The History of China

#332 - Taiping 9: Heaven Is A Place On Earth

The Heavenly Host arrives at last before the walls of the South Capital. What follows is not a battle so much as a verdict – rendered in powder, fire, and seven days of smoke and blood. A city is taken, renamed, and remade in the image of a kingdom the likes of which the world has never seen before. This is the story of the Becoming that finally arrived; of the current that finally found its place to pool... and what it cost to stop. Time Period Covered: Mar. 1853 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856] Qing Dynasty: The Xianfeng Emperor, Aisin Gioro Yizhu [1831–1861] The Nanjing Manchu Garrison [est. 1645; d. 1853] Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#331 - Taiping 8: Kingdom Come

The Heavenly Host marches north out of Hunan. Ahead of them lies the spine of China itself – the mighty Yangtze; maker and breaker of dynasties. The trading capitals strung along its southern bank glimmer like beads on a thread. They have and continue to transform, to build a fleet, a state. Now they will find out what it’s all been leading toward. This is the story of the Kingdom In Motion, and the river that carried it east. Time Period Covered: Nov. 1852 – Mar. 1853 Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856] Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863] Li Xiucheng, future Loyal King [1823–1864] Qing Dynasty:The Xianfeng Emperor, Aisin Gioro Yizhu [1831–1861] Chang Liangji, Governor of Hubei Qian Jiang, the jiansheng from Zhejiang who pitched reform and walked Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Hamberg, Theodore. The Visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen, and Origin of the Kwang-si Insurrection. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#330 - Taiping 7: Beneath the Walls of Changsha

The Heavenly Host has arrived at the great provincial capital of Hunan - Changsha. The mighty bastion that will prove to be the first city on the long march north that simply refuses to fall. For two months in late 1852, the largest army the Taiping has yet fielded throws everything it knows at these walls... but the city endures. This is the story of the underground war fought by nameless men in the dark Time Period Covered: Oct. – Dec. 1852 Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856] Xiao Chaogui, West King, Voice of Jesus Christ [d. 1852] Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863] Qing Dynasty: Luo Bingzhang, Governor of Hunan [1793–1867] Zeng Guofan, Commissioner of Local Defence for Hunan [1811–1872] Major Sources Cited: Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#329 - Taiping 6: River of Souls

The army that marches north out of Quanzhou in June 1852 is not the same one that left Jintian 18 months prior. It has left its prime architect in an unmarked grave, massacred the city that killed him, and crossed into the unknown territory of Hunan. At Daozhou, for the first time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom starts speaking to Empire at large, calls upon brotherhood to honor their blood-oaths, & dares name the emperor himself a demon. It's beginning to get real, and all roads - it seems - lead toward Changsha... Time Period Covered: June – October 1852 Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856] Xiao Chaogui, West King, Voice of Jesus Christ [d. 1852] Wei Changhui, North King [1823–1856] Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863] Qing Dynasty: Luo Bingzhang, Governor of Hunan [1793–1867] Other: Lan Chengzun, Yao tribesman, White Lotus chieftain [fl. 1836] Lei Zaihao, Yao chieftain [fl. 1847] Li Yuanfa, Han Triad rebel leader [fl. 1849] Major Sources Cited: Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]

#328 - Taiping 5: The Way Ahead

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been proclaimed — but proclamations don't feed armies. As such, its Divine Host will enjoy all of 11 days before sheer arithmetic forces them back onto the road. What follows is eight months of movement through the hills and river valleys of Guangxi: not quite a military campaign, not quite a refugee march. When they finally stop, it will be inside the walls of a city called Yong'an - "Eternal Peace." There, for the first time, the blueprint of the kingdom they have been promising can at last be seen in outline. Kings will be named, & time itself will be reordered... But the walls keep closing in, and ahead - always ahead - is the only path left. Time Period Covered: Jan. 1851 – June 1852 Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864] Feng Yunshan, South King, Architect of the God-Worshipping Society [1815–1852] Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856] Xiao Chaogui, West King, Voice of Jesus Christ [d. 1852] Wei Changhui, North King [1823–1856] Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863] Luo Dagang, pirate-turned-general [fl. 1851–1853] Qing Dynasty: Saishangga, Imperial Commissioner [fl. 1851–1852] Xiang Rong, Qing General [d. 1856] Ulantai, Qing General [d. 1852] Major Sources Cited: Hamberg, Theodore. The Visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen and the Origin of the Kwang-si Insurrection. Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices [https://megaphone.fm/adchoices]