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Hóng Xiùquán (洪秀全, Huoxiu 火秀; January 10 , 1812 - June 1 , 1864 ) was a Hakka Chinese Christian who led the Taiping Rebellion and established the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping, in which he was known as the Heavenly King (天王/Tīan wáng). Early life He was born in Fuyuanshui Village (福源水村), Hua County (Fa Yuen in Cantonese) (花縣) (now Huadu (花都市)), Guangdong to Hong Jingyang (洪競揚) and Wang-shi (王氏). His grandfather was Hong Guoyou (洪國游), who was, like his Ancestor s, a Farmer . He later moved to Guānlùbù Village (官祿 {Link without Title} ¹村). Visions of an unsuccessful scholar Hóng Xiùquán started studying in Book Chamber Building (書房閣), a private Primary School (私塾), at age seven. He was able to recite the Four Classics after five or six years. Then he tried to take the first-degree (秀才) Civil Service Examination s in Guangzhou at the age of 16, but he failed. He tried three times or twice more, and never succeeded. He later got the position as an instructor (塾師) at Book Chamber Building and several School s in Lianhuatang (蓮花塘) and other villages. He came under the influence of Christian missionaries. One night, in a Trance - Vision , he dreamed of a man in Black Cloak telling him to purify the land of evil. In Guangzhou, after his second attempt in the exam, he received a copy of the booklet ''The Benevolent Words to Advise the World'' (《勸世良言》), written by Protestant Missionary Liang Fa . After reading it in 1843, believed that the man in black in his vision was God , and that he was the younger Son Of God , the Brother of Jesus , on earth with a mission to found a new kingdom - a new Messiah . However, it is possible that these divine signs are his ''post hoc'' rationalization to gain legitimacy for the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping. First, in his house, he burned all Confucian and Buddhist Statue s and Book s. As this act was considered Sacrilegious and Insane , and he was attacked by Confucians. So in 1844 , he fled to Guangxi , where with Feng Yunshan (馮雲山), he began a new Iconoclastic sect called the God Worshippers (拜上帝會), which initially included only a few of his relatives. He then preached to a large number of Hakka Coal -burning workers on Zijin Mountain (紫金山) in Guiping District (桂平縣), many of who became members of the sect as Hong himself was a Hakka. He preached a mix of Christianity and Communal Utopianism . In 1847, he formally studied the Old Testament for four Month s under Issachar Jacox Roberts (羅孝全) ( 1802 - 1871 ), an Protestant missionary from the United States , but he was never Baptized . Destructions and ideals As a symbolic gesture to purge China of Confucianism, in 1843, he asked for two giant three- Chi (尺) long and nine- Jin (斤) heavy Sword s, called the "Swords that Execute the Vicious" (斬妖劍), to be forged. In the same year, he also officially changed the name of the Buddhist Nine Immortals Temple (九仙廟) of Wuxuan District (武宣縣) to Nine Demons Temple (九妖廟). In the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping he established in 1851 , he dictated several Reform s that would have improved the lives of his subjects, but they were implemented harshly and ineffectively in the Taiping Rebellion . Beginning in 1853, Hong began to retreat from the political life as a king and became obsessed with his faith and engaged in sensual activities. In 1856, his health deteriorated. He committed Suicide by Poison on June 1 , 1864 at the age of 52 after the Chinese authorities finally gained a decisive military advantage and all hope of maintaining his kingdom was lost. His body was discovered later in a Sewer . However, in other sources, he was said to have died of Illness . He was succeeded by his teenage son, Hong Tianguifu . Publications
Quotes The following Poem , called "The Poem on Executing the Vicious and Preserving the Righteous" (《斬邪留正詩》), written in 1837 by Hong, illustrates his faith and goal that later leads to the establishment the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping. Note that in the second last line, the name of the then yet-to-come kingdom is mentioned. This, and other poems of his, are considered by some scholars, then and nowadays, to be of low quality, because the lack of use of classical phrases. : Holding the Universe in the hand, : I slay the attacking powers. : Eyes can see through beyond the west, the north, the rivers, and the mountains, : Sounds can shake the east, the south, the Sun, and the Moon. : The glorious sword of authority was given by Lord , : Poems and books are evidences that praise Yahweh in front of Him. : Taiping Peace unifies the World of Light, : The domineering air will be joyous for myriads of thousand years. (“手握乾坤殺伐權，斬邪留正解民懸。眼通西北江山外，聲振東南日月邊。璽劍光榮存帝賜，詩章憑據誦爺1前，太平一統光世界，威風快樂萬千年。”) 1 The Transliteration of Yahweh was Yehuohua (爺火華). It is now Yehehua (耶和華). Memories In his birthplace, in 1959, the PRC established a small Museum called Hong Xiuquan's Former Residence Memorial Museum (洪秀全故居紀念館), where there is a Longan Tree planted by him. The museum's plate is written by the famous literary figure, Guo Moruo (郭沫若) ( 1892 - 1978 ). The residence and Book Chamber Building were renovated in 1961. External links
Notes 1 Bù {Link without Title} , ''one'' obscure character used only in few Placename s, is "㘵" (#13877) in Unicode , but the character currently does not appear on some browsers/operating systems. |