The Taiping Rebellion

The size of China’s population is such that popular rebellions can attract millions of people and lead to conflict and devastation that can affect many millions. The Taiping Rebellion is an example of this, in that it caused the deaths of an estimated 20 million people in one way or another. The effort required by the state to combat the rebels was such that the Qing Dynasty never really recovered and it became inevitable that it would come to an end.

In 1850, Hung Hsiu-chuan (1814-64) came to believe that he was the younger brother of Jesus and was destined to create a Paradise on earth, in place of the existing Chinese state. He founded the Society for Worshipping God (Pai Shang-ti Hui) on the lines of a proto-Communist society. Old and disreputable practices including foot-binding, opium smoking and prostitution were banned and men and women were to be treated on an equal basis – albeit that they were organized into separate brigades. Very strict discipline was insisted upon and this contributed both to the fighting ability of the Taiping army and the high morale of its adherents.

On the first day of 1851, Hung declared himself the Heavenly King (Tien-wang) of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (Taiping Tien-kuo). The number of adherents rapidly increased to a million and the Taiping army marched on the great city of Nanking, which was taken and renamed the Heavenly Capital (Tien-ching). A campaign to capture the imperial capital of Beijing only narrowly failed, although other ventures were successful. While the Qing forces were unable to defeat the Taipings through military means, the leadership of the rebellion caused its own downfall because splits at the top, largely because of reasons of personal ambition, led to many people breaking away from the rebellion. Reductions in strength enabled government troops to defeat the smaller divisions in detail. However, fighting continued until 1864 and there were many reversals of fortune before victory could be claimed. In the wake of the fighting, many thousands of people migrated away from affected regions and neighbouring countries witnessed a significant rise in the numbers of Chinese migrants arriving there.

Subsequently, both the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Kuomintang of Chiang Kai-shek claimed the mantle of the Taiping as justification and precedent for their actions, even if both of those organisations discarded the religious components of the original movement. Although the Taiping Rebellion remains little known in the west, it was perhaps the most important event in China in the C19th.