Spence, Jonathan D. - God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan

[oyceter]

In 1843, Hong Xiuquan (then still Hong Huaxiu) had failed the civil service examinations several times. After being handed a Christian booklet, he decided he was the second son of God, younger brother to Jesus, and that he was supposed to save China from the evils of the Qing Dynasty. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom eventually grew from a small sect comprised mainly of Hong's relatives to a behemoth that threatened to overthrow the Qing Dynasty. The Taiping army eventually took over Nanjing and surrounding lands, attempted to lead an attack on Shanghai and Beijing, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom remained in power for nearly a decade.

Even as I type all that, I can't quite believe it, it sounds so insane. But Spence brings it wonderfully to life. He isn't writing an analytical piece; rather, he uses present tense to give the narrative a more immediate feeling and largely follows the life of Hong (and some followers, as they become relevant). In his foreword, Spence notes that many, many, many books have already been written on the Taiping Rebellion, its effect on the Qing Dynasty and its effect on Chinese history overall (I am guessing that a very large reason why the Qing Dynasty didn't dedicate that many resources to the Opium Wars is because they were trying to keep Hong and other revolutionaries from overtaking the place).

Anyway, Spence is a captivating writer, and he grabbed me from the first chapter, where he describes the conditions of the walled city for foreign traders in Canton. He did end up losing me a bit near the end, when things are falling apart for the Taiping, but I think that's more because I am less interested in insane people attempting to rewrite the Bible and more interested in civilian discontent and sparks of rebellion. The Taiping gained power among the commoners, probably because people felt oppressed by the Manchu (the Qing Dynasty was founded by non-Han people). Hong's Hakka heritage probably helped out a lot as well.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, Hong is insane. Probably not moreso than any other fervent religious figure who believes he or she is related to God and/or speaks for God, but seriously. The other entertaining part was watching all the factions and infighting within the Taiping government. Hong had designated quite a few kings under his rule (North King, South King, Wing King, I forgot the rest), but the main one was the East King, Yang Xiuqing (same "xiu" as the one in Hong's name, same "qing" as in the dynasty name, for anyone interested). Yang acted as the mouthpiece of God and usually had a lot of authority because he claimed God spoke to him. He also seemed to be the tactical brains of the place, and after a while, he attempted to grasp power by saying God told him that Hong was being sinful and turning away from the Taiping way by dallying too much with his many concubines. Most people seem to think that Hong or Hong's groupies ended up poisoning Yang.

Very cool piece of Chinese history here, and I had a whole lot of fun, though every other page, particularly near the end, I'd just sort of boggle at the page. I think my favorite bits are Hong massively revising the Bible to his own taste (he really didn't seem to like the story of Noah getting drunk and falling asleep naked, or the story of that guy who slept with his daughter-in-law because he saw her veiled by the road and thought she was a whore).

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

Gee, wonder if this might be up my alley... ha-ha, just kidding, this book sounds more up my alley than practically anything ever. It sounds sort of like history as written by Terry Pratchett. Do you own it? Can you bring it to Taiwan?

[oyceter]

Hee! Alas, they don't tell how tragically scarred Hong's son was thanks to this. Though his son (15 yrs old!) was executed by the Qing Dynasty, which is pretty tragically scarring in the worst of ways.

I actually borrowed it from the library, so can't bring it, sorry.

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I will probably obtain it from the library or Book Mooch too, then.

Yes, my childhood certainly could have been worse. ;)

[ellarien]

OK, I definitely need to add this to my Chinese history reading list!

[oyceter]

The Taiping Rebellion is very interesting! And weird. But interesting.

[harriet-spy.livejournal.com]

I took a survey of modern Chinese history from Spence. He's a super-entertaining storyteller.

[oyceter]

Oh, that is so awesome! I am jealous.

[oyceter]

Hi! I screened your comment (aka, made it not appear to anyone not me) just for general anonymity. Though it is obviously not that hard to find me if you look.

Yeah, I figure that would be the criticism of Spence. I think I read a chapter or two from his biography of the Kangxi emperor, which works roughly the same way (he takes probable events and makes them concrete). But it does make things easier to read....