protestant) Christian missionaries teaching a religion considered alien to the Chinese yet out of a mixture of interest and intrigue, received summaries of and translations of the bible in Chinese. These translations were done by the Chinese missionary Liang Fa. After his last failure at the civil service examinations, Hong suffered a nervous breakdown and during his convalescence it was said he experienced mystical visions. Of these many visions, one particular vision had given him the impetus to start something new. This was the dream where Hong was carried to heaven and met a black-robed golden-bearded man who gave him a sword and magic seal, along with a mandate to purge China of the demons plaguing it. As his movement was gaining ground, he had an able lieutenant in Yang Xiuqing who served as the voice of God. He had proven to be a valuable partner to Hong as both men were more educated and served as the intellectual and spiritual bedrock.
Later on in his life, he understood this vision as an encounter with the Christian God whom the Chinese called Shangdi and Jesus Christ, who was revealed to be his older brother, making him the younger brother of the Messiah and was given a mission of saving China from utter chaos and destruction brought about by the devils plaguing it from the corrupt imperial officials to the greedy foreigners exploiting the Chinese people through their high-handedness and unfair practices. This was the result of his careful and thorough examination of the Christian tracts he had received and destroying all the Confucian and Buddhist materials in his house as he began to sell his vision and new ideas to the people in his village. He further increased his knowledge of Christianity under an American Baptist missionary named Issachar Roberts and was subsequently baptized into Christianity.
The result of which was Hong preached a brand of Christianity that had Protestant influences, owing to Roberts unorthodox style of evangelization and teaching as well as Liangs indigenized version. Under his version of Christianity, where he proclaimed himself as the younger brother of Christ, he promised social reforms, consistent with Christian teachings, equality, separation of the sexes and the abolition of the evil practices of Confucianism such as the practice of foot-binding among women. They also attempted to create a distinct culture where men continue to sport long hair but different from the pig-tailed queue of the Qings. Because of this, and with the help of Yang, he was able to gradually gain a huge following. When the Qings persecuted them, it was only then that they began to raise and army not only to defend themselves but also to challenge the Qings and attempt to overthrow it.
Why did the peasants of Guangxi rally around his cause What roles did religious belief, ethnic tensions, economic distress and social tensions play in fueling the rebellion
There were underlying circumstances that helped give rise to the Taiping Rebellion. One was the existing political and social system of China under the Qing Dynasty. Despite being a foreign regime, the Qings inherited the same traits as the Mings whom they deposed and were captivated by the trappings of power that surrounded them in the Forbidden City. They were no different from the Mings though the rest of the population resented them because they were foreign. Like previous dynasties before them, they were out of touch with the rest of the empire as eunuchs did the actual administration while keeping the emperor completely ensconced yet isolated and they were very oppressive to the people. This was further exacerbated by the governors of the provinces who acted like petty emperors in their own fiefdoms which practiced a semblance of feudalism that kept the lower classes poor and did little to alleviate their plight in a (Confucian) society that emphasized everyones position in society and that they must know their place in order to maintain harmony. To speak out or be out of place was considered a breach in the norms and did not sit well with society.
The poverty and suffering of the people was further exacerbated by natural calamities that came in the form of droughts and the perennial flooding of Chinas major rivers, the Yangtze and Huang Ho (Yellow) which led to famines, contributing to more deaths. Owing to their superstitious nature, a lot of people regarded these calamities as a sign that the Qings did not have the Mandate of Heaven, the hallmark of the political legitimacy in any dynasty. The loss of this mandate would invite movements to emerge and challenge the incumbent dynasty and attempt to overthrow it and replace it with a new one based on the character of the new set of rulers.
Another factor was the arrival of the foreigners who came to secure concessions in China. They came in two forms traders seeking markets for their products and a place to start a business to further gain more profit and missionaries and teachers, both Catholic and Protestant out to win more souls for their faith and congregation as well as bring civilization to a people who believed they were more civilized than the westerners (Spence, 4-8). The Chinese were wary of the former because of their intentions and this became apparent following the Opium Wars where the defeated Chinese imperial leaders were compelled to sign unequal treaties that led to the cession of some of their territories to these foreign devils who not only exploited their natural resources, but also enslaved their people and lived with impunity owing to the extraterritorial rights they enjoyed which gave them immunity from the local laws and courts even if they were found guilty of a crime. At the same time, the defeat of the Qings in the Opium Wars to the superior technological might of the western powers destroyed their prestige within their subjects as their invincibility was revealed to be false. At the same time, this further validated the hunches of the superstitious that the Qings had indeed lost the Mandate of Heaven.
On the distaff side, it was the foreign missionaries and teachers that were considered the friendliest barbarians as opposed to the merchants and soldiers who exploited the people. The poorest in society found escape through Christian teachings and Christianity gradually gained a following. Their promises of heavenly rewards and other Christian virtues somewhat had an appeal to those disillusioned with Confucian teachings they found too rigid as well as the corrupt and insensitive political leaders who left them to their devices. The missionaries managed to win a struggle to translate the Scriptures into Chinese as the Qings refused owing to their xenophobic nature. As the Bible was translated into Chinese, more and more adherents came in and these local adherents would be the new evangelists spreading the word in their native language and were proven to be more effective. One such evangelist was Liang Fa, whose tracts were read by Hong (Reilly 78-79).
Like the other Christian missionaries, the poor of Guangxi were drawn to Hong charismatic preaching for the very same reasons stated above. The difference was Hong believed he was given a mission and he needed to organize an army to rid China of the demons that plague it and he found willing recruits among the poor and his teachings, which was his own interpretation of the Scriptures was more appealing for it had nationalistic flavor as he succeeded in localizing or indigenzing Christianity though it deviated from the original teachings since he proclaimed himself as the younger brother of Christ. These impoverished masses had borne the oppression of the Qings far too long that there had been several attempts to overthrow it but they were unsuccessful for lack of unity and the quality of their forces when arrayed against the imperial army not to mention the lack of a strong leader that could unify them under a common cause. Hongs arrival into the scene somewhat gave the anti-Qing movement a proverbial shot in the arm.
Why was the Qing response initially so inadequate, and how did it become more effective
The Taping forces Hong created was made up mainly of the Hakka people. Hongs authoritarian and charismatic leadership made it possible for him to raise a very competent army despite their peasant background. They manufactured their own weapons covertly as there was an existing law that forbade subjects to own weapons. They were able to produce a plethora of weapons, including cannons that were dug up from ancient sites or newly manufactured and had proven to be effective though crude.
Amazingly, the military organization of the Taipings revolved around an ancient idealized model which was centered on a series of units made up of over ten thousand men with a detailed command structure which was subdivided into two branches strategic and administrative or training which was flexible and rigorous. The military commanders widely distributed manuals such as military regulations, construction of camps and fortifications and combat formations. Discipline was rigidly enforced and punishments were severe when infractions were committed. When combined with Hongs teachings which motivated them, they were virtually invincible which enabled them to capture Nanjing and made it their capital for eleven years (Hooker Reilly, 118-119).
As for the Manchus initial setbacks, this was attributed to the centralized military organization. The imperial government forbade the creation of independent military organizations for fear they may undermine their authority. Furthermore, the apparent obstinacy of the imperial leaders in refusing to reform their military forces following their defeat in the Opium Wars made it even worse as the Taipings soundly defeated them.
Following their setback, the Qings reversed their policies and allowed provincial leaders to raise new armies which were better equipped with modern firearms and this time organized and made up of foreign mercenaries and led by Frederick Townsend Ward and later, Charles Gordon following Wards death. This well-equipped and well-trained force were up to the task of taking on the Taipings and they were so successful that they were called the Ever Victorious Army for they never suffered defeat at the hands of the Taipings (Hooker).
How are we to understand the Western reactions to the rebellion
Westerners had mixed reactions to the rebellion. One one hand, it was welcomed in the sense that some sectors found the Qings stubborn and even supported the Taipings with the hope that they could help reform China and make it more receptive to them owing to Hongs adherence to Christianity and his crusade to rid China of its old ways. This mainly came from the Christian missionaries, both Catholic and Protestant, who were initially persecuted by the imperial government in their attempt to spread Christianity in China. Following the creation of the Taiping kingdom in Nanjing, the Taipings or God-worshippers made a very good impression on foreign missionaries who would visit and found a seemingly orderly society where the residents were made to (forcibly) to adhere to Christianity and renounce their old beliefs which impressed the foreign missionaries (Reilly, 120).
Upon the establishment of the Taiping kingdom in Nanjing however, western attitudes to the Taipings changed when news of the atrocities they were committing in neighboring areas raised fears and anxieties of their attitudes, especially when they found about Hongs perverted or distorted view of Christianity which they found blasphemous especially when hearing that he proclaimed himself as the son of God and younger brother of Christ. For some businessmen, they were also a threat to the Opium trade as the Taipings also banned the trade in their territory, threatening their business interests. What further raised western anxieties was that the Taipings were moving into the cities where they had enclaves and the media helped heighten the fears that the atrocities would be brought upon them as well. These accounts made them gradually become less supportive of the Taipings to the point of being openly hostile as evidenced when British and French troops opened fire at Taiping forces approaching Shanghai.
What were the weakness of the new Taiping regime in Nanjing
Despite their earlier success leading to the capture of Nanjing, the Taipings eventually collapsed owing to the weaknesses that showed later on. Despite Hongs charismatic leadership, the defects of the Taiping dynasty were beginning to unravel and thereby undermine the prestige and the invincibility as well as the moral legitimacy of the Taipings. On top of which was Hong himself. In Nanjing, their capital, the Taipings behaved like the Qings they wanted to replace in the sense that they also followed the same hierarchical structure of an imperial court. Owing to his self-styled divine authority, Hong did not actively participate in the administration of his kingdom and was rarely seen in public, leaving administrative matters to his lieutenants. Despite teaching Christianity albeit based on his interpretation of the Scriptures, Hong maintained concubines numbering thousands which ran counter to Christian teachings of monogamy. His lieutenants also practiced the same thing. It was because of this that the foreign missionaries who at first used to admire the Taipings became disillusioned because of Hongs perversion of the faith to the point of even calling it a heresy (Hooker).
Based on the account of his former religious mentor, Issachar Roberts, Hong was mentally unstable after spending nearly two years with him in Nanjing. He ruled like an emperor and named his relatives and lieutenants as kings of the north, south, east and west. Unfortunately, a power struggle ensued between them with Hong supporting the East king on one occasion only to turn against him subsequently for fear of being betrayed and conspiring to overthrow him. He even made two of his illiterate brothers kings to contain the others out of suspicion to make sure they would not challenge his authority (Spence, 243). When the Taipings were besieged, thereby starving the people, he forbade his subjects to take refuge outside Nanjing and ordered them to eat what claimed was manna from heaven but was in fact poisonous plants growing within the city under the pain of death.
The Taiping rulers also failed to live up to their promises of creating a utopian society of equality and freedom owing to their haphazard way of administering their kingdom. There was no civil administration that would directly meet the needs of their followers. They failed to implement the promised reforms such as land reform that could have ensured the continued loyalty of the people as well as keep them happy as their needs were met. The sight of their leaders emulating Qing practices made them even more disillusioned. The Taipings concentrated primarily in maintaining their army and focused too much in administering the cities but failed to extend this in the rural areas that were covered in their territory (Hooker).
Militarily, because of Hongs emerging incompetence on account of his mental instability and the chaos it had caused, the Taipings failed to coordinate with the other uprisings occurring elsewhere in the southwest and northwest of China that was also happening at the same time where they could have had the chance to consolidate to form a much stronger front against the Qings who were also preoccupied with the Second Opium War against the British and the French and were eventually defeated by the latter and subjected to yet another humiliating treaty (Hooker).
In conclusion, the Taiping Rebellion underscores why incumbent regimes, from the Qings to the Peoples Republic are very wary of religious movements, whether it is Christianity, (Tibetan) Buddhism or a spiritual sect like the Falun Gong. They are foreign in nature and despite their spiritual leanings, pose a threat to the security and stability of the Chinese state.
Looking at it from another perspective, the Taiping Rebelion had validated itself as one of the significant events in Chinas history in the sense that the communists acknowledged it as the early struggle of the masses against a corrupt and oppressive regime even though it subscribed to a different ideology. In addition, it succeeded where other uprisings had failed and their success, exposed the weaknesses of the dying dynasty and paved the way for future uprisings to succeed.
No comments:
Post a Comment