The Taiping Rebellion, Part I — Hong Xiquan, Brother of JesusThe Taiping Rebellion was one of

The Taiping Rebellion, Part I — Hong Xiquan, Brother of JesusThe Taiping Rebellion was one of the bloodiest conflicts in history, yet it is a forgotten war remembered by few.  While certainly everyone knows about World War I and World War II, few people outside of China know anything about a war that cost the lives of over 20 million people. Furthermore the Taiping Rebellion would help form modern China, as it would expose the weakness of the old imperial system, and introduce China to radical rebellion and revolution.In 1836 a Chinese man named Hong Xiquan was traveling to the city of Guangzhou to take the civil service examinations.  Hong Xiquan was not a poor peasant yet not a member of the nobility, but rather someone of the middling sort. He was certainly no revolutionary, since he was taking the civil service examination to become a government official, which would earn him wealth and power.  On his way to Guangzhou he stopped to listen to the ministry of a group of Christian missionaries.  He absorbed the teaching of Christ, but thought little of it.Hong Xiquan failed the Imperial Examinations, as he had failed them several times before.  Becoming a part of the nobility was extremely difficult as the pass rate was only 1%.  The next year Hong Xiquan tried again, but once again failed.  The stress and pressure of failure caused Xiquan to have a mental breakdown.  During the breakdown he had several dreams and visions which would change his life and the destiny of China forever.  Once Xiquan arose from his affliction, he explained to his brother the visions that he had.  According to Xiquan, he was contacted by Jesus, who explained the he was his brother.  As the brother of Jesus, Xiquan was invested with a holy crusade to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and install a heavenly Christian kingdom in China.  Hong Xiquan at first preached to his family, then his community. His followers grew and grew, mainly because the area he lived in was predominantly Hakka, a small minority in Southern China who were disgruntled with the Manchu ruled Qing Dynasty.  Xiquan’s movement began at just the right time.  The 19th century saw the gradual weakening of the Chinese Empire due to political corruption, attacks by foreign colonial powers, a stagnating economy, social upheaval, and a terribly uneven distribution of wealth and power.  There were many people in China who wanted a drastic change.  Xiquan preached the overthrow of the corrupt Chinese Empire, an end to ancient Chinese religious and social traditions, as well as a redistribution and sharing of wealth.  To many of those disgruntled with the Qing Emperor, the teachings of Hong Xiqaun were very attractive.Over the next decade Hong Xiqaun’s movement would grow with the help of an American Baptist preacher named Issacar Roberts.  The followers of Xiquan, known as “The God Worshipers” soon became a local power to be reckoned with.  At first The God Worshipers were welcomed by Chinese officials, as they cleared the countryside of bandits and pirates, broke up gangs and mafia’s, and worked to help the poor.  But soon it became obvious that the intentions of The God Worshipers went far beyond that.  As they grew in power The God Worshipers tried to fundamentally transform the communities they controlled.  They destroyed Buddhist and Confucian religious symbols and literature, cast out local religious and political leaders, and supplanted Qing rule with a religious theocracy headed by Hong Xiqaun himself.By 1850 Hong Xiqaun had over 30,000 followers and dominated the town of Jiantin.  Xiqaun’s rebellion soon gained notice of of the Chinese Imperial Government, who grew alarmed at the growth of his movement and the drastic actions they took.  The Chinese Government ordered the local magistrate to snuff out the Xiqaun movement immediately.  In 1851 the local magistrate assembled an army of 7,000 Imperial troops to crush the rebellion, and end Hong Xiquan’s movement forever.To be Continued… -- source link

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