Discuss the causes and effects of the Opium War in China. Then discuss the causes and results of the “Taiping Rebellion” in China. Make sure to include major characters names and major events
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Answer:
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Explanation:
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 forces were run as a cult-like group called the God Worshipping Society by self-proclaimed prophet Hong Xiuquan, and resulted in the rebels seizing the city of Nanjing for a decade. The Taiping Rebellion eventually failed, however, and led to the deaths of more than 20 million people.
HONG XIUQUAN
Hong Xiuquan, born in 1814 in Guanlubu, Guangdong, had failed multiple civil service exams when, in 1837, he returned home and went to bed, complaining of sickness.
In a feverish state, Hong hallucinated a journey to a heavenly land to the east where his father revealed that demons were destroying humankind. Wielding a special sword, Hong, with the help of his brother, fought the demons and the King of Hell.
Following the battle, Hong remained in heaven and took a wife, later having a child together. Eventually, Hong returned to Earth, receiving the title “Heavenly King, Lord of the Kingly Way.”
But from his family’s perspective, Hong was in bed for days, stricken by fever dreams and yelling about demons, claiming to be the Emperor of China, singing, and sometimes leaping out of bed and standing ready for combat.
When Hong finally did awake, he told his family about his experience and copied down poems he had written in heaven. The village believed he had gone insane.
Over time, Hong put the incident behind him and pursued civil service exams again.
CHINESE SON OF GOD
Around the same time as his hallucination, while in the city of Canton for exams, Hong was given Christian literature, which he kept but never read. In 1843, a relative, Li Jingfang, borrowed the tract, Liang Afa’s “Good Words For Exhorting The Age” and convinced Hong to read it.
The tract portrayed an apocalyptic China that recalled recent events. The violent First Opium War against Great Britain, fought from 1839 to 1842, ended with the Treaty of Nanjing that damaged imperial prestige and allowed the British many advantages. It had the side effect of allowing an influx of Christian missionaries into the country.
In Liang’s tract, Hong encountered the words of Jesus, changing Hong’s view of Chinese society and Confucian values. Hong became convinced the father in his from his fever dream from years before was the God of Christianity, the older brother was Jesus and the King of Hell was the serpent in the Garden of Eden.
Hong was now confident that he was the son of God.
GOD WORSHIPPING SOCIETY
Hong revealed his dream to relatives, and his message began to spread. Hong and some of his followers took to the road, selling writing ink and brushes to fund their travels.
During this journey, Hong wrote his own tract, “Exhortations to Worship the One True God,” to help win more converts.
Hong returned home to support his family and work on further tracts, but his disciples still traveled, vigorously spreading his ideas and forming a group known as Bai Shangi Hui or the God Worshipping Society.
Many of these followers were the Hakka people, who had fled the Mongols in the 13th century and become an enclave treated as separate from regular Chinese society. They were primarily destitute laborers who sought protection from oppression.
Hong preached an early form of communism that stressed sharing property, mixed with religious ideas and laws based on the 10 Commandments. His promise of free land would soon bring in thousands more followers.
In 1847, Hong went to Thistle Mountain to join local God Worshippers and conspire against religious traditions in the area. Numbering in the thousands, the God Worshipping Society grabbed the attention of local authorities who want to end the group’s teachings and arrest some of the leaders.
RELIGIOUS VISIONS
Religious visions were not confined to Hong. In 1848, Hong accepted as authentic a Thistle Mountain charcoal burner named Yang Xiuqing who claimed to channel God, and a peasant named Xiao Chaogui, who said he channeled Jesus.
Tales of angelic interventions from heaven to save local villagers abounded. Worshippers claimed to visit heaven physically during prayers.
TAIPING KING
By 1849, the God Worshipping Society had expanded into four areas of China, which Hong treated as strategic points in his upcoming battle against demons—demons that Hong soon unveiled as the Qing Dynasty itself.
Hong’s total control of his followers’ lives tightened. Calling himself “the Taiping King,” he decreed the separation of men and women, with beatings for anyone who defied him.
In 1850, alleging that Jesus had urged Hong to “fight for Heaven,” Hong began to arm his followers. Soon, the God Worshippers were buying gunpowder in bulk and becoming organized by military rankings