The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Volume I: History

The Taiping Rebellion, one of the greatest upheavals in modern Chinese history, is a fascinating example of the interplay of Chinese and Western ideas in the middle of the nineteenth century. This movement arose at a time when the Manchu regime was weakened by decay and corruption and trembling under the impact of foreign influence.

Beginning in Kwangsi Province in South China, where the economic effects of the Opium War were most profoundly felt, the rebellion swept through the central part of the country. The revels ultimately established their capital in Nanking and, until overwhelmed by Manchu imperial forces in 1864, very nearly succeeded in establishing their rule over all China.

The Taipings preached a strangely fanatic and distorted form of Christianity, a revolutionary doctrine that evolved from the limited and fragmentary knowledge of Christianity by their leader, hung Hsiu-ch’üan. appealing primarily to the poor and the dispossessed, then suffering from the chaos and insecurity of the times, the movement promised to bring about a Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace on earth in which all men would be brothers, all property would be held in common, and all women would be equal to me. Worshiping a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Elder Brother (Jesus), they believed their leader to be the younger brother of Christ. Although they prescribed self-denial for their followers, the leaders often possessed large harems and lived in considerable luxury.

Why this movement arose and why it failed, whether it was the first Chinese revolution in the modern sense or only another of eh unsuccessful rebellions in Chinese history, are questions directly connected with the absorbing and difficult problem of why China failed to adapt itself successfully to the modern world.

In this new analysis, Franz Michael draws particular attention to the totalitarian nature of Taiping doctrine — a doctrine which ruled every aspect pf the lives of its followers and which centralized political. economic, religious, and intellectual authority in the hands of its leaders. he explains in depth how this challenge to the traditional Confucian system was met and defeated by the leaders of the Confucian gentry.

Essential for students of Chinese history, this first full history and analysis of the Taiping Rebellion will be of considerable interest as well to students of the institutional and intellectual development of the modern world.

Volumes II and III in this series present all known Taiping documents with comments and notes.