Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Rebellion

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More than twenty million people died in southern China during one of history's bloodiest rebellions known as the Taiping Rebellion. Begun in January 11, 1851, it lasted two decades until the Qing army massacred the Taiping forces. This Rebellion, originally sparked by a delusional man, ultimately proved detrimental to both the Taiping and Qing people because it decimated both political parties and did not alter the political or religious systems at the time.
A rebellion is always sparked by someone or something; in this case, the someone was Hong Xiuquan. After failing the Imperial Examins for a third time, he became extremely ill and was delirious for days.(Spence page 26) He claimed he had a vision connecting him, God, and Jesus. He believed there was evil in China and that it was his duty to purge that evil.(Spence page 26) In his mind, the Qing were the evil. Buttressed by his vision, he began traveling to preach his vision and to gather people in order to inculcate them into followers of the radical reformation of the existing politics and social norms of the time in China. Hong Xiuquan was furious at the leaders of China who allowed free flowing trade of opium and the deadly abuse of this drug, that infested China at the time. He …show more content…

Fearing a potential regicide, Hong Xiuquan's secretly ordered Wei Changhui and Qin Rigang to assassinated Yang Xiuqing. The assassination squad, however, took it upon themselves to go on a killing spree, allegedly to eliminate Yang's remnant followers. More than 27,000 were killed, including innocent civilians. To stop the carnage, Hong reacted by having both Wei and Qin executed as well. This thinning of the generals by Hong further hurt the army and, shook its confidence. Hong became isolated and only trusted his family

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