Taiping Rebellion, 1850–64, revolt against the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty of China. Perhaps the most important event in 19th-century China, it was led by Hung Hsiu-ch'üan, a visionary from Guangdong who evolved a political creed influenced by elements of Christianity. His object was to found a new dynasty, the Taiping [great peace]. Strong discontent with the Chinese government brought him many adherents, especially among the poorer classes, and the movement spread with great violence through the eastern valley of the Chang River. The rebels captured Nanjing in 1853 and made it their capital. The Western powers, who at first sympathized with the movement, soon realized that the Ch'ing dynasty might collapse and with it foreign trade. They offered military help and led the Ever-Victorious Army, which protected Shanghai from the Taipings. The Taipings, weakened by strategic blunders and internal dissension, were finally defeated by new provincial armies led by Tseng Kuo-fan and Li Hung-chang.

Bibliography

See J. M. Callery and M. Yvan, History of the Insurrection in China (tr. 1853, repr. 1969); W. J. Hail, Tseng Kuo-fan and the Taiping Rebellion (1927, repr. 1964); E. P. Boardman, Christian Influence upon the Ideology of the Taiping Rebellion, 1851–1864 (1952); F. H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion (3 vol., 1966–71).

Taiping Rebellion

(1850–64) Large-scale rebellion against the Qing dynasty and the presence of foreigners in China. The peasants, having suffered floods and famines in the late 1840s, were ripe for rebellion, which came under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan. Hong's visions convinced him he was the younger brother of Jesus, and he saw it as his duty to free China from Manchu rule. He preached the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people under God; property was to be held in common. His followers' militant faith unified a fiercely disciplined army that swelled to more than a million men and women (women were treated as equals by Taiping rebels). They captured Nanjing in 1853 and renamed it Tianjing (“Heavenly Capital”). Their attempts to capture Beijing failed, but an expedition into the upper Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) valley scored many victories. Hong's idiosyncratic Christianity alienated both Western missionaries and the Chinese scholar-gentry. Without the gentry, the Taiping forces were unable to govern the countryside or supply their cities effectively. The leadership strayed from its original austerity and descended into power struggles that left Hong without competent help. In 1860 an attempt to take Shanghai was repelled by U.S.- and British-led forces, and by 1862 Chinese forces under Zeng Guofan had surrounded Nanjing. The city fell in 1864, but almost 100,000 of the Taiping followers preferred death to capture. Sporadic resistance continued elsewhere until 1868. The rebellion ravaged 17 provinces, took some 20 million lives, and left the Qing government unable to regain an effective hold over the country. See also Li Hongzhang; Nian Rebellion.