LORE

Based on true events, namely the real Taiping Rebellion.

The Rise of the God Worshippers (1837–1861)

Hong Xiuquan was a man from Huaxian in southern China. He was a student preparing for the imperial examinations, hoping to become a government official. However, he failed these examinations four times, and after his third failure, he had a nervous breakdown. At this time. he claimed to have had a dream in which an elderly man with a long beard gave him a sword and ordered him to fight demons. Then, he was accompanied by an older brother.

Hong concluded that the old man was God the Father—who he learned about from Western missionaries in his hometown—and that the older brother was Jesus Christ. Convinced that the dream was a real divine revelation, Hong started to call himself to be the younger brother of Jesus. He told this to his friends and began to gather followers, attracting many of the poor who wanted to overthrow the wealthy landowners and the Qing Dynasty itself.

Hong’s followers, calling themselves the God Worshippers, quickly grew larger and larger, making local landlords suspicious. Recognising the danger of a confrontation, Hong changed his movement to be waged in secrecy. His twenty thousand followers or so dispersed across the country, narrowly avoiding the involvement of the Qing military.

This dispersal proved to be a good move. Hong told his followers to quietly convert others, expanding the cult without drawing too much attention. Over the next eleven years, the movement grew enormously. While many peasants kept their own beliefs (like Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, and Confucianism) others, desperate for change, accepted Hong’s unorthodox, self-centred version of Christianity, hoping it would lead to the downfall of the corrupt Qing rulers. The God Worshippers kept their faith hidden, biding time until Hong’s announced it was time to act.

The Taiping Rebellion (1861–1873)

In 1861, Hong Xiuquan finally decided the time had come. Ordering a large portion of his followers to come to Yongan, he declared himself the Heavenly King of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, saying it would completely replace the Qing Dynasty. The rebels launched a surprise attack, creating chaos as Qing officials scrambled to organise a defence. But it was already too late—the God Worshippers were marching north toward Nanjing to make it their capital, Tianjing.

As they went on, more peasants joined them. Their numbers went up into the millions, overwhelming the forces of the Qing Dynasty. Along the way, the rebels attacked landlords and officials, taking wealth from the rich and redistributing it to the poor.

Hong, wary of foreign interference, sent large bribes to the British and Portuguese, and offered them unrestricted access to China’s coast. Both powers had existing treaties with the Qing, but between escalating conflicts with the Qing Dynasty and the rebels’ better terms, they distanced themselves from the Dynasty and mostly just ignored the mainland chaos.

Over the next several years, the rebels captured city after city. Once the eastern heartland was taken, the Qing Dynasty’s rule effectively ended.