Sure, by our standards, the taiping were weird, but not really moreso than past chinese millenarian movements, like the white lotusred turbans. The taiping rebellion was a revolt against the qing dynasty in china, fought with religious conviction over regional economic conditions, and lasting from 1850 to 1864. The taiping rebellion or taiping civil war, literally taiping heavenly kingdom movement was a massive rebellion or civil war in china that lasted from 1850 to 1864 fought between the established manchuled qing dynasty and the millenarian movement of the heavenly kingdom of peace. Millenarian theories naquin 1976, 1981 consider these rebellions as manifestations of religious ideologies and movements through which members of sects are transformed into rebels. Millenarianism in the soviet union and maoist china the. When it was most powerful, it had about 30 million people. The taiping rebellion began in the southwestern province of guangxi when local. This study reexamines the taiping and the tonghak movements in nineteenth century asia using a much wider range of sources than have been used by. The taiping rebellion was a major millenarian religious movement in 19th century china that seized control of a fair part of southern china and fought a war with the qing dynasty. The veneer of power held by the qing began to fall apart as it became more clear that the central government no longer.
The rebellion was sparked by a famine in guangxi province, and qing government repression of the resulting peasant protests. The taiping rebellion, from 1851 to 1864, was a millenarian movement led by hong. The taiping rebellion was a civil war in china from 1850 to 1864. Millenarian buddhism a heterodox religion in rural areas in north. Xiuquan, a school teacher who failed the qing scholar examinations and. This groundbreaking book reexamines the taiping and the tonghak movements in nineteenthcentury asia using a much wider range of millenarian movements have been mainly studied from a.
Feb 09, 2017 most people in the west have never heard of the christian taiping rebellion, but it saw the rise of hong xiuquan, a chinese christian who believed he was the younger brother of jesus christ. Which of the following was a sharp contrast between. Chinese millenarian movements the yearning for a utopia where one is free from want and where peace and prosperity reign supreme has been very much an integral part of chinese religion since preqin times before 221 bce. Millenarianism in the soviet union and maoist china by. The righteous harmony society during the boxer rebellion was a chinese movement reacting against western colonialism. The taiping rebellion or the taiping civil war was a massive rebellion or total civil war in china waged from 1850 to 1864 between the established manchuled qing dynasty and the taiping heavenly kingdom under hong xiuquan.
Historians estimate that between 20 and 30 million people died. Which of the following was a sharp contrast between millenarian revolts such as the taiping rebellion and orthodox institutions. List of books and articles about taiping rebellion online. The taiping rebellion history and documents, seattle. Its program included the abolition of private property b. Chapter 19 outline external troubles, internal threats this chapter focuses on societies that faced internal crises while maintaining formal independence. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. He came under the influence of christian missionaries, and reached the conclusion that he was the younger son of jesus sent to found the heavenly kingdom on earth. The taiping rebellion was a bloody civil war in china which took place in the 19th century being led by hong xiuquan against the qings government. Christian influence upon the ideology of the taiping rebellion. It will appeal to scholars in the fields of chinese history, religion, and culture and of christian theology and church history.
It was led by hung hsiuchuan, a visionary from guangdong who evolved a political creed and messianic religious ideology influenced by elements of protestant christianity. The taiping rebellion, which is also known as the taiping civil war or the taiping revolution. It wis a millenarian movement led bi hong xiuquan, who annoonced that he haed received veesions in which he learned that he wis the younger brither o jesus. Oral tradition and millenarian study of the asian millenarianism, japanese and korean relations, comprehensive or quantum approach. Jan 18, 2016 the deadliest rebellion in the world the taiping rebellion part 2 duration. The taiping rebellion in china 18501864, 1 which combined evangelical christianity with ancient daoist millenarianism, shares features with the communist revolution of 1949. Millenarian movements have been mainly studied from a monotheistic perspective. The taiping rebellion wis a massive ceevil war in soothren cheenae frae 1850 tae 1864, against the rulin manchuled qing dynasty. Christian millenarianism and the early taiping movement. Jun 01, 2014 chinese scholarship in recent decades has distanced itself from this ultraleftist interpretation but remains divided on key issues. Taiping heavenly kingdom, which was quite similar to a millenarian movement. In late 1849, reports began appearing in the peking gazetteabout a rebellion led by li yuanfa, a member of the heaven and earth society millenarian sect, who.
The god worshipping society of the taiping rebellion, which fused angloamerican protestant christian and chinese elements into a movement that focused the resentment of han chinese against the ruling manchu qing dynasty. Taiping rebellion, the jintian uprising and secular desires, the heavenandthe earth society. Taiping rebellion, radical political and religious upheaval that was probably the most important event in china in the 19th century. Local politics and class conflict daniel little center for. Four main dimensions of european imperialism confronted these societies. Learn about the taiping rebellion everything about wars. Finally in july of 1864 nanjing, the capital of the taiping state, fell and the taiping movement disappeared. From the jewish revolts against rome which led to hundreds of thousands of deaths 3 ce, 6670, 25 to the taiping rebellion that led to the death of some 2035 million people, such movements have a tendency to selfdestruct in the most spectacular fashion.
The major battles took place in the yangtze river basin area controlled by the taiping. Taiping rebellion, 185064, revolt against the ching manchu dynasty of china. Chesneaux interprets the taiping rebellion as a class conflict struggle. Chinese attempt to shut down trade lin zexu appointed in 1838 to stamp out opium trade. Chinese scholarship in recent decades has distanced itself from this ultraleftist interpretation but remains divided on key issues. This groundbreaking book reexamines the taiping and the tonghak movements in nineteenthcentury asia using a much wider range of sources than have been. Britishchinese trade canton system british imported goods from china. The taiping rebellion, which is also known as the taiping civil war or the taiping was a massive rebellion or civil war that was waged in china from 1850 to 1864 between the established manchuled qing dynasty and the hakkaled taiping heavenly kingdom. Ian heath is a highly respected author, and has written a number of osprey titles, including maa 89 byzantine armies 8861118, maa 287 byzantine armies 11181461 and maa 275 the taiping rebellion 185166. It occasionally comes up on reddit as an example of an extremely bloody conflict the importance of which is underestimated. What change did the british east india company make in its approach to ruling india during the 1840s.
Its goal was to restore an idealized chinese society c. The rebellion began in the southern province of guangxi when local officials launched a. Nov 10, 2019 the taiping rebellion 18511864 was a millenarian uprising in southern china that began as a peasant rebellion and turned into an extremely bloody civil war. It lasted for some 14 years 185064, ravaged 17 provinces, took an estimated 20 million lives, and irrevocably altered the qing dynasty 1644191112. Popular movements and violence in east asia in the nineteenth. The books subtitle, the taiping heavenly kingdom of hong xiuquan, presents the concept underlying a nineteenthcentury chinese millenarian movement that is generally known as the taiping rebellion. An interdisciplinary study of the taiping and tonghak rebellions in a global context rhee, hong beom on. The taiping rebellion was a grassroots rebellion fought by ordinary peasants and not by trained armies. The taiping rebellion in china 18501864,1 which combined evangelical christianity with ancient daoist millenarianism, shares features with the communist revolution of 1949. Traditional explanations for millenarian movements may not be applicable to asian cases, since asian millenarian views of salvation differ from nonasian ones.
This civil war was fought between the established manchu qing dynasty in power and the millenarian movement of the heavenly kingdom of peace. Consider first the classconflict model of peasant rebellion. The eight trigrams uprising of 18 yale historical publications. It was a mixture of peasant uprising and millenarian christian cult upheaval, led by. Millennialism, also called millenarianism or chiliasm, the belief, expressed in the book of revelation to john, the last book of the new testament, that christ will establish a 1,000year reign of the saints on earth the millennium before the last judgment. Taiping rebellion is known to be the bloodiest civil war in human history. Books involving or about the taiping rebellion or hong xiuquan score a books total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book. And yet, for all the costly failures, the appeal remains and generation after. Western soldiers played an important role in deciding the last years of the taiping rebellion, and the ways in which the two sides of the war used foreign troops was surprisingly similar. This question was inspired by a great british railway journeys episode that covered chinese gordon, a british army officer who made his fame defending the free port of shanghai from the taipings the taiping rebellion was a civil war led by hong xiuquan, a christian millenarian who believed himself to be the younger brother of jesus christ the goals of the taipings were religious. Taiping rebellion largest rebellion in the history of china, and possibly the world inspired later revolutionaries, including dr. The conflict ravaged the most cultivated parts of the qing dynasty, encompassing eighteen of its most populous provinces, claiming the lives of at least 25 million. Millenarian movements were supported by militias raised by the gentry. Boardman university of wisconsin during the years 1851 to 1864 a central feature of the chinese political scene was the taiping rebellion.
While the taipings continued to battle the qing for total control of china, hong. The taiping rebellion was a civil war in southern china waged against the ruling manchu qing dynasty. The most famous and spectacular millenarian movement in traditional china was, of course, the taiping rebellion 18501864 led by hong. The taiping and the tonghak rebellions as millenarian. The taiping rebellion was against the ruling qing dynasty. The taiping army was equipped only with swords and spears or farm tools like pitchforks. This book makes a major contribution to the study of the taiping rebellion and to our understanding of the ideology of both the rebels and the traditional imperial order they opposed. It broke out in 1851, a han chinese reaction against the qing dynasty, which was ethnically manchu. As the taiping army spread through china, it destroyed more than 600 cities. Led by hong xiuquan, the selfproclaimed brother of jesus christ, the goals of.
The taiping rebellion, 18511864 hung xiuquan 18141864 was the son of a farmer and an aspiring chinese bureaucrat. How was the taiping uprising different from other peasant rebellions in china. Ssuyii teng, the taiping rebellion and the western powers, a com prehensive. The taiping rebellion december 185019 july 1864 was a largescale civil war in china fought between the manchuled qing dynasty and the christian millenarian movement of the taiping heavenly kingdom. Both sides had ambiguous relationships with their foreign soldiers, often employing them locally and for a variety of reasons. Thirtyfour years after the failed taiping rebellion, and as the influence of foreigners continued to spread, the chinese once again tried to make drastic changes.
Millenarian revolts often had women in leadership roles. He came under the influence of christian missionaries, and reached the conclusion that he was the younger brother of jesus sent to found the heavenly kingdom on earth. The images of the taiping heavenly kingdom as shown in. The taiping rebellion 18511864 was a millenarian uprising in southern china that began as a peasant rebellion and turned into an extremely bloody civil war. The revolt was a radical political and religious uprising, that ravaged 17 chinese provinces and cost 20 million lives. The taiping rebellion imperialism in china webquest. The taiping rebellion facing history and ourselves. An interdisciplinary study of the taiping and tonghak rebellions in a global context. The veneer of power held by the qing began to fall apart as it became more clear that the central government no longer had the power to control things from beijing peking. The taiping rebellion download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Was the taiping movement a real revolution that fundamentally altered chinas history, or was it a traditional chinese rebellion on a very large scale. The taiping rebellion 18501864 was a pivotal event in modern chinese history. The members of these sects were converts to a threehundredyearold millenarian religion whose central deity was known as the eternal and venerable mother. An examination of the causes of the muslim rebellion in midnineteenth century northwest china lewis ouksel seek knowledge, even to china the prophet muhammad the tungan rebellion was a great uprising of the hui1 in the northwest of china during the midnineteenth century.
Chapter 19 outline external troubles, internal threats. Daoism, confucianism and indigenous millenarianism, which hong presented as a restoration of the ancient chinese faith in shangdi. Taiping rebellion simple english wikipedia, the free. University of washington press, 1966, three volumes. What is the historical significance of the taiping and boxer. More broadly defined, it is a crosscultural concept grounded in the expectation of a. The taiping rebellion or the taiping civil war simplified chinese. It had great influence on those taking part in the next chinese civil war 19271950 between the nationalists and communists when the communists relied on the support of the rural poor people.
The taiping rebellion 18501864 was the largest peasant rebellion in chinese history and one of the bloodiest civil wars in the annals of human experience. Click download or read online button to get the taiping rebellion book now. How accurate are death toll estimates for the taiping rebellion. Hong xiuquan and the taiping rebellion the taiping rebellion 18501864 was the largest of several major rebellions that threatened the qing dynasty in the middle of the nineteenth century. But it was also a movement based on religious symbols, charisma, and mobilization around religious beliefs. Moreover, many of those sect leaders who planned the rebellion. Introduction millenarian scholarship evolution of the meaning of the millennuim origin of millenarianism great peace for 100 million years traditional china and traditional korea apocalyptic phenomena years the millenarian motivation of the taiping and tonghak leaders taiping and tonghak philosophy of history the taiping and. The rebels rose against the tyranny of the manchus, supporting a program partly based on christian doctrines. He is also currently working on a fivevolume project covering the armies of 19thcentury asia.
The taiping rebellion, which is also known as the taiping civil war or the taiping revolution, was a massive rebellion or civil war that was waged in china from 1850 to 1864 between the established manchu led qing dynasty and the hakka led taiping heavenly kingdom. Millenarianism also millenarism, from latin millenarius containing a thousand, is the belief by a religious, social, or political group or movement in a coming fundamental transformation of society, after which all things will be changed. The taiping rebellion 1850 64 was by far the bloodiest war of the nineteenth century. Taiping rebellion, political and religious upheaval in china that lasted from 1850 to 1864 and took about 20 million lives.
This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. Trigrams planned a rebellion that involved simultaneous uprisings in several cities of north china, including peking. An important alternative that i will not consider is the millenarian theory. Led by hong xiuquan, it is estimated that at least 20 million people died, mainly civilians, in one of the deadliest military conflicts in history. Millenarian movements were inspired by confucian, not daoist, ideals. Sun zhongshan first totalwarlike rebellion in china qing dynasty was seriously weakened, after this event. Study 16 terms taiping rebellion flashcards quizlet. The rebellion, sect leaders promised, was destined to bring. His object was to found a new dynasty, the taiping great peace.