The Taiping Rebellion,also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution,was a civil war in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted for 14 years,from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of Taiping-controlled Nanjing—which they had renamed Tianjing "heavenly capital"—in 1864. However,the last rebel forces were not defeated until August 1871. Estimates of the conflict's death toll range between 20 and 30 million people,representing 5–10% of China's population at that time. While the Qing ultimately defeated the rebellion,the victory came at a great cost to the state's economic and political viability.
Hong Xiuquan,born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun,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".
The Third Battle of Nanjing in 1864 was the last major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion in the Qing Empire. With the fall of Nanjing,the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,the rebellion came to an end. The Hunan Army,an unpaid and barely fed militia commissioned by the Qing Empire,lost all their discipline and committed mass-scale random murder,wartime rape,looting and arson against the civilians of Nanjing,seen as "rebels". 200,000–300,000 "rebels" were reported dead by Zeng Guofan,the commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army.
Hong Rengan was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was a distant cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Gan Wang resembled the role of a prime minister. He is a noted figure in history because of the sweeping reforms attempted under his rule,and because of his popularity in the West.
Yang Xiuqing,was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion.
Shi Dakai,born in Guigang,Guangxi,also known as the Wing King or phonetically translated as Yi-Wang,was one of the most highly acclaimed leaders in the Taiping Rebellion and a poet.
Xiao Chaogui was an important leader during the early years of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty of China. He was a sworn brother to Hong Xiuquan,the leader of the Taipings,and claimed to serve as a mouthpiece for Jesus Christ. Because of his importance to the rebellion,he was awarded the title of the "West King."
Feng Yunshan was the South King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,a distant cousin and early accomplice of Hong Xiuquan,and an important leader during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government. He was one of the first Taipings to be baptized and established the first group of God Worshippers during the 1840s. He was killed during the initial stages of the rebellion,prior to the establishment of the Taiping's capital of Tianjing at Nanjing.
Wei Changhui was the North King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom during the Taiping Rebellion.
Xiang was a place in Guangxi province where there was an idol to Gan. Feeling that Gan was an embodiment of immorality and other evils,Hong Xiuquan,Lu Liu and Feng Yunshan destroyed the idol and desecrated the temple to Gan in the 1840s.
The Xiang Army or Hunan Army was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called tuanlian to contain the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China. The name is taken from the Hunan region where the Army was raised. The Army was financed through local nobles and gentry,as opposed to through the centralized Manchu-led Qing dynasty. The army was mostly disbanded by Zeng after the re-capture of the Taiping capital at Nanking.
Qin Rigang,néQin Richang (秦日昌),was a Hakka military leader of the Taiping Rebellion,known during his military tenure as the King of Yen (燕王). He served under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration and led Taiping forces to many military victories. He was executed by Hong Xiuquan in 1856 because he had killed the family and followers of Shi Dakai during the Tianjing Incident. Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng were trained and taught by Qin.
The Tianjing Incident was a major internal political conflict within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occurring during the late Qing dynasty from September 2 to October 1856. The conflict itself took place in the Taiping's capital city Tianjing. A few key leaders of the Taiping Rebellion were killed:the East King Yang Xiuqing,the North King Wei Changhui and the Yan King Qin Rigang. More than 27,000 other opposition rivals including soldiers perished in the conflict as well. The Tianjing Incident was said to be one of the factors which led to the eventual failure of the Taiping Rebellion,as well as the turning point in its fate.
Xiang Rong was a Chinese military general and politician. He was born in Wuxi County,Chongqing,and was promoted from the rank of a foot soldier during the later years of the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). He was involved in early military operations against the Taiping Rebellion in Henan from 1850 onwards. From then he was a Senior Colonel,after one year the military promoted him be the tidu (提督) of Guangxi,even though he failed,he made the Taiping believers flee Guangxi.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,officially the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864),was a theocratic monarchy which sought to overthrow 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.
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is a Chinese television series based on the events of the Taiping Rebellion and the rise and fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the late Qing dynasty. The 48-episode series was first broadcast on CCTV in China in 2000. The series was also broadcast on STAR Chinese Channel in Taiwan and on ATV in Hong Kong.
The God Worshipping Society was a religious movement founded and led by Hong Xiuquan which drew on his own unique interpretation of Protestant Christianity and combined it with Chinese folk religion,based on the faith in Shangdi,and other religious traditions. According to historical evidence,his first contact with Christian pamphlets occurred in 1836 when he directly received American Congregationalist missionary Edwin Stevens' personal copy of the Good Words to Admonish the Age. He only briefly looked over and did not carefully examine it. Subsequently,Hong claimed to have experienced mystical visions in the wake of his third failure of the imperial examinations in 1837 and after failing for a fourth time in 1843,he sat down to carefully examine the tracts with his distant cousin Feng Yunshan,believing that they were "the key to interpreting his visions" coming to the conclusion that he was "the son of God the Father,Shangdi,and was the younger brother of Jesus Christ who had been directed to rid the world of demon worship."
The Red Turban Rebellion of 1854–1856 was a rebellion by members of the Tiandihui in the Guangdong province of South China.
Hong Xuanjiao,also known as Yang Yunjiao and Yang Xuanjiao,was a Chinese general and rebel leader during the Taiping Rebellion. She was said to be the younger sister of the leader of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom,Hong Xiuquan,and is the wife of Xiao Chaogui,the West King. She led women into the battlefield against the Qing dynasty for the Taiping cause.
The Battle of Changsha was fought in the early years of the Taiping Rebellion throughout 1852. After defeating Qing forces in Guangxi,the Taipings advanced into neighboring Hunan province. The city was heavily defended and a delay in the Taiping advance allowed Qing forces to reinforce the city. The first attempt to advance north was stopped at an ambush at the Suoyi ford in the Xiang River,where over 10,000 Taiping sailors and soldiers were killed.
Qing dynasty