Convinced that he was the brother of Jesus Christ, Hong Xiuquan (1814–1864) launched one of the bloodiest wars in human history in 1851 when he attempted to overthrow the emperor of China and install himself as a new Christian monarch instead.
The war, known as the Taiping Rebellion, would last fourteen years and kill roughly 20 million soldiers and civilians. Although Hong was able to seize large amounts of territory for his Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, the tide turned after European powers sent troops to support the emperor. Hong committed suicide just before the collapse of his kingdom.
Hong was an aspiring teacher from southern China who had repeatedly failed the examination required to enter the Chinese civil service. After again flunking the test in 1837, he had a nervous breakdown and began to experience visions. In one dream, he claimed, God appeared to him and ordered him to rid the world of demon worship. The visions sparked his interest in Christianity, which had been introduced into China by Western missionaries.
By the time Hong began experiencing his visions, China was entering a disastrous period in its history. In the early nineteenth century, the nation suffered through a series of floods, droughts, famines, and foreign invasions. Many Chinese blamed the Qing emperor for the calamities, creating fertile ground for religious and political dissidents such as Hong.
After receiving religious training from an American missionary, Hong spent the 1840s preaching and gaining followers, most of them in southwestern China. He argued that the Qing emperor violated the Christian rules against idol worship.
The rebellion began in 1851, and Hong’s troops captured the city of Nanjing in 1853. He made the city his capital and proclaimed a series of laws that banned opium, gambling, slavery, and the ancient Chinese practice of binding the feet of young women. (He also issued an edict against polygamy, but kept a large harem of his own.)
After 1860, however, the emperor was bolstered by support from France and Britain. Hong killed himself in 1864; his son briefly tried to continue the revolt, but it was put down by the end of the year.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- The translation of the Bible that Hong provided to his followers altered several key passages that he found offensive. For instance, he removed the story in Genesis in which Judah has sex with the wife of his deceased son. Hong also changed King David’s title to marquis.
- Issachar J. Roberts (1802–1871), the Tennessee-born American preacher who introduced Hong to the Bible, went on to serve as a foreign minister in Hong’s government.
- When the Taiping revolt ended, the practice of binding the feet of young women was reestablished across China. It was not banned until 1911 and may have continued in secret for years afterward. Some elderly women in China have deformities caused by having their feet bound.
