Qin Rigang

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King of Yen

Qin Rigang
Nickname(s) Guiping, Guangxi
Born1821
Died1856 (aged 34–35)
Tianjing, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (modern Nanjing, Jiangsu, China)
Battles/wars Taiping Rebellion

Qin Rigang (秦日綱, 1821 – 1856), né Qin 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. [1]

Contents

Early life

Born in the Guiping district of Guangxi, Qin was a miner by trade, but had studied the military arts. [2] He began following Hong Xiuquan in the early days of the God Worshipper movement and was counted among Hong's most trusted friends. [3]

Leadership in the Taiping Rebellion

Qin was entrusted with key military assignments by Hong Xiuquan and eventually became a marquis of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and its fourth most senior military officer, behind only Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui, and Shi Dakai. [4] in 1854, Hong Xiuquan elevated him to the status of king, but this honor was subsequently revoked by Yang Xiuqing. [5]

The Jiangnan Daying were a military force employed twice by the Qing government to encircle Nanjing. The first time, 80,000 soldiers encircled Nanjing in March 1853, led by Qin Rigang and Li Xiucheng. In May 1856, he defeated forces under Imperial Commissioner Xiang Rong, forcing him to commit suicide.

Tianjing Incident and Death

Qin was executed, along with Wei Changhui, during the Tianjing Incident, a major internal conflict within the Taiping Rebellion. While consolidating power, Yang Xiuqing had sought to humiliate Qin, going so far as to threat him with imprisonment and enslavement for alleged failures in fulfilling his duties. [6] Shortly before seeking a title commiserate with Hong Xiuquan's, Yang dispatched Qin, Shi Dakai, and Wei Changhui to separate provinces. [7] Hong, viewing Yang's request as treasonous, alerted the three generals to return at once. [8] Qin arrived in Nanjing before the other two generals and was joined by Wei and his three thousand troops on September 1, 1856. [9] In consultation with Hong Xiuquan and his allies, the two generals decided not to wait for Shi Dakai's arrival. [10] Instead, they and their troops immediately stormed Yang's palace and slew him before he could escape. [11] They then slaughtered his family and followers within the palace, despite having agreed with Hong that only Yang was to die. [12] At this point, six thousand of Yang's followers remained in Nanjing. [13] Hong and his generals agreed to set a trap for those men. [14] Hong pretended to arrest Qin and Wei Changhui for their actions and invited Yang's followers to watch as the two were beaten. [15] Once the majority of Yang's followers were inside, the beatings ceased and Yang's followers were imprisoned inside the halls from which they were watching the beatings. [16] The next morning, they were all systemically slaughtered. [17] Killings of Yang's followers continued for three additional months. [18]

Shi Dakai finally reached Nanjing in October and blamed Wei for the excessive bloodshed. [19] Wei in turn suggested that Shi may be a traitor [20] Having been warned that he could be assassinated next, Shi fled Nanjing, leaving the same day he arrived. [21] That night, Wei and Qin Rigang stormed Shi's mansion and slaughtered his family and retinue. [22] Shi then consolidated an army of 100,000 and demanded the heads of Wei and Qin. [23] Qin was directed by Wei to block Shi's advance, while Wei plotted the imprisonment of Hong Xiquan. [24] Hong Xiuquan was able to preempt those plans, however, and had his bodyguards kill Wei. [25] Qin was lured back and killed shortly thereafter. [26]

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1856 (MDCCCLVI) was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 1856th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 856th year of the 2nd millennium, the 56th year of the 19th century, and the 7th year of the 1850s decade. As of the start of 1856, the Gregorian calendar was 12 days ahead of the Julian calendar, which remained in localized use until 1923.

Taiping Rebellion Rebellion in Qing-era China from 1850 to 1864

The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion or civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted from 1850 to 1864, although following the fall of Nanjing the last rebel army was not wiped out until 1871. After fighting the bloodiest civil war in world history, with 30 to 50 million dead, the established Qing government won decisively, although the outcome is considered a pyrrhic victory.

Hong Xiuquan Leader of the Taiping Rebellion

Hong Xiuquan, born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun, was a Hakka Chinese revolutionary who was the leader of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ.

Tianjing

Tianjing (天京), romanized at the time as Tienking, was the name given to Nanjing when it served as the capital of Hong Xiuquan's Heavenly Kingdom from 1853 to 1864, amid the Qing Empire's Taiping Rebellion.

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 Prince Gan 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 19th-century Chinese military leader in the Taiping Rebellion

Shi Dakai, born in Guigang, Guangxi, also known as 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 West King (西王)

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.

Jiangnan Daying (Chinese: 江南大營 or the Jiangnan Battalion; was an army group assembled by the Qing dynasty. The army group consist of mostly Green Standard Army, and their goal was to quell the Taiping Rebellion around the Jiangnan region. The army group twice encircled Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but were defeated by the Taiping forces on both occasions.

The Tianjing Incident occurred during the late Qing Dynasty from September 2 to October 1856. This was a major political internal conflict within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom which took place in its 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.

The First rout of the Jiangnan Battalion took place between 1853 and 1856 when the Qing government raised the Green Standard Army to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The action involved Qing forces surrounding the city of Nanking, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Yang Fuqing, born in Mei County, Guangdong, was a rebel leader during the middle and late Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government in 1855-1874. He was given the title tou wang (头王).

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Chinese oppositional state existing from 1851 to 1864

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognized oppositional state in China and Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Qing dynasty by Hong Xiuquan and his followers. The unsuccessful war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion. Its capital was at Tianjing.

<i>The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom</i> (TV series) Chinese television series about 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.

God Worshipping Society 19th-century Chinese religious movement which began the Taiping Rebellion

The God Worshipping Society was a religious movement founded and led by Hong Xiuquan which drew on his own unique interpretation of Christianity and combined it with Chinese folk religion, 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 had supposedly 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 and the younger brother of Jesus Christ who had been directed to rid the world of demon worship."

Fu Shanxiang Qing dynasty politician

Fu Shanxiang was a Chinese scholar from Nanjing who became Chancellor under the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was nearly successful in its attempts to overthrow the Qing dynasty in the 1850s. Fu is known as the first female Zhuangyuan in Chinese history.

Hu Jiumei (1830–1856) was a Chinese rebel during the Taiping Rebellion. A leading follower of Hong Xiuquan, she was known as one of the "Three Hu's".

The Western Expedition was a campaign by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom against the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion.

References

  1. ↑ Hakka People
  2. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 112, 124, 223 (1996)
  3. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 124, 223 (1996)
  4. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 223 (1996)
  5. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 235-36, 360 (1996)
  6. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 223, 236 (1996)
  7. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 237 (1996)
  8. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 237 (1996)
  9. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 242 (1996)
  10. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 242 (1996)
  11. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 242 (1996)
  12. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 242 (1996)
  13. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 242-43 (1996)
  14. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 243 (1996)
  15. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 243 (1996)
  16. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 243 (1996)
  17. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 243-44 (1996)
  18. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  19. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  20. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  21. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  22. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  23. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  24. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  25. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
  26. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 244 (1996)
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