Confucianism, had himself baptized and became a Christian.
Later Feng Yunshan went to Guangxi, where he preached Hong-style Christianity. Zijingshan (Mount Zijing), the center of the Taiping Rebellion, was the center of Feng’s missionary work. He stayed in his hometown and worked as a teacher while also working on several treatises, expanding his religious ideas. In the spring of 1847, Hong visited Guangzhou at Issachar J. Roberts’ invitation. Roberts was a Baptist missionary from the American South. Believing that Hong did not know much about the Bible, Roberts would not baptize him. Hong then decided to leave for Zijingshan, a mountainous region renowned for its ethnic diversity.
As a result of Feng’s hard work, many local residents joined Hong’s church. In collaboration with Feng, Hong set up the God-Worshipping Society (拜上帝会) and recruited more than 2,000 members. Several prominent figures joined the following, such as Yang Xiuqing 杨秀清 (1821–1856) and Xiao Chaogui 萧朝贵. Yang was a poor farmer and charcoal-burner who lost his father at an early age. Hardship made Yang tough, unyielding and quick-witted. Xiao, a decisive and strong-minded man, lived a life similar to Yang’s and the two were like brothers.
In one of his treatises, Perceiving the Good and the Bad of the World (原道觉世训), which combined Confucian Great Harmony with some Christian doctrines, Hong said that the Great Peace would be fulfilled worldwide very soon and the Heavenly Kingdom would be created on earth. Hong’s teachings offered hope and power to people who were suffering. It was in this treatise that Hong explained that Yanluo (demons) were the chief enemy of God. Hong strongly condemned all types of Yanluo and even led his followers to destroy the image of Confucius. Hong’s God-Worshipping Society won the support of many of the poor working class. A senior general from the Taiping Army later recalled that Hong’s followers were usually from destitute families.
The God-Worshipping Society was strongly disliked by landlords and the local gentry. In 1847, Feng was taken into custody by a militia organization led by the wealthy. It was decided that he should be sent back to his hometown even though he did not do anything illegal. As a result, the stability of the God-Worshipping Society was threatened. However, in April, 1848, Yang declared that the Heavenly Father, or God, had come down to earth and, by doing so, had consolidated the God-Worshipping Society in Zijingshan. Half a year later, Xiao, one of Yang’s closest friends joined the society.
The God-Worshipping Society’s leadership was thus comprised of Hong, Feng, Yang and Xiao; the four became sworn brothers. They revered Jesus as their eldest brother. Later, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai (1831–1863) joined them. They expanded their leadership, yet Hong took the lead. In the spring of 1850, Hong assumed an imperial yellow robe, usually the exclusive privilege of the emperor, and declared the beginning of Taiping Rebellion. Hong’s followers hailed him as the Heavenly King of Great Peace.1 The armed uprising formally started on November 4, 1850 in Jintian.2 Yang led the rebellion as the top military leader. Yang and Xiao, who were leading army advisers, issued an official proclamation, declaring God’s omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence,3 and called for all righteous men to join the Taiping army. The rebellion was reported to the imperial court of Qing, which, in the winter, sent troops to put down the rebels. However, Qing was unaware of what a threat the rebellion would pose to the dynasty.
Thanks to Yang’s efforts, the number of Taiping soldiers grew to more than 20,000 by the end of 1850. Yang and Xiao saw themselves as leading a powerful and well-disciplined army and adopted their regulations from The Book of Rites of the Western Zhou (周 礼), one of the most important of the Confucian classics. The following January, the Taiping Army celebrated Hong’s thirty-eighth birthday in Jintian and then began to march eastward. Within half a year, the army grew from five brigades to ten. The rapid growth of the Taiping Army shocked the imperial court. Angry at the corruption and inefficiency of the Guangxi government, it had the political and military governors replaced with new ones. None other than the well-known Lin Zexu was sent to Guangxi to supervise the work of rehabilitating Qing’s armed forces. Unfortunately, Lin passed away en route. Another high-ranking governor was immediately sent to Guangxi. When he arrived, he soon realized that the Taiping rebels constituted a true threat to Qing. He, however, unexpectedly soon died of an illness. The government then asked an aristocrat to lead a united army to crack down on the Guangxi rebellion.
The Taiping Army proceeded to capture Yong’an, the first city that they had successfully captured. More than 37,000 Taiping soldiers marched into Yong’an, where Hong laid out a set of rules and regulations and awarded his generals prestigious titles. As the commander of the central army, Yas was named the East King. Xiao was given the title of the commander in chief of the Front Army Corps and declared the West King. Feng was made the commander of the rear guard and the South King. Wei was appointed the commander of the right army and the North King, while Shi was made the commander of the left army and the Wing King. Hong stipulated that the East King was superior to all other kings. The Qing army tried to take Yong’an; however, they failed to defeat the Taiping Army in large part due to a lack of coordination amongst the top generals. Then, in April, 1852, the Taiping Army successfully broke the Qing encirclement and annihilated more than 4,000 of the enemy. Four commanders of Qing’s army were killed in action.
The Taiping Army then marched on Guilin. When approaching the walls of Guilin, they had grown into a huge army of 50,000 soldiers. However, they failed to capture Guilin, despite capturing one of Qing’s top generals. The rebels then headed north and took Quanzhou, after which they charged toward southern Hunan. This resulted in Feng, the South King, dying in battle. In the following four months, many poor peasants and members of secret societies joined the Taiping Army bringing its numbers to 100,000. Xiao, the West King, was killed later that year in September, after attacking Changsha.
After the death of Xiao, Hong and Yang decided to lead all of their troops northward to Changsha. At the same time, Qing’s army, which numbered more than one hundred thousand soldiers, set its sights on Hunan. The Taiping Army could not take Changsha. Then, in late November, 1852, they discontinued their attack on Hunan deciding instead to push northward to Hubei. It is particularly noteworthy that Hong built the Taiping navy by recruiting thousands of sailors and boatmen.
After two months (December, 1852–January, 1853), the Taiping Army captured Hankou, Hanyang and Wuchang, all Wuhan towns. Wuchang was then the capital city of Hubei and one of the best-known cities in China. The conquest of Wuhan displayed the full power of the Taiping Army. The army then moved east toward the Yangtze River. At this point, the number of Taiping soldiers exceeded 500,000 and many Wuchang residents joined the Taiping Army.4 As they proceeded eastward, the Taiping Army divided into two groups. One group was headed by Hong, the Heavenly King, and advanced by sea. The other group was headed by generals such as Lin Fengxiang and Li Kaifang and they made their way forward by land. Some reported that the Taiping troops were the most gallant.5
In February, 1853 the Taiping army defeated Qing’s army in eastern Hubei and then went on to capture Jiujiang (in Jiangxi) and Anqing (in Anhui). One month later, the Taiping soldiers stormed their way into Nanjing, the most strategic and important city in southeast China. Soon Zhenjiang and Yangzhou, two famous cities of Jiangnan (south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River), were also taken by the Taiping Army. Hong entered Nanjing in a grand dragon boat and established it as the capital of his Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace. Ten days later, the Qing army set up its Southern Barracks on the eastern outskirts of Nanjing. Qing’s Northern Barracks were established outside of Yangzhou, a strategic city north of Nanjing. These two huge military camps posed a great threat to Nanjing and Zhenjiang in particular. For this reason, the Taiping Army was not able to extend to the more wealthy southern Jiangsu. Regardless, Yang, the East
