Hong Xiuquan’s hand-written response to Joseph Edkins.

This only surviving example of Hong Xiuquan’s theological thinking in his own handwriting dates from the spring of 1861. The writing in black ink is by the Rev. Joseph Edkins, who visited Nanjing at that time, and constitutes an argument for the incorporeality of God. Edkins argues that all references to God’s form, as they can be found in John’s Gospel, the epistle to Timothy, the Book of Revelation, Isaiah, and Exodus, must not be taken literally but must all be read as figurative (yu).

Hong’s comments are written across the same sheets in red ink. His displeasure can be seen at the very start, as he scores out Edkins’ title and suggests his own version. In the seventh line of the essay, seven characters down, Hong erases the reference to Jesus being God’s “only” son, and substitutes the word for “elder brother” (xiong). If Jesus were God’s only son, then clearly Hong could not be Jesus’ younger brother, and the change takes care of that. In the middle of line twelve, Hong erases the word “figurative” (yu) in relation to God’s form, and writes in the word for “real” (shi). He makes the same change at the top of lines thirteen and sixteen. The heavy red scoring in the middle of the essay shows Hong’s displeasure with Edkins’ reading of Revelation.

At the end of Edkins’ essay Hong scores out the last line which reaffirms the incorporeality of God, and writes out a poem of his own to clarify his theological points to Edkins. (The poem is translated on p. 289.) On the back of the sheet on which he wrote the poem can be seen the imprint, also in red, of the massive Taiping state seal. Some of this red ink has bled through the paper and marked the top center of the poem. The scattered blobs of red ink across the poem reflect, perhaps, the agitation of the Heavenly King as he wrote out his response.

This document is printed on the following pages by courtesy of the British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections.