Revolution & Southern Gung Fu

[diego]

CHAPTER XX

THE TAEPING REBELLION


We left the Taepings supreme at Nankin, but maintaining themselves there
with some difficulty against two imperial armies raised by the loyal
efforts of the inhabitants of the central provinces. This was at the
beginning of 1857; and there is no doubt that if the government had
avoided a conflict with the Europeans, and concentrated its efforts and
power on the contest with the Taeping rebels, they would have speedily
annihilated the tottering fabric of Tien Wang's authority. But the respite
of four years secured by the attention of the central government being
monopolized by the foreign question enabled the Taepings to consolidate
their position, augment their fighting forces, and present a more
formidable front to the imperial authorities. When Prince Kung learned
from Lord Elgin the full extent of the success of the Taepings on the
Yangtse, of which the officials at Pekin seemed to possess a very
imperfect and inaccurate knowledge, the Manchu authorities realized that
it was a vital question for them to reassert their authority without
further delay, but on beginning to put their new resolve into practice
they soon experienced that the position of the Taepings in 1861 differed
materially from what it was in 1857.

The course of events during that period must be briefly summarized. In
1858 the imperialists under Tseng Kwofan and Chang Kwoliang renewed the
siege of Nankin, but as the city was well supplied with provisions, and as
the imperialists were well known to have no intention of delivering an
assault, the Taepings did not feel any apprehension. After the investment
had continued for nearly a year, Chung Wang, who had now risen to the
supreme place among the rebels, insisted on quitting the city before it
was completely surrounded, with the object of beating up levies and
generally relieving the pressure caused by the besiegers. In this endeavor
he more than once experienced the unkindness of fortune, for when he had
collected 5,000 good troops he was defeated in a vigorous attempt to cut
his way through a far larger imperial force. Such, however, was his
reputation that the imperial commanders before Nankin sent many of their
men to assist the officers operating against him, and Chung Wang, seizing
the opportunity, made his way by forced marches back to Nankin, overcoming
such resistance as the enfeebled besiegers were able to offer. The whole
of the year 1859 was passed in practical inaction, but at its close the
Taepings only retained possession of four towns, besides Nankin, on the
Yangtse. It again became necessary for Chung Wang to sally forth and
assume the offensive in the rear and on the line of supplies of the
beleaguering imperialists. His main difficulty was in obtaining the
consent of Tien Wang, who was at this time given over to religious
pursuits or private excesses, and Chung Wang states that he only consented
when he found that he could not stop him. In January, 1860, Chung Wang
began what proved to be a very remarkable campaign. He put his men in good
humor by distributing a large sum of money among them, and he succeeded in
eluding the imperial commanders and in misleading them as to his
intentions. While they thought he had gone off to relieve Ganking, he had
really hastened to attack the important city of Hangchow, where much spoil
and material for carrying on the war might be secured by the victor. He
captured the city with little or no loss, on March 19, 1860, but the
Tartar city held out until relieved by Chang Kwoliang, who hastened from
Nankin for the purpose. Once again the imperial commanders in their
anxiety to crush Chung Wang had reduced their force in front of Nankin to
an excessively low condition, and the Taeping leader, placed in a
desperate position, seized the only chance of safety by hastening from
Hangchow to Nankin at full speed, and attacking the imperial lines. This
battle was fought early in the morning of a cold snowy day--May 3, 1860--
and resulted in the loss of 5,000 imperialists, and the compulsory raising
of the siege. The Taeping cause might have been resuscitated by this
signal victory if Tien Wang had only shown himself able to act up to the
great part he assumed, but not merely was he incapable of playing the part
of either a warrior or a statesman, but his petty jealousy prevented his
making use of the undoubted ability of his lieutenant Chung Wang, who
after the greatest of his successes was forbidden to re-enter Nankin.

[diego]

The energy and spirit of Chung Wang impelled him to fresh enterprises, and
seeing the hopelessness of Tien Wang, he determined to secure a base of
operations for himself, which should enable him to hold his own in the
warring strife of the realm, and perhaps to achieve the triumph of the
cause with which he was associated. It says much for his military energy
and skill that he was able to impart new vigor to the Taeping system, and
to sustain on a new field his position single-handed against the main
forces of the empire. He determined to obtain possession of the important
city of Soochow, on the Grand Canal, and not very far distant from
Shanghai. On his way to effect this object he gained a great victory over
Chang Kwoliang, who was himself killed in the battle. As the ex-Triad
chief possessed great energy, his loss was a considerable one for the
government, but his troops continued to oppose the advance of the
Taepings, and fought and lost three battles before Chung Wang reached
Soochow. That place was too large to be successfully defended by a small
force, and the imperialists hastily abandoned it. At this critical moment
--May, 1860--Ho Kweitsin, the viceroy of the Two Kiang, implored the aid
of the English and French, who were at this moment completing their
arrangements for the march on Pekin, against these rebels, and the French
were so far favorable to the suggestion that they offered to render the
assistance provided the English would combine with them. Mr. Bruce,
however, declined the adventure, which is not surprising, considering that
we were then engaged in serious hostilities with the Chinese, but the
incident remains unique of a country asking another for assistance during
the progress of a bitter and doubtful war. The utmost that Mr. Bruce would
do was to issue a notification that Shanghai would not be allowed to again
fall into the hands of an insurgent force. The viceroy who solicited the
aid was at least consistent. He memorialized the Throne, praying that the
demands of the Europeans should be promptly granted, and that they should
then be employed against the Taepings. His memorial was ill-timed. He was
summoned to Pekin and executed for his very prudent advice. With the
possession of Soochow, Chung Wang obtained fresh supplies of money,
material, and men, and once more it was impossible to say to what height
of success the Taepings might not attain. But Chung Wang was not satisfied
with Soochow alone; he wished to gain possession of Shanghai.

Unfortunately for the realization of his project, the Europeans had
determined to defend Shanghai at all hazards, but Chung Wang believed
either that they would not, or that their army being absent in the north
they had not the power to carry out this resolve. The necessity of
capturing Shanghai was rendered the greater in the eyes of Chung Wang by
its being the base of hostile measures against himself, and by a measure
which threatened him with a new peril. The wealthy Chinese merchants of
Shanghai had formed a kind of patriotic association, and provided the
funds for raising a European contingent. Two Americans, Ward and
Burgevine, were taken into their pay, and in July, 1860, they, having
raised a force of 100 Europeans and 200 Manila men, began operations with
an attack on Sunkiang, a large walled town about twenty miles from
Shanghai. This first attack was repulsed with some loss, but Ward, afraid
of losing the large reward he was promised for its capture, renewed the
attack, and with better success, for he gained possession of a gate, and
held it until the whole imperial army had come up and stormed the town.
After this success Ward was requested to attack Tsingpu, which was a far
stronger place than Sunkiang, and where the Taepings had the benefit of
the advice and leading of several Englishmen who had joined them. Ward
attacked Tsingpu on August 2, 1860, but he was repulsed with heavy loss.
He returned to Shanghai for the purpose of raising another force and two
larger guns, and then renewed the attack. It is impossible to say whether
the place would have held out or not, but after seven days' bombardment
Chung Wang suddenly appeared to the rescue, and, surprising Ward's force,
drove it away in utter confusion, and with the loss of all its guns and
stores. Encouraged by this success, Chung Wang then thought the time
opportune for attacking Shanghai, and he accordingly marched against it,
burning and plundering the villages along the road. The imperialists had
established a camp or stockade outside the western gate, and Chung Wang
carried this without any difficulty, but when he reached the walls of the
town he found a very different opponent in his path. The walls were lined
with English and French troops, and when the Taepings attempted to enter
the city they were received with a warm fire, which quickly sent them to
the right-about. Chung Wang renewed the attack at different points during
the next four or five days, but he was then obliged to retreat. Before
doing so, however, he sent a boasting message that he had come at the
invitation of the French, who were traitors, and that he would have taken
the city but for the foreigners, as "there was no city which his men could
not storm." At this moment the attention of Chung Wang was called off to
Nankin, which the imperialists were investing for a sixth time, under
Tseng Kwofan, who had been elevated to the viceroyalty of the Two Kiang.
Tien Wang, in despair, sent off an urgent summons to Chung Wang to come to
his assistance, and although he went with reluctance he felt that he had
no course but to obey.

Having done what he could to place Nankin in an efficient state of
defense, Chung Wang hastened back to Soochow to resume active operations.
It is unnecessary to describe these in detail; but although Chung Wang was
twice defeated by a Manchu general named Paochiaou, he succeeded, by
rapidity of movement, in holding his own against his more numerous
adversaries. In the meantime an important change had taken place in the
situation. The peace between China and the foreign powers compelled a
revision of the position at Shanghai. Admiral Hope sailed up to Nankin,
interviewed the Wangs, and exacted from them a pledge that Shanghai should
not be attacked for twelve months, and that the Taeping forces should not
advance within a radius of thirty miles of that place. In consequence of
this arrangement Ward and Burgevine were compelled to desist from
recruiting Europeans; but after a brief interval they were taken into the
Chinese service for the purpose of drilling Chinese soldiers, a measure
from which the most important consequences were to flow, for it proved to
be the origin of the Ever-Victorious Army. These preparations were not far
advanced when Chung Wang, elated by his capture of Ningpo and Hangchow,
resolved to disregard Tien Wang's promise, and make a second attack on
Shanghai, the possession of which he saw to be indispensable if his cause
was to attain any brilliant triumph. He issued a proclamation that "the
hour of the Manchus had come! Shanghai is a little place, and we have
nothing to fear from it. We must take Shanghai to complete our dominions."
The death of Hienfung seems to have encouraged Chung Wang to take what he
hoped would prove a decisive step.

On January 14, 1862, the Taepings reached the immediate vicinity of the
town and foreign settlement. The surrounding country was concealed by the
smoke of the burning villages, which they had ruthlessly destroyed. The
foreign settlement was crowded with thousands of fugitives, imploring the
aid of the Europeans to save their houses and property. Their sufferings,
which would at the best have been great, were aggravated by the
exceptional severity of the winter. The English garrison of two native
regiments and some artillery, even when supported by the volunteers, was
far too weak to attempt more than the defense of the place; but this it
was fortunately able to perform. The rebels, during the first week after
their reappearance, plundered and burned in all directions, threatening
even to make an attack on Woosung, the port at the mouth of the river,
where they were repulsed by the French. Sir John Michel arrived at
Shanghai with a small re-enforcement of English troops, and Ward, having
succeeded in disciplining two Chinese regiments of about one thousand
strong in all, sallied forth from Sunkiang for the purpose of operating on
the rear of the Taeping forces. Ward's capture of Quanfuling, with several
hundred rebel boats which were frozen up in the river, should have warned
the Taepings that it was nearly time for them to retire. However, they did
not act as prudence would have dictated, and during the whole of February
their raids continued round Shanghai. The suburbs suffered from their
attacks, the foreign factories and boats were not secure, and several
outrages on the persons of foreigners remained unatoned for. It was
impossible to tolerate any longer their enormities. The English and French
commanders came to the determination to attack the rebels, to enforce the
original agreement with Tien Wang, and to clear the country round Shanghai
of the presence of the Taepings for the space of thirty miles.

[diego]

On February 21, therefore, a joint force composed of 336 English sailors
and marines, 160 French seamen, and 600 men from Ward's contingent,
accompanied by their respective commanders, with Admiral Hope in chief
charge, advanced upon the village of Kachiaou, where the Taepings had
strengthened their position and placed guns on the walls. After a sharp
engagement the place was stormed, Ward's men leading the attack with
Burgevine at their head. The drilled Chinese behaved with great
steadiness, but the Taepings were not to be dismayed by a single defeat.
They even resumed their attacks on the Europeans. On one occasion Admiral
Hope himself was compelled to retire before their superior numbers, and to
summon fresh troops to his assistance. The re-enforcements consisted of
450 Europeans and 700 of Ward's force, besides seven howitzers. With these
it was determined to attack Tseedong, a place of great strength,
surrounded by stone walls and ditches seven feet deep. The Taepings stood
to their guns with great spirit, receiving the advancing troops with a
very heavy fire. When, however, Ward's contingent, making a detour,
appeared in the rear of the place, they hastily evacuated their positions;
but the English sailors had carried the walls, and, caught between two
fires, they offered a stubborn but futile resistance. More than 700 were
killed and 300 were taken prisoners. The favorable opinion formed of "the
Ever-Victorious Army" by the action at Kachiaou was confirmed by the more
serious affair at Tseedong; and Mr. Bruce at Pekin brought it under the
favorable notice of Prince Kung and the Chinese government. Having taken
these hostile steps against the rebels, it necessarily followed that no
advantage would accrue from any further hesitation with regard to allowing
Europeans to enter the imperial service for the purpose of opposing them.
Ward was officially recognized, and allowed to purchase weapons and to
engage officers. An Englishman contracted to convey 9,000 of the troops
who had stormed Ganking from the Yangtse to Shanghai. These men were Honan
braves, who had seen considerable service in the interior of China, and it
was proposed that they should garrison the towns of Kiangsu accordingly as
they were taken from the rebels. The arrival of General Staveley from
Tientsin at the end of March, with portions of two English regiments (the
31st and 67th), put a new face on affairs, and showed that the time was at
hand when it would be possible to carry out the threat of clearing the
country round Shanghai for the space of thirty miles.

The first place to be attacked toward the realization of this plan was the
village of Wongkadza, about twelve miles west of Shanghai. Here the
Taepings offered only a brief resistance, retiring to some stronger
stockades four miles further west. General Staveley, considering that his
men had done enough work for that day, halted them, intending to renew the
attack the next morning. Unfortunately Ward was carried away by his
impetuosity, and attacked this inner position with some 500 of his own
men. Admiral Hope accompanied him. The Taepings met them with a tremendous
fire, and after several attempts to scale the works they were repulsed
with heavy loss. Admiral Hope was wounded in the leg, seven officers were
wounded, and seventy men killed and wounded. The attack was repeated in
force on the following day, and after some fighting the Taepings evacuated
their stockades. The next place attacked was the village of Tsipoo; and,
notwithstanding their strong earthworks and three wide ditches, the rebels
were driven out in a few hours. It was then determined to attack Kahding,
Tsingpu, Nanjao, and Cholin, at which places the Taepings were known to
have mustered in considerable strength.

The first place was taken with little resistance, and its capture was
followed by preparations for the attack on Tsingpu, which were hastened
rather than delayed by a desperate attempt to set fire to Shanghai. The
plot was fortunately discovered in time, and the culprits captured and
summarily executed to the number of two hundred. Early in May a strong
force was assembled at Sunkiang, and proceeded by boat, on account of the
difficulties of locomotion, to Tsingpu. The fire of the guns, in which the
expedition was exceptionally strong, proved most destructive, and two
breaches being pronounced practicable the place was carried by assault.
The rebels fought well and up to the last, when they found flight
impossible. The Chinese troops slew every man found in the place with arms
in his hands. A few days later Nanjao was captured, but in the attack the
French commander, Admiral Protet, a gallant officer who had been to the
front during the whole of these operations, was shot dead. The rebels,
disheartened by these successive defeats, rallied at Cholin, where they
prepared to make a final stand. The allied force attacked Cholin on May
20, and an English detachment carried it almost at the point of the
bayonet. With this achievement the operations of the English troops came
for the moment to an end, for a disaster to the imperial arms in their
rear necessitated their turning their attention to a different quarter.


The troops summoned from Ganking had at last arrived to the number of five
or six thousand men; and the Futai Sieh, who was on the point of being
superseded to make room for Li Hung Chang, thought to employ them before
his departure on some enterprise which should redound to his credit and
restore his sinking fortunes. The operation was as hazardous as it was
ambitious. The resolution he came to was to attack the city and forts of
Taitsan, a place northwest of Shanghai, and not very far distant from
Chung Wang's headquarters at Soochow. The imperialist force reached
Taitsan on May 12, but less than two days later Chung Wang arrived in
person at the head of 10,000 chosen troops to relieve the garrison. A
battle ensued on the day following, when, notwithstanding their great
superiority in numbers, the Taepings failed to obtain any success. In this
extremity Chung Wang resorted to a stratagem. Two thousand of his men
shaved their heads and pretended to desert to the imperialists. When the
battle was renewed at sunrise on the following morning this band threw
aside their assumed character and turned upon the imperialists. A dreadful
slaughter ensued. Of the 7,000 Honan braves and the Tartars from Shanghai,
5,000 fell on the field. The consequences of this disaster were to undo
most of the good accomplished by General Staveley and his force. The
imperialists were for the moment dismayed, and the Taepings
correspondingly encouraged. General Staveley's communications were
threatened, and he had to abandon his intended plan and retrace his steps
to Shanghai.

Chung Wang then laid regular siege to Sunkiang, where Ward was in person,
and he very nearly succeeded in carrying the place by escalade. The
attempt was fortunately discovered by an English sailor just in time, and
repulsed with A loss to the rebels of 100 men. The Taepings continued to
show great daring and activity before both Sunkiang and Tsingpu; and
although the latter place was bravely defended, it became clear that the
wisest course would be to evacuate it. A body of troops was therefore sent
from Shanghai to form a junction with Ward at Sunkiang, and to effect the
safe retreat of the Tsingpu garrison. The earlier proceedings were
satisfactorily arranged, but the last act of all was grossly mismanaged
and resulted in a catastrophe. Ward caused the place to be set on fire,
when the Taepings, realizing what was being done, hastened into the town,
and assailed the retiring garrison. A scene of great confusion followed;
many lives were lost, and the commandant who had held it so courageously
was taken prisoner. Chung Wang could therefore appeal to some facts to
support his contention that he had got the better of the Europeans and the
imperialists in the province of Kiangsu.

[diego]

From the scene of his successes Chung Wang was once more called away by
the timidity or peril of Tien Wang, who was barely able to maintain his
position at Nankin, but when he hastened off to assist the chief of the
Taepings he found that he was out of favor, and that the jealousy or fear
of his colleagues had brought about his temporary disgrace and loss of
title. Shortly after Chung Wang's departure Ward was killed in action and
Burgevine succeeded to the command, but it soon became apparent that his
relations with the Chinese authorities would not be smooth. General Ching
was jealous of the Ever-Victorious Army and wished to have all the credit
for himself. Li Hung Chang, who had been appointed Futai or Governor of
Kiangsu, entertained doubts of the loyalty of this adventurer. Burgevine
was a man of high temper and strong passions, who met the wiles of the
Futai with peremptory demands to recognize the claims of himself and his
band. Nor was this all. Burgevine had designs of his own. Although the
project had not taken definite form in his mind the inclination was strong
within him to play the part of military dictator with the Chinese; or
failing that, to found an independent authority on some convenient spot of
Celestial territory. The Futai anticipated, perhaps, more than divined his
wishes. In Burgevine he saw, very shortly after their coming into contact,
not merely a man whom he disliked and distrusted, but one who, if allowed
to pursue his plans unchecked, would in the end form a greater danger to
the imperial authority than even the Taepings. It is not possible to deny
Li's shrewdness in reading the character of the man with whom he had to
deal.

The Futai Li, in order to test his obedience, proposed that Burgevine and
his men should be sent round by sea to Nankin to take part in the siege of
that city. The ships were actually prepared for their conveyance, and the
Taotai Wou, who had first fitted out a fleet against the rebels, was in
readiness to accompany Burgevine, when Li and his colleague, as suspicious
of Burgevine's compliance as they would have been indignant at his
refusal, changed their plans and countermanded the expedition. Instead of
carrying out this project, therefore, they laid a number of formal
complaints before General Staveley as to Burgevine's conduct, and
requested the English government to remove him from his command, and to
appoint an English officer in his place. The charges against Burgevine did
not at this time amount to more than a certain laxness in regard to the
expenditure of the force, a disregard for the wishes and prejudices of the
Chinese government, and the want of tact, or of the desire to conciliate,
in his personal relations with the Futai. If Burgevine had resigned, all
would have been well, but he regarded the position from the standpoint of
the adventurer who believes that his own interests form a supreme law and
are the highest good. As commander of the Ever-Victorious Army he was a
personage to be considered even by foreign governments. He would not
voluntarily surrender the position which alone preserved him from
obscurity. Having come to this decision it was clear that even the partial
execution of his plans must draw him into many errors of judgment which
could not but imbitter the conflict. The reply of the English commander
was to the effect that personally he could not interfere, but that he
would refer the matter to London as well as to Mr. Bruce at Pekin. In
consequence of the delay thus caused the project of removing the force to
Nankin was revived, and, the steamers having been chartered, Burgevine was
requested to bring down his force from Sunkiang and to embark it at
Shanghai. This he expressed his willingness to do on payment of his men,
who were two months in arrear, and on the settlement of all outstanding
claims, Burgevine was supported by his troops. Whatever his dislike to the
proposed move, theirs was immeasurably greater. They refused to move
without the payment of all arrears; and on January 2 they even went so far
as to openly mutiny. Two days later Burgevine went to Shanghai and had an
interview with Takee. The meeting was stormy. Burgevine used personal
violence toward the Shanghai merchant, whose attitude was at first
overbearing, and he returned to his exasperated troops with the money,
which he carried off by force. The Futai Li, on hearing of the assault on
Takee, hastened to General Staveley to complain of Burgevine's gross
insubordination in striking a mandarin, which by the law of China was
punishable with death. Burgevine was dismissed the Chinese service, and
the notice of this removal was forwarded by the English general, with a
recommendation to him to give up his command without disturbance. This
Burgevine did, for the advice of the English general was equivalent to a
command, and on January 6, 1863, Burgevine was back at Shanghai. Captain
Holland was then placed in temporary command, while the answer of the home
government was awaited to General Staveley's proposition to intrust the
force to the care of a young captain of engineers, named Charles Gordon.
Chung Wang returned at this moment to Soochow, and in Kiangsu the cause of
the Taepings again revived through his energy. In February a detachment of
Holland's force attacked Fushan, but met with a check, when the news of a
serious defeat at Taitsan, where the former Futai Sieh had been defeated,
compelled its speedy retreat to Sunkiang. Li had some reason to believe
that Taitsan would surrender on the approach of the imperialists, and he
accordingly sent a large army, including 2,500 of the contingent, to
attack it. The affair was badly managed. The assaulting party was stopped
by a wide ditch; neither boats nor ladders arrived. The Taepings fired
furiously on the exposed party, several officers were killed, and the men
broke into confusion. The heavy guns stuck in the soft ground and had to
be abandoned; and despite the good conduct of the contingent the Taepings
achieved a decisive success (February 13). Chung Wang was able to feel
that his old luck had not deserted him, and the Taepings of Kiangsu
recovered all their former confidence in themselves and their leader. This
disaster inflicted a rude blow on the confidence of Li and his assistants;
and it was resolved that nothing should be attempted until the English
officer, at last appointed, had assumed the active command.

Such was the position of affairs when on March 24, 1863, Major Gordon took
over the command of the Ever-Victorious Army. At that moment it was not
merely discouraged by its recent reverses, but it was discontented with
its position, and when Major Gordon assumed the command at Sunkiang there
was some fear of an immediate mutiny. The new commander succeeded in
allaying their discontent, and believing that active employment was the
best cure for insubordination resolved to relieve Chanzu without delay.
The Taepings were pressing the siege hard and would probably have captured
the place before many days when Major Gordon attacked them in their
stockades and drove them out with no inconsiderable loss. Having thus
gained the confidence of his men and the approbation of the Chinese
authorities Major Gordon returned to Sunkiang, where he employed himself
in energetically restoring the discipline of his force, and in preparing
for his next move, which at the request of Li Hung Chang was to be the
capture of Quinsan. On April 24 the force left Sunkiang to attack Quinsan,
but it had not proceeded far when its course had to be altered to Taitsan,
where, through an act of treachery, a force of 1,500 imperialists had been
annihilated. It became necessary to retrieve this disaster without delay,
more especially as all hope of taking Quinsan had for the moment to be
abandoned. Major Gordon at once altered the direction of his march, and
joining _en route_ General Ching, who had, on the news, broken up his
camp before Quinsan, hastened as rapidly as possible to Taitsan, where he
arrived on April 29. Bad weather obliged the attack to be deferred until
May 1, when two stockades on the west side were carried, and their
defenders compelled to flee, not into the town as they would have wished,
but away from it toward Chanzu. On the following day, the attack was
resumed on the north side, while the armed boats proceeded to assault the
place from the creek. The firing continued from nine in the morning until
five in the evening, when a breach seemed to be practicable, and two
regiments were ordered to the assault. The rebels showed great courage and
fortitude, swarming in the breach and pouring a heavy and well-directed
fire upon the troops. The attack was momentarily checked; but while the
stormers remained under such cover as they could find, the shells of two
howitzers were playing over their heads and causing frightful havoc among
the Taepings in the breach. But for these guns, Major Gordon did not think
that the place would have been carried at all; but after some minutes of
this firing at such close quarters, the rebels began to show signs of
wavering. A party of troops gained the wall, a fresh regiment advanced
toward the breach, and the disappearance of the snake flag showed that the
Taeping leaders had given up the fight. Taitsan was thus captured, and the
three previous disasters before it retrieved.

[diego]

On May 4 the victorious force appeared before Quinsan, a place of
considerable strength and possessing a formidable artillery directed by a
European. The town was evidently too strong to be carried by an immediate
attack, and Major Gordon's movements were further hampered by the conduct
of his own men, who, upon their arrival at Quinsan, hurried off in
detachments to Sunkiang for the purpose of disposing of their spoil.
Ammunition had also fallen short, and the commander was consequently
obliged to return to refit and to rally his men. At Sunkiang worse
confusion followed, for the men, or rather the officers, broke out into
mutiny on the occasion of Major Gordon appointing an English officer with
the rank of lieutenant-colonel to the control of the commissariat, which
had been completely neglected. The men who had served with Ward and
Burgevine objected to this, and openly refused to obey orders. Fortunately
the stores and ammunition were collected, and Major Gordon announced that
he would march on the following morning, with or without the mutineers.
Those who did not answer to their names at the end of the first half-march
would be dismissed, and he spoke with the authority of one in complete
accord with the Chinese authorities themselves. The soldiers obeyed him as
a Chinese official, because he had been made a tsungping or brigadier-
general, and the officers feared to disobey him as they would have liked
on account of his commanding the source whence they were paid. The
mutineers fell in, and a force of nearly 3,000 men, well-equipped and
anxious for the fray, returned to Quinsan, where General Ching had, in the
meanwhile, kept the rebels closely watched from a strong position defended
by several stockades and supported by the "Hyson" steamer. Immediately
after his arrival, Major Gordon moved out his force to attack the
stockades which the rebels had constructed on their right wing. These were
strongly built; but as soon as the defenders perceived that the assailants
had gained their flank they precipitately withdrew into Quinsan itself.
General Ching wished the attack to be made on the eastern gate, opposite
to which he had raised his own intrenchments, and by which he had
announced his intention of forcing his way; but a brief inspection showed
Major Gordon that that was the strongest point of the town, and that a
direct attack upon it could only succeed, if at all, by a very
considerable sacrifice of men. Like a prudent commander Major Gordon
determined to reconnoiter; and, after much grumbling on the part of
General Ching, he decided that the most hopeful plan was to carry some
stockades situated seven miles west of the town, and thence assail Quinsan
on the Soochow side, which was weaker than the others. These stockades
were at a village called Chumze. On May 30 the force detailed for this
work proceeded to carry it out. The "Hyson" and fifty imperial gunboats
conveyed the land force, which consisted of one regiment, some guns, and a
large body of imperialists. The rebels at Chumze offered hardly the least
resistance; whether it was that they were dismayed at the sudden
appearance of the enemy, or, as was stated at the time, because they
considered themselves ill-treated by their comrades in Quinsan. The
"Hyson" vigorously pursued those who fled toward Soochow, and completed
the effect of this success by the capture of a very strong and well-built
fort covering a bridge at Ta Edin. An imperialist garrison was installed
there, and the "Hyson" continued the pursuit to within a mile of Soochow
itself.

The defenders of Quinsan itself were terribly alarmed at the cutting off
of their communications. They saw themselves on the point of being
surrounded, and they yielded to the uncontrollable impulse of panic.
During the night, after having suffered severely from the "Hyson" fire,
the garrison evacuated the place, which might easily have held out; and
General Ching had the personal satisfaction, on learning from some
deserters of the flight of the garrison, of leading his men over the
eastern walls which he had wished to assault. The importance of Quinsan
was realized on its capture. Major Gordon pronounced it to be the key of
Soochow, and at once resolved to establish his headquarters there, partly
because of its natural advantages, but also and not less on account of its
enabling him to gradually destroy the evil associations which the men had
contracted at Sunkiang.

The change was not acceptable, however, to the force itself; and the
artillery in particular refused to obey orders, and threatened to shoot
their officers. Discipline was, however, promptly reasserted by the energy
of the commander, who ordered the principal ringleader to be shot, and
"the Ever-Victorious Army" became gradually reconciled to its new position
at Quinsan. After the capture of Quinsan there was a cessation of active
operations for nearly two months. It was the height of summer and the new
troops had to be drilled. The difficulty with Ching, who took all the
credit for the capture of Quinsan to himself, was arranged through the
mediation of Dr. Macartney, who had just left the English army to become
Li's right-hand man. Two other circumstances occurred to embarrass the
young commander. There were rumors of some meditated movement on the part
of Burgevine, who had returned from Pekin with letters exculpating him,
and who endeavored to recover the command in spite of Li Hung Chang, and
there was a further manifestation of insubordination in the force, which,
as Gordon said, bore more resemblance to a rabble than the magnificent
army it was popularly supposed to be. The artillery had been cowed by
Major Gordon's vigor, but its efficiency remained more doubtful than could
be satisfactory to the general responsible for its condition, and also
relying upon it as the most potent arm of his force. He resolved to remove
the old commander, and to appoint an English officer, Major Tapp, in his
place. On carrying his determination into effect the officers sent in "a
round robin," refusing to accept a new officer. This was on July 25, and
the expedition which had been decided upon against Wokong had consequently
to set out the following morning without a single artillery officer. In
face of the inflexible resolve of the leader, however, the officers
repented, and appeared in a body at the camp begging to be taken back, and
expressing their willingness to accept "Major Tapp or any one else" as
their colonel.

[diego]

With these troops, part of whom had only just returned to a proper sense
of discipline, Gordon proceeded to attack Kahpoo, on the Grand Canal south
of Soochow, where the rebels held two strongly-built stone forts. The
force had beep strengthened by the addition of another steamer, the
"Firefly," a sister vessel to the "Hyson." Major Gordon arrived before
Kahpoo on July 27; and the garrison, evidently taken by surprise, made
scarcely the least resistance. The capture of Kahpoo placed Gordon's force
between Soochow and Wokong, the next object of attack. At Wokong the
rebels were equally unprepared. The garrison at Kahpoo, thinking only of
its own safety, had fled to Soochow, leaving their comrades at Wokong
unwarned and to their fate. So heedless were the Taepings at this place of
all danger from the north, that they had even neglected to occupy a strong
stone fort situated about 1,000 yards north of the walls. The Taepings
attempted too late to repair their error, and the loss of this fort caused
them that of all their other stockades. Wokong itself was too weak to
offer any effectual resistance; and the garrison on the eve of the assault
ordered for July 29 sent out a request for quarter, which was granted, and
the place surrendered without further fighting. Meanwhile an event of far
greater importance had happened than even the capture of these towns,
although they formed the necessary preliminary to the investment of
Soochow. Burgevine had come to the decision to join the Taepings.

Disappointed in his hope of receiving the command, Burgevine remained on
at Shanghai, employing his time in watching the varying phases of a
campaign in which he longed to take part, and of which he believed that it
was only his due to have the direction, but still hesitating as to what
decision it behooved him to take. His contempt for all Chinese officials
became hatred of the bitterest kind of the Futai, by whom he had been not
merely thwarted but overreached, and predisposed him to regard with no
unfavorable eye the idea of joining his fortunes to those of the rebel
Taepings. To him in this frame of mind came some of the dismissed officers
and men of the Ward force, appealing to his vanity by declaring that his
soldiers remembered him with affection, and that he had only to hoist his
flag for most of his old followers to rally round him. There was little to
marvel at if he also was not free from some feeling of jealousy at the
success and growing fame of Major Gordon, for whom he simulated a warm
friendship. The combination of motives proved altogether irresistible as
soon as he found that several hundred European adventurers were ready to
accompany him into the ranks of the Taepings, and to endeavor to do for
them what they had failed to perform for the imperialists. On July 15, Dr.
Macartney wrote to Major Gordon stating that he had positive information
that Burgevine was enlisting men for some enterprise, that he had already
collected about 300 Europeans, and that he had even gone so far as to
choose a special flag, a white diamond on a red ground, and containing a
black star in the center of the diamond. On the 21st of the same month
Burgevine wrote to Major Gordon saying that there would be many rumors
about him, but that he was not to believe any of them, and that he would
come and see him shortly. This letter was written as a blind, and,
unfortunately, Major Gordon attached greater value to Burgevine's word
than he did to the precise information of Dr. Macartney. He was too much
disposed to think that, as the officer who had to a certain extent
superseded Burgevine in the command, he was bound to take the most
favorable view of all his actions, and to trust implicitly in his good
faith. Major Gordon, trusting to his word, made himself personally
responsible to the Chinese authorities for his good faith, and thus
Burgevine escaped arrest. Burgevine's plans had been deeply laid. He had
been long in correspondence with the Taepings, and his terms had been
accepted. He proclaimed his hostility to the government by seizing one of
their new steamers.

At this very moment Major Gordon came to the decision to resign, and he
hastened back to Shanghai in order to place his withdrawal from the force
in the hands of the Futai. He arrived there on the very day that Burgevine
seized the "Kajow" steamer at Sunkiang, and on hearing the news he at once
withdrew his resignation, which had been made partly from irritation at
the irregular payment of his men, and also on account of the cruelty of
General Ching. Not merely did he withdraw his resignation, but he hastened
back to Quinsan, into which he rode on the night of the very same day that
had witnessed his departure. The immediate and most pressing danger was
from the possible defection of the force to its old leader, when, with the
large stores of artillery and ammunition at Quinsan in their possession,
not even Shanghai, with its very weak foreign garrison, could be
considered safe from attack. As a measure of precaution Major Gordon sent
some of his heavy guns and stores back to Taitsan, where the English
commander, General Brown, consented to guard them, while he hastened off
to Kahpoo, now threatened both by the Soochow force and by the foreign
adventurers acting under Burgevine. He arrived at a most critical moment.
The garrison was hard pressed. General Ching had gone back to Shanghai,
and only the presence of the "Hyson" prevented the rebels, who were well-
armed and possessed an efficient artillery, from carrying the fort by a
rush. The arrival of Major Gordon with 150 men on board his third steamer,
the "Cricket," restored the confidence of the defenders, but there was no
doubt that Burgevine had lost a most favorable opportunity, for if he had
attacked this place instead of proceeding to Soochow it must have fallen.

General Ching, who was a man of almost extraordinary energy and
restlessness, resolved to signalize his return to the field by some
striking act while Major Gordon was completing his preparations at Quinsan
for a fresh effort. His headquarters were at the strong fort of Ta Edin,
on the creek leading from Quinsan to Soochow, and having the "Hyson" with
him he determined to make a dash to some point nearer the great rebel
stronghold. On August 30 he had seized the position of Waiquaidong, where,
in three days, he threw up stockades, admirably constructed, and which
could not have been carried save by a great effort on the part of the
whole of the Soochow garrison. Toward the end of September, Major Gordon,
fearing lest the rebels, who had now the supposed advantage of Burgevine's
presence and advice, might make some attempt to cut off General Ching's
lengthy communications, moved forward to Waiquaidong to support him; but
when he arrived he found that the impatient mandarin, encouraged either by
the news of his approach or at the inaction of the Taepings in Soochow,
had made a still further advance of two miles, so that he was only 1,000
yards distant from the rebel stockades in front of the east gate. Major
Gordon had at this time been re-enforced by the Franco Chinese corps,
which had been well disciplined, under the command of Captain Bonnefoy,
while the necessity of leaving any strong garrison at Quinsan had been
obviated by the loan of 200 Belooches from General Brown's force. The
rebel position having been carefully reconnoitered, both on the east and
on the south, Major Gordon determined that the first step necessary for
its proper beleaguerment was to seize and fortify the village of
Patachiaou, about one mile south of the city wall. The village, although
strongly stockaded, was evacuated by the garrison after a feeble
resistance, and an attempt to recover it a few hours later by Mow Wang in
person resulted in a rude repulse chiefly on account of the effective fire
of the "Hyson." Burgevine, instead of fighting the battles of the failing
cause he had adopted, was traveling about the country: at one moment in
the capital interviewing Tien Wang and his ministers, at another going
about in disguise even in the streets of Shanghai. But during the weeks
when General Ching might have been taken at a disadvantage, and when it
was quite possible to recover some of the places which had been lost, he
was absent from the scene of military operations. After the capture of
Patachiaou most of the troops and the steamers that had taken it were sent
back to Waiquaidong, but Major Gordon remained there with a select body of
his men and three howitzers. The rebels had not resigned themselves to the
loss of Patachiaou, and on October 1 they made a regular attempt to
recover it. They brought the "Kajow" into action, and, as it had found a
daring commander in a man named Jones, its assistance proved very
considerable. They had also a 32-pounder gun on board a junk, and this
enabled them to overcome the fire of Gordon's howitzers and also of the
"Hyson," which arrived from Waiquaidong during the engagement. But
notwithstanding the superiority of their artillery, the rebels hesitated
to come to close quarters, and when Major Gordon and Captain Bonnefoy led
a sortie against them at the end of the day they retired precipitately.

[diego]

At this stage Burgevine wrote to Major Gordon two letters--the first
exalting the Taepings, and the second written two days later asking for an
interview, whereupon he expressed his desire to surrender on the provision
of personal safety. He assigned the state of his health as the cause of
this change, but there was never the least doubt that the true reason of
this altered view was dissatisfaction with his treatment by the Taeping
leaders and a conviction of the impossibility of success. Inside Soochow,
and at Nankin, it was possible to see with clearer eyes than at Shanghai
that the Taeping cause was one that could not be resuscitated. But
although Burgevine soon and very clearly saw the hopelessness of the
Taeping movement, he had by no means made up his mind to go over to the
imperialists. With a considerable number of European followers at his beck
and call, and with a profound and ineradicable contempt for the whole
Chinese official world, he was both to lose or surrender the position
which gave him a certain importance. He vacillated between a number of
suggestions, and the last he came to was the most remarkable, at the same
time that it revealed more clearly than any other the vain and
meretricious character of the man. In his second interview with Major
Gordon he proposed that that officer should join him, and combining the
whole force of the Europeans and the disciplined Chinese, seize Soochow,
and establish an independent authority of their own. It was the old
filibustering idea, revived under the most unfavorable circumstances, of
fighting for their own hand, dragging the European name in the dirt, and
founding an independent authority of some vague, undefinable and
transitory character. Major Gordon listened to the unfolding of this
scheme of miserable treachery, and only his strong sense of the utter
impossibility, and indeed the ridiculousness of the project, prevented his
contempt and indignation finding forcible expression. Burgevine, the
traitor to the imperial cause, the man whose health would not allow him to
do his duty to his new masters in Soochow, thus revealed his plan for
defying all parties, and for deciding the fate of the Dragon Throne. The
only reply he received was the cold one that it would be better and wiser
to confine his attention to the question of whether he intended to yield
or not, instead of discussing idle schemes of "vaulting ambition."

Meantime, Chung Wang had come down from Nankin to superintend the defense
of Soochow; and in face of a more capable opponent he still did not
despair of success, or at the least of making a good fight of it. He
formed the plan of assuming the offensive against Chanzu while General
Ching was employed in erecting his stockades step by step nearer to the
eastern wall of Soochow. In order to prevent the realization of this
project Major Gordon made several demonstrations on the western side of
Soochow, which had the effect of inducing Chung Wang to defer his
departure. At this conjuncture serious news arrived from the south. A
large rebel force, assembled from Chekiang and the silk districts south of
the Taho Lake, had moved up the Grand Canal and held the garrison of
Wokong in close leaguer. On October 10 the imperialists stationed there
made a sortie, but were driven back with the loss of several hundred men
killed and wounded. Their provisions were almost exhausted, and it was
evident that unless relieved they could not hold out many days longer. On
October 12 Major Gordon therefore hastened to their succor. The rebels
held a position south of Wokong, and, as they felt sure of a safe retreat,
they fought with great determination. The battle lasted three hours; the
guns had to be brought up to within fifty yards of the stockade, and the
whole affair is described as one of the hardest fought actions of the war.
On the return of the contingent to Patachiaou, about thirty Europeans
deserted the rebels, but Burgevine and one or two others were not with
them. Chung Wang had seized the opportunity of Gordon's departure for the
relief of Wokong to carry out his scheme against Chanzu. Taking the
"Kajow" with him, and a considerable number of the foreign adventurers, he
reached Monding, where the imperialists were strongly intrenched at the
junction of the main creek from Chanzu with the Canal. He attacked them,
and a severely contested struggle ensued, in which at first the Taepings
carried everything before them. But the fortune of the day soon veered
round. The "Kajow" was sunk by a lucky shot, great havoc was wrought by
the explosion of a powder-boat, and the imperialists remained masters of a
hard fought field. The defection of the Europeans placed Burgevine in
serious peril, and only Major Gordon's urgent representations and acts of
courtesy to the Mow Wang saved his life. The Taeping leader, struck by the
gallantry and fair dealing of the English officer, set Burgevine free, and
the American consul thanked Major Gordon for his great kindness to that
misguided officer. Burgevine came out of the whole complication with a
reputation in every way tarnished. He had not even the most common courage
which would have impelled him to stay in Soochow and take the chances of
the party to which he had attached himself. Whatever his natural talents
might have been, his vanity and weakness obscured them all. With the
inclination to create an infinity of mischief, it must be considered
fortunate that his ability was so small, for his opportunities were
abundant.

The conclusion of the Burgevine incident removed a weight from Major
Gordon's mind. Established on the east and south of Soochow, he determined
to secure a similar position on its western side, when he would be able to
intercept the communications still held by the garrison across the Taho
Lake. In order to attain this object it was necessary, in the first place,
to carry the stockades at Wuliungchow, a village two miles west of
Patachiaou. The place was captured at the first attack and successfully
held, notwithstanding a fierce attempt to recover it under the personal
direction of Chung Wang, who returned for the express purpose. This
success was followed by others. Another large body of rebels had come up
from the south and assailed the garrison of Wokong. On October 26 one of
Gordon's lieutenants, Major Kirkham, inflicted a severe defeat upon them,
and vigorously pursued them for several miles. The next operation
undertaken was the capture of the village of Leeku, three miles north of
Soochow, as the preliminary to investing the city on the north. Here Major
Gordon resorted to his usual flanking tactics, and with conspicuous
success. The rebels fought well; one officer was killed at Gordon's side,
and the men in the stockade were cut down with the exception of about
forty, who were made prisoners. Soochow was then assailed on the northern
as well as on the other sides, but Chung Wang's army still served to keep
open communications by means of the Grand Canal. That army had its
principal quarters at Wusieh, where it was kept in check by a large
imperialist force under Santajin, Li's brother, who had advanced from
Kongyin on the Yangtse. Major Gordon's main difficulty now arose from the
insufficiency of his force to hold so wide an extent of country; and in
order to procure a re-enforcement from Santajin, he agreed to assist that
commander against his able opponent Chung Wang. With a view to
accomplishing this the Taeping position at Wanti, two miles north of
Leeku, was attacked and captured.

At this stage of the campaign there were 13,500 men round Soochow, and of
these 8,500 were fully occupied in the defense of the stockades, leaving
the very small number of 5,000 men available for active measures in the
field. On the other hand, Santajin had not fewer than 20,000, and possibly
as many as 30,000 men under his orders. But the Taepings still enjoyed the
numerical superiority. They had 40,000 men in Soochow, 20,000 at Wusieh,
and Chung Wang occupied a camp, half-way between these places, with 18,000
followers. The presence of Chung Wang was also estimated to be worth a
corps of 5,000 soldiers. Had Gordon been free to act, his plan of campaign
would have been simple and decisive. He would have effected a junction of
his forces with Santajin, he would have overwhelmed Chung Wang's 18,000
with his combined army of double that strength, and he would have appeared
at the head of his victorious troops before the bewildered garrison of
Wusieh. It would probably have terminated the campaign at a stroke. Even
the decisive defeat of Chung Wang alone might have entailed the collapse
of the cause now tottering to its fall. But Major Gordon had to consider
not merely the military quality of his allies, but also their jealousies
and differences. General Ching hated Santajin on private grounds as well
as on public. He desired a monopoly of the profit and honor of the
campaign. His own reputation would be made by the capture of Soochow. It
would be diminished and cast into the shade were another imperial
commander to defeat Chung Wang and close the line of the Grand Canal. Were
Gordon to detach himself from General Ching he could not feel sure what
that jealous and impulsive commander would do. He would certainly not
preserve the vigilant defensive before Soochow necessary to insure the
safety of the army operating to the north. The commander of the Ever-
Victorious Army had consequently to abandon the tempting idea of crushing
Chung Wang and to have recourse to slower methods.

[diego]

On November 19 Major Gordon collected the whole of his available force to
attack Fusaiquan, a place on the Grand Canal six miles north of Soochow.
Here the rebels had barred the Canal at three different points, while on
the banks they occupied eight earthworks, which were fortunately in a very
incomplete state. A desperate resistance was expected from the rebels at
this advantageous spot, but they preferred their safety to their duty, and
retreated to Wusieh with hardly any loss. In consequence of this reverse
Chung Wang withdrew his forces from his camp in face of Santajin, and
concentrated his men at Monding and Wusieh for the defense of the Grand
Canal. The investment of Soochow being now as complete as the number of
troops under the imperial standard would allow of, Major Gordon returned
to General Ching's stockades in front of that place, with the view of
resuming the attack on the eastern gate. General Ching and Captain
Bonnefoy had met with a slight repulse there on October 14. The stockade
in front of the east gate was known by the name of the Low Mun, and had
been strengthened to the best knowledge of the Taeping engineers. Their
position was exceedingly formidable, consisting of a line of breastworks
defended at intervals with circular stockades. Major Gordon decided upon
making a night attack and he arranged his plans from the information
provided by the European and other deserters who had been inside. The
Taepings were not without their spies and sympathizers also, and the
intended attempt was revealed to them. The attack was made at two in the
morning of November 27, but the rebels had mustered in force and received
Major Gordon's men with tremendous volleys. Even then the disciplined
troops would not give way, and encouraged by the example of their leader
who seemed to be at the front and at every point at the same moment,
fairly held their own on the edge of the enemy's position. Unfortunately
the troops in support behaved badly, and got confused from the heavy fire
of the Taepings, which never slackened. Some of them absolutely retired
and others were landed at the wrong places. Major Gordon had to hasten to
the rear to restore order, and during his absence the advanced guard were
expelled from their position by a forward movement led by Mow Wang in
person. The attack had failed, and there was nothing to do save to draw
off the troops with as little further loss as possible. This was Major
Gordon's first defeat, but it was so evidently due to the accidents
inseparable from a night attempt, and to the fact that the surprise had
been revealed, that it produced a less discouraging effect on officers and
men than might have seemed probable. Up to this day Major Gordon had
obtained thirteen distinct victories besides the advantage in many minor
skirmishes.

Undismayed by this reverse Major Gordon collected all his troops and
artillery from the other stockades, and resolved to attack the Low Mun
position with his whole force. He also collected all his heavy guns and
mortars and cannonaded the rebel stockade for some time; but on an advance
being ordered the assailants were compelled to retire by the fire which
the Taepings brought to bear on them from every available point. Chung
Wang had hastened down from Wusieh to take part in the defense of what was
rightly regarded as the key of the position at Soochow, and both he and
Mow Wang superintended in person the defense of the Low Mun stockade.
After a further cannonade the advance was again sounded, but this second
attack would also have failed had not the officers and men boldly plunged
into the moat or creek and swum across. The whole of the stockades and a
stone fort were then carried, and the imperial forces firmly established
at a point only 900 yards from the inner wall of Soochow. Six officers and
fifty men were killed, and three officers, five Europeans, and 128 men
were wounded in this successful attack. The capture of the Low Mun
stockades meant practically the fall of Soochow. Chung Wang then left it
to its fate, and all the other Wangs except Mow Wang were in favor of
coming to terms with the imperialists. Even before this defeat Lar Wang
had entered into communications with General Ching for coming over, and as
he had the majority of the troops at Soochow under his orders Mow Wang was
practically powerless, although resolute to defend the place to the last.
Several interviews took place between the Wangs and General Ching and Li
Hung Chang. Major Gordon also saw the former, and had one interview with
Lar Wang in person. The English officer proposed as the most feasible plan
his surrendering one of the gates. During all this period Major Gordon had
impressed on both of his Chinese colleagues the imperative necessity there
was, for reasons of both policy and prudence, to deal leniently and
honorably by the rebel chiefs. All seemed to be going well. General Ching
took an oath of brotherhood with Lar Wang, Li Hung Chang agreed with
everything that fell from Gordon's lips. The only one exempted from this
tacit understanding was Mow Wang, always in favor of fighting it out and
defending the town; and his name was not mentioned for the simple reason
that he had nothing to do with the negotiations. For Mow Wang Major Gordon
had formed the esteem due to a gallant enemy, and he resolved to spare no
effort to save his life. His benevolent intentions were thwarted by the
events that had occurred within Soochow. Mow Wang had been murdered by the
other Wangs, who feared that he might detect their plans and prevent their
being carried out. The death of Mow Wang removed the only leader who was
heartily opposed to the surrender of Soochow, and on the day after this
chief's murder the imperialists received possession of one of the gates.
The inside of the city had been the scene of the most dreadful confusion.
Mow Wang's men had sought to avenge their leader's death, and on the other
hand the followers of Lar Wang had shaved their heads in token of their
adhesion to the imperialist cause. Some of the more prudent of the Wangs,
not knowing what turn events might take amid the prevailing discord,
secured their safety by a timely flight. Major Gordon kept his force well
in hand, and refused to allow any of the men to enter the city, where they
would certainly have exercised the privileges of a mercenary force in
respect of pillage. Instead of this Major Gordon endeavored to obtain for
them two months' pay from the Futai, which that official stated his
inability to procure. Major Gordon thereupon resigned in disgust, and on
succeeding in obtaining one month's pay for his men, he sent them back to
Quinsan without a disturbance.

The departure of the Ever-Victorious Army for its headquarters was
regarded by the Chinese officials with great satisfaction, and for several
reasons. In the flush of the success at Soochow both that force and its
commander seemed in the way of the Futai, and to diminish the extent of
his triumph. Neither Li nor Ching also had the least wish for any of the
ex-rebel chiefs, men of ability and accustomed to command, to be taken
into the service of the government. Of men of that kind there were already
enough. General Ching himself was a sufficiently formidable rival to the
Futai, without any assistance and encouragement from Lar Wang and the
others. Li had no wish to save them from the fate of rebels; and although
he had promised, and General Ching had sworn to, their personal safety, he
was bent on getting rid of them in one way or another. He feared Major
Gordon, but he also thought that the time had arrived when he could
dispense with him and the foreign-drilled legion in the same way as he had
got rid of Sherard Osborn and his fleet. The departure of the Quinsan
force left him free to follow his own inclination. The Wangs were invited
to an entertainment at the Futai's boat, and Major Gordon saw them both in
the city and subsequently when on their way to Li Hung Chang. The exact
circumstances of their fate were never known; but nine headless bodies
were discovered on the opposite side of the creek, and not far distant
from the Futai's quarters. It then became evident that Lar Wang and his
fellow Wangs had been brutally murdered. Major Gordon was disposed to take
the office of their avenger into his own hands, but the opportunity of
doing so fortunately did not present itself. He hastened back to Quinsan,
where he refused to act any longer with such false and dishonorable
colleagues. The matter was reported to Pekin. Both the mandarins sought to
clear themselves by accusing the other; and a special decree came from
Pekin conferring on the English officer a very high order and the sum of
10,000 taels. Major Gordon returned the money, and expressed his regret at
being unable to accept any token of honor from the emperor in consequence
of the Soochow affair.

[diego]

A variety of reasons, all equally creditable to Major Gordon's judgment
and single-mindedness, induced him after two months' retirement to abandon
his inaction and to sink his difference with the Futai. He saw very
clearly that the sluggishness of the imperial commanders would result in
the prolongation of the struggle with all its attendant evils, whereas, if
he took the field, he would be able to bring it to a conclusion within two
months. Moreover, the Quinsan force, never very amenable to discipline,
shook off all restraint when in quarters, and promised to become as
dangerous to the government in whose pay it was as to the enemy against
whom it was engaged to fight. Major Gordon, in view of these facts, came
to the prompt decision that it was his duty, and the course most
calculated to do good, for him to retake the field and strive as
energetically as possible to expel the rebels from the small part of
Kiangsu still remaining in their possession. On February 18, 1864, he
accordingly left Quinsan at the head of his men, who showed great
satisfaction at the return to active campaigning. Wusieh had been
evacuated on the fall of Soochow, and Chung Wang's force retired to
Changchow, while that chief himself returned to Nankin. A few weeks later
General Ching had seized Pingwang, thus obtaining the command of another
entrance into the Taho Lake. Santajin established his force in a camp not
far distant from Changchow, and engaged the rebels in almost daily
skirmishes. This was the position of affairs when Major Gordon took the
field toward the end of February, and he at once resolved to carry the war
into a new country by crossing the Taho Lake and attacking the town of
Yesing on its western shores. By seizing this and the adjoining towns he
hoped to cut the rebellion in two, and to be able to attack Changchow in
the rear. The operations at Yesing occupied two days; but at last the
rebel stockades were carried with tremendous loss not only to the
defenders, but also to a relieving force sent from Liyang. Five thousand
prisoners were also taken. Liyang itself was the next place to be
attacked; but the intricacy of the country, which was intersected by
creeks and canals, added to the fact that the whole region had been
desolated by famine, and that the rebels had broken all the bridges,
rendered this undertaking one of great difficulty and some risk. However,
Major Gordon's fortitude vanquished all obstacles, and when he appeared
before Liyang he found that the rebel leaders in possession of the town
had come to the decision to surrender. At this place Major Gordon came
into communication with the general Paochiaou, who was covering the siege
operations against Nankin, which Tseng Kwofan was pressing with ever-
increasing vigor. The surrender of Liyang proved the more important, as
the fortifications were found to be admirably constructed, and as it
contained a garrison of fifteen thousand men and a plentiful supply of
provisions. From Liyang Major Gordon marched on Kintang, a town due north
of Liyang, and about half-way between Changchow and Nankin. The capture of
Kintang, by placing Gordon's force within striking distance of Changchow
and its communications, would have compelled the rebels to suspend these
operations and recall their forces. Unfortunately the attack on Kintang
revealed unexpected difficulties. The garrison showed extraordinary
determination; and although the wall was breached by the heavy fire, two
attempts to assault were repulsed with heavy loss, the more serious
inasmuch as Major Gordon was himself wounded below the knee, and compelled
to retire to his boat. This was the second defeat Gordon had experienced.

[diego]

In consequence of this reverse, which dashed the cup of success from
Gordon's hands when he seemed on the point of bringing the campaign to a
close in the most brilliant manner, the force had to retreat to Liyang,
whence the commander hastened back with one thousand men to Wusieh. He
reached Wusieh on the 25th of March, four days after the repulse at
Kintang, and he there learned that Fushan had been taken and that Chanzu
was being closely attacked. The imperialists had fared better in the
south. General Ching had captured Kashingfoo, a strong place in Chekiang,
and on the very same day as the repulse at Kintang, Tso Tsung Tang had
recovered Hangchow. Major Gordon, although still incapacitated by his
wound from taking his usual foremost place in the battle, directed all
operations from his boat. He succeeded, after numerous skirmishes, in
compelling the Taepings to quit their position before Chanzu; but they
drew up in force at the village of Waisso, where they offered him battle.
Most unfortunately, Major Gordon had to intrust the conduct of the attack
to his lieutenants, Colonels Howard and Rhodes, while he superintended the
advance of the gunboats up the creek. Finding the banks were too high to
admit of these being usefully employed, and failing to establish
communications with the infantry, he discreetly returned to his camp,
where he found everything in the most dreadful confusion owing to a
terrible disaster. The infantry, in fact, had been outmaneuvered and
routed with tremendous loss. Seven officers and 265 men had been killed,
and one officer and sixty-two men wounded. Such an overwhelming disaster
would have crushed any ordinary commander, particularly when coming so
soon after such a rude defeat as that at Kintang. It only roused Major
Gordon to increased activity. He at once took energetic measures to
retrieve this disaster. He sent his wounded to Quinsan, collected fresh
troops, and, having allowed his own wound to recover by a week's rest,
resumed in person the attack on Waisso. On April 10 Major Gordon pitched
his camp within a mile of Waisso, and paid his men as the preliminary to
the resumption of the offensive. The attack commenced on the following
morning, and promised to prove of an arduous nature; but by a skillful
flank movement Major Gordon carried two stockades in person, and rendered
the whole place no longer tenable. The rebels evacuated their position and
retreated, closely pursued by the imperialists. The villagers, who had
suffered from their exactions, rose upon them, and very few rebels
escaped. The pursuit was continued for a week, and the lately victorious
army of Waisso was practically annihilated. The capture of Changchow was
to be the next and crowning success of the campaign. For this enterprise
the whole of the Ever-Victorious Army was concentrated, including the ex-
rebel contingent of Liyang. On April 23 Major Gordon carried the stockades
near the west gate. In their capture the Liyang men, although led only by
Chinese, showed conspicuous gallantry, thus justifying Major Gordon's
belief that the Chinese would fight as well under their own countrymen as
when led by foreigners. Batteries were then constructed for the
bombardment of the town itself. Before these were completed the
imperialists assaulted, but were repulsed with loss. On the following day
(April 27) the batteries opened fire, and two pontoon bridges were thrown
across, when Major Gordon led his men to the assault. The first attack was
repulsed, and a second one, made in conjunction with the imperialists,
fared not less badly. The pontoons were lost, and the force suffered a
greater loss than at any time during the war, with the exception of
Waisso. The Taepings also lost heavily; and their valor could not alter
the inevitable result. Changchow had consequently to be approached
systematically by trenches, in the construction of which the Chinese
showed themselves very skillful. The loss of the pontoons compelled the
formation of a cask-bridge; and, during the extensive preparations for
renewing the attack, several hundred of the garrison came over, reporting
that it was only the Cantonese who wished to fight to the bitter end. On
May 11, the fourth anniversary of its capture by Chung Wang, Li requested
Major Gordon to act in concert with him for carrying the place by storm.
The attack was made in the middle of the day, to the intense surprise of
the garrison, who made only a feeble resistance, and the town was at last
carried with little loss. The commandant, Hoo Wang, was made prisoner and
executed. This proved to be the last action of the Ever-Victorious Army,
which then returned to Quinsan, and was quietly disbanded by its commander
before June 1. To sum up the closing incidents of the Taeping war. Tayan
was evacuated two days after the fall of Changchow, leaving Nankin alone
in their hands. Inside that city there were the greatest misery and
suffering. Tien Wang had refused to take any of the steps pressed on him
by Chung Wang, and when he heard the people were suffering from want, all
he said was, "Let them eat the sweet dew." Tseng Kwofan drew up his lines
on all sides of the city, and gradually drove the despairing rebels behind
the walls. Chung Wang sent out the old women and children; and let it be
recorded to the credit of Tseng Kwotsiuen that he did not drive them back,
but charitably provided for their wants, and dispatched them to a place of
shelter. In June Major Gordon visited Tseng's camp, and found his works
covering twenty-four to thirty miles, and constructed in the most
elaborate fashion. The imperialists numbered 80,000 men, but were badly
armed. Although their pay was very much in arrear, they were well fed, and
had great confidence in their leader, Tseng Kwofan. On June 30, Tien Wang,
despairing of success, committed suicide by swallowing golden leaf. Thus
died the Hungtsiuen who had erected the standard of revolt in Kwangsi
thirteen years before. His son was proclaimed Tien Wang on his death
becoming known, but his reign was brief. The last act of all had now
arrived. On July 19 the imperialists had run a gallery under the wall of
Nankin, and charged it with 40,000 pounds of powder. The explosion
destroyed fifty yards of the walls, and the imperialists, attacking on all
sides, poured in through the breach. Chung Wang made a desperate
resistance in the interior, holding his own and the Tien Wang's palace to
the last. He made a further stand with a thousand men at the southern
gate, but his band was overwhelmed, and he and the young Tien Wang fled
into the surrounding country. In this supreme moment of danger Chung Wang
thought more of the safety of his young chief than of himself, and he gave
him an exceptionally good pony to escape on, while he himself took a very
inferior animal. As the consequence Tien Wang the Second escaped, while
Chung Wang was captured in the hills a few days later. Chung Wang, who had
certainly been the hero of the Taeping movement, was beheaded on August 7,
and the young Tien Wang was eventually captured and executed also, by Shen
Paochen. For this decisive victory, which extinguished the Taeping
Rebellion, Tseng Kwofan, whom Gordon called "generous, fair, honest and
patriotic," was made a Hou, or Marquis, and his brother Tseng Kwotsiuen an
Earl.

It is impossible to exaggerate the impression made by Gordon's
disinterestedness on the Chinese people, who elevated him for his courage
and military prowess to the pedestal of a national god of war. The cane
which he carried when leading his men to the charge became known as
"Gordon's wand of victory"; and the troops whom he trained, and converted
by success from a rabble into an army, formed the nucleus of China's
modern army. The service he rendered his adopted country was, therefore,
lasting as well as striking, and the gratitude of the Chinese has, to
their credit, proved not less durable. The name of Gordon is still one to
conjure with among the Chinese, and if ever China were placed in the same
straits, she would be the more willing, from his example, to intrust her
cause to an English officer. As to the military achievements of General
Gordon in China nothing fresh can be said. They speak indeed for
themselves, and they form the most solid portion of the reputation which
he gained as a leader of men. In the history of the Manchu dynasty he will
be known as "Chinese Gordon"; although for us his earlier sobriquet must
needs give place, from his heroic and ever-regrettable death, to that of
"Gordon of Khartoum."

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext04/chnbl10.htm

[diego]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/f/f3/TAIPING_ARMY.JPG/800px-TAIPING_ARMY.JPG

[diego]

"The Problem of China / Russell, Bertrand Arthur William 3rd, Earl, 1872-1970" http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/3/9/4/13940/13940.htm

[diego]

http://infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/4/3/4/14345/14345.htm

"The Fight For The Republic in China / Putnam Weale, B. L. (Bertram Lenox), 1877-1930"

[diego]

CHINA TRILOGY: rare footage, undisputably the best documentary about China.

In 1986 Ambrica Productions began the CHINA Trilogy, a series of three feature-length documentaries that explore the history of modern China. Much of the twentieth century in China has been dominated by a single generation of men and women and their commitment to communism. This group formed the Chinese Communist Party in the 1920's, came to power in the 1940's and transformed the country into a world power in the 1980's. Now the last leaders of this generation are passing away, bringing to an end one of the most dramatic periods of Chinese history. Their stories and the stories of the ordinary people of China -- peasants and workers, intellectuals and soldiers, families in villages and cities -- form the heart of the CHINA Trilogy.

The first film, CHINA IN REVOLUTION describes the epic upheaval that began in China with the fall of the last emperor in 1911. Over the next four decades, the Chinese people were caught up in struggles with warlords, foreign invasion and a bitter rivalry between the Chinese Communist Party and the Nationalist Party. The film highlights the two figures who came to shape events, Chang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. First they worked as allies to unite the country and then they fought a bloody civil war that was won by the Communists in 1949.

CHINA IN REVOLUTION 1911-1949 explores the turbulent years prior to the establishment of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. This ground breaking television documentary is the first to examine this complex historical era through interviews with people who experienced it. In the course of the program, viewers watch and listen as Chinese citizens recall their dramatic pasts. The film, which combines rare archival footage with location segments filmed in China and Taiwan, was first broadcast on PBS just after the Tiananmen Square tragedy of 1989. CHINA IN REVOLUTION begins Ambrica Production's epic series on the history of 20th century China.

PRESS REVIEWS

"The film provides exactly the sort of long-range socio-political context that Western news organizations seldom bring to breaking events. Moreover, it does so with a visual integrity that is simply stunning... If this film serves no other purpose, it reminds us that the Tiananmen Square rebellion has a much longer history -- and a far deeper context -- than a few days in June 1989. No one 'lost'China, but this film helps re-find her." The Boston Globe

"What is remarkable about this documentary film is not only that it contains rare footage chronicling those turbulent years, but also that the archival footage is enlivened by the film-makers' interviews with people - both on the mainland and on Taiwan - who either witnessed the happenings shown on the screen or were themselves participants in the historic events that changed China for better or for worse. The recounting of their personal experiences brings history closer to the audience and provides authentic details in a breathtaking panorama." The Asian Wall Street Journal


http://youtube.com/watch?v=aL3LyXtOQqU&feature=related

PART 1

http://youtube.com/watch?v=EoJhENCD3Kk&feature=related

PART 2

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3VyTGGnObKg&feature=related

PART 3

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yeZweN0JQNU&feature=related

PART 4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0zifHzYiuu8&feature=related

PART 5

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PPQRUUGHZZo&feature=related

PART 6

http://youtube.com/watch?v=PaTMZuXLpt8&feature=related

PART 7

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tWaPnzgxdjI&feature=related

PART 8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=UBDeOMEXC4M&feature=related

PART 9

http://youtube.com/watch?v=un1vVz4PmUc&feature=related

PART 10

http://youtube.com/watch?v=xIEntI9oSao&feature=related

PART 11

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4nYo-JXGQr4&feature=related

PART 12

[diego]

GORDON

THE MAN WHO "DISCOVERED" CHINA

The name, Gordon, brings to mind the warrior--perchance the Highland
laddie who with bagpipes fiercely blowing charges down the rocky slope
against the enemy.

"Chinese" Gordon, as one of this warlike clan will be known for all
time, came indeed of a race of warriors, and was born in martial
surroundings; but the man himself was far from being of that stern
stuff that glories in a fight. As boy and man, he was quiet, lovable,
and of intensely religious nature.

Gordon means a "spear," and the name was probably given to the clan
several centuries ago. Its members had always been famous in battle.
Chinese Gordon's great-grandfather led a very eventful life. He was
taken prisoner in the battle of Prestonpans, and later went to Canada,
on the special expedition which wrested that Dominion from the French.
His son took part in many battles, and served with distinction.

The next in line, the father of Chinese Gordon, was Lieutenant-General
Henry William Gordon, a soldier of the highest type.

General Gordon lived at Woolwich, long noted for its arsenal. It is
only nine miles out from St. Paul's, and is an object of interest at
any time. But in times of war it fairly bristles with activity. Small
wonder, then, that a boy coming from such a line of ancestors and born,
almost, in a gun-carriage should have chosen to become a soldier. With
any other environment Chinese Gordon would have become a preacher.

Of course, the name "Chinese," was not the way he was christened.
"Charles George" are his baptismal names--but few people know that fact
now.

He was the youngest child in a large family, five sons and six
daughters. This calls to mind other large families from which sprang
famous soldiers--Napoleon, for example. Charles was born in 1833,
after his father had reached middle age, and had settled down in the
piping times of peace. The elder Gordon had won his spurs in the
Napoleonic Wars.

We know very little of the boyhood of Charles Gordon, beyond the fact
that during the first ten years of his life he lived at the Pigeon
House Fort, in Dublin Bay, next in the Fort of Leith, and later on the
Island of Corfu. All these places are spots of great natural beauty--a
vista of stretching sea or mountain-top which the frowning fortress
only aided in romance and charm. Many a long ramble must the boy have
had, storing his memory with these quiet, sylvan pictures.

Not far from Leith was the famous battlefield of Prestonpans, where,
nearly a century before, his great-grandfather had been taken prisoner.
From his father or brothers he must have heard many a wild tale of the
Highlanders and their exploits.

As a child, however, this did not appeal to him. He loved nature in
her quiet moods best. He was timid and nervous, to such an extent that
the firing off of the cannon, when the colors were lowered at sundown,
would make him jump half out of his boots. It was only by the sternest
sort of self-control that he obtained the mastery of himself.

Not that Charles Gordon was ever a coward. Morally he was
ever-unflinching. He abhorred a lie, and was always ready to stand up
for his convictions. But his physical frame was made of weaker
stuff--much to his own vexation.

One of the few early stories related of him is that he had difficulty
in learning to swim. He could not get the stroke and he had a horror
of being in water over his head. So he made a practise of deliberately
throwing himself into deep water, when out with his mates, knowing that
it was "sink or swim," or a case of getting pulled out. He was then
only nine.

A few years later, another instance reveals his determination. A great
circus was advertised in London, a novelty in those days, and the
Gordon boys had been promised the treat. But just before its arrival,
Charles fell into disgrace. He was charged with some fault which he
did not think should have been laid to his door. Later he was
forgiven, and told that he might attend the circus. But his pride was
aroused, and he refused to go.

When he was ten, the first definite step toward making him a soldier
was taken--for of course, being a Gordon, he must be a soldier. He was
sent to school at Taunton, preparatory to entering, as a cadet, the
Royal Military Academy, at Woolwich. At that time, its commandant was
a veteran of Waterloo, a peppery old chap who had left one of his legs
on the soil of France, as a souvenir. He was a martinet as to
discipline, and Charles, who had become accustomed to doing a good deal
of thinking for himself, came into frequent clashes with him.

One day, the old man said, "Gordon, I am tired of fooling with you.
You are incompetent; you will never make an officer."

The young cadet, a boy of sixteen, gave him look for look, without
quailing--then by way of reply tore his epaulettes from his shoulders,
turned on his heel, and strode out of the room.

Naturally, the guardhouse was next in order, where the culprit could
cool his heels and meditate upon the sinfulness of superior officers.
In this particular case he seems to have blamed it upon the missing
leg, for he remarked, long afterwards: "Never employ any one minus a
limb to be in authority over boys. They are apt to be irritable and
unjust."

[diego]

He remained in the Military Academy four years, having been put back
six months by way of discipline, and left it without any regrets. At
this time, indeed, he had a positive distaste for the army. It was all
drill and monotony. One day was too much like another. What was the
good of it all? Why did men have to learn to kill each other anyhow?
Were we not put on earth for a higher mission?

Thus reasoned the young man, who, all his life, was subject to moods of
introspection and intense religious thought--surely strange material
out of which to build a soldier! He sensed this fact himself and was
not at all anxious to enter the army; and frequently in later life
expressed a lively dissatisfaction for the service. He was an
exemplification of the poet's line:

"I feel two natures struggling within me."

When he entered the service, as a second lieutenant of the Engineers,
at the age of nineteen, there was little to attract one in the army
life. The long peace of Europe, which had followed the defeat of
Napoleon, seemed likely to last forever. Except for a relatively small
outbreak in France, in 1848, all Europe was quiet. Consequently, the
army held little attraction to an active young man. It was all drill
and the petty details of garrison life. But underneath the placid
surface, the political pot of Europe was really boiling furiously--only
waiting a chance to bubble over. That chance soon came.

Gordon's first assignment was to Pembroke, where plans were required
for the forts at Milford Haven. Here with other engineers he worked
for a few months, when he was ordered to the Island of Corfu. This was
not altogether to his liking. He had spent a part of his boyhood there
in the Ionian Islands, but felt that they were "off the map" so far as
real activity was concerned.

Then the bubbling pot at last boiled over. Russia, impatient of
bounds, had begun her march southward, past the Black Sea, and toward
the coveted lands of Turkey. The "balance of power," that precarious
something that has always kept Europe on edge--and particularly in the
Balkans--was upset. Whether England wanted to or not, she must get
into the breach.

Thus began the Crimean War, a desperate struggle that was to bear some
glorious pages in England's history, and some dark ones as well. It
was to see the "Charge of the Light Brigade"--splendid in itself, but
brought about because "some one had blundered." It was to produce a
Florence Nightingale--but also the hideous sufferings which she helped
to assuage.

For England was unprepared. Her years of idleness had broken down her
military organization. Splendid fighting men she still had, but the
fighting machine itself was rusty.

Young Gordon, perhaps through his father's influence, obtained a
transfer from Corfu to the Crimea. The father did not much like his
new billet. He may have sensed something of what was coming. But he
did not fear for his son.

"Get him into real action, _I_ say," he would remark. "That will show
whether there's any stuff in him. I guess there is," he added grimly,
thinking of Charles's troubles in college. "All the time he was in the
Academy, I felt like I was sitting on a powder barrel."

In mid-December, of 1854, Gordon set sail from England, on his first
real job as a soldier. He was going with the task of building some
wooden huts for the soldiers, and lumber was being shipped at the same
time. But the soldiers for whom these shelters were intended were even
then dying from exposure on the plains of Sebastopol. It was the first
lesson of unpreparedness.

Of this, however, the young engineer was then ignorant. He was in high
spirits over the prospect of action and seeing the world. He arrived
at Marseilles "very tired," as he writes to his mother, but not too
tired to give her a detailed description of what he has seen thus
far--"the pretty towns and villages, vineyards and rivers, with
glimpses of snowy mountains beyond."

On New Year's Day he reached his destination, Balaklava. It was the
depth of winter, and disaster stared the British in the face. The
Russians were having the best of it. They were out-generalling the
enemy at every turn. The British could do little more than dig in and
hang on, with the bull-dog stubbornness which has always marked them.

At first, the young lieutenant heard little of this. His duties as
construction engineer kept him busy six miles back of the battle line.

"I have not yet seen Sebastopol," he writes on January 3, "and do not
hear anything of the siege. We hear a gun now and then. No one seems
to interest himself about the siege, but all appear to be engaged in
foraging for grub." Two days later he writes: "We have only put up two
huts as yet, but hope to do better soon."

The army was suffering from both cold and hunger, and was in pitiable
plight. Again he writes: "Lieutenant Daunt, Ninth Regiment, and
another officer of some Sixtieth Regiment, were frozen to death last
night, and two officers of the Ninety-Third Regiment were smothered by
charcoal. The streets of Balaklava are a sight, with swell English
cavalry and horse-artillery carrying rations, and officers in every
conceivable costume foraging for eatables."

There was little military glamor in such sights as this. No wonder,
young Gordon felt sick of it all. But he never gave the slightest
indication of quitting. He only worked all the harder to help do his
bit. As Spring advanced, he had an opportunity to work closer to the
lines. He received orders to construct trenches and rifle pits, which
at times was extremely hazardous and brought him under fire. On one
occasion a Russian bullet missed his head by a scant inch.

At last, in the month of June, came his first chance to do some real
fighting. Every branch of the service was marshalled by the commanding
general, Lord Raglan, for a massed attack. What happened can best be
described in Gordon's own words:

"About three a. m. the French advanced on the Malakoff tower in three
columns, and ten minutes after this our signal was given. The Russians
then opened with a fire of grape that was terrific." And again: "They
mowed down our men in dozens, and the trenches, being confined, were
crowded with men who foolishly kept in them instead of rushing over the
parapet, and, by coming forward in a mass, trusting to some of them at
least being able to pass through untouched to the Redan, where, of
course, once they arrived, the artillery could not reach them, and
every yard nearer would have diminished the effect of the grape by
giving it less space for spreading. We could thus have moved up the
supports and carried the place. Unfortunately, however, our men
dribbled out of the ends of the trenches ten and twenty at a time, and
as soon as they appeared they were cleared away."

Thus ended the first engagement in which Gordon took part. The Allies
suffered defeat, and Lord Raglan died a few days later of a broken
heart. It was not an auspicious baptism of fire.

In August another assault was made, which also met defeat. Gordon ends
his account with the remark: "We should have carried everything before
us, if the men had only advanced."

Perchance one reason why the men failed to advance was that their
morale had been lowered, by reason of the privations they had
undergone. This was before the days of the Red Cross, the army
canteen, or the Y. M. C. A. with its homely comfort. The men had had
to shift for themselves. Nursing the sick and wounded was almost
unknown, until the white-clad figure of Florence Nightingale showed the
world its dereliction. Listen to what this devoted pioneer among
nurses has to say:

[diego]

"Fancy working five nights out of seven in the trenches. Fancy being
thirty-six hours in them at a stretch, as they sometimes were, lying
down, or half-lying down often forty-eight hours with no food but raw
salt pork, sprinkled with sugar, rum, and biscuit; nothing hot, because
the exhausted soldier could not collect his own fuel, as he was
expected to do, to cook his own rations; and fancy through all this,
the army preserving their courage and patience, as they have done, and
being now eager (the old ones as well as the young ones) to be led into
the trenches. There was something sublime in the spectacle."

Sublime? Granted. But no soldier fights well on an empty stomach.

Despite their hardships and reverses, however, the Allies were at last
successful in the capture of Sebastopol. But it was a barren victory,
as the Russians had set fire to the town and destroyed practically
everything of value. The war soon afterwards ceased, and with it the
first hard lesson in Charles Gordon's military training. He had
entered it a somewhat careless youth. He came out of it a seasoned
veteran.

That his government had learned to appreciate his services is shown by
the fact that he was soon afterward placed on a joint commission of the
English, French, Russians, and Austrians, to lay down a boundary line
between Russia and her neighbors at the southwest. It was only one of
many later attempts to define the Balkans.

"The newly-ceded territory is in great disorder," writes Gordon. "The
inhabitants refuse to obey the Moldaves and own nobody's authority.
This is caused, I suspect, by Russian intrigues."

Already cracks were beginning to show in the new boundary wall.

After three years of steady but interesting work following up the
ravages of war, Gordon returned home. It was a rest well earned, and
likewise needed, for there were still more strenuous days ahead. Then
back he went, in the Spring of 1858, to complete his work in the
Caucasus.

"I am pretty tired of my post as peacemaker," he writes; "for which I
am naturally not well adapted. . . . I am quite in the dark as to how
my mission has been fulfilled, but it is really immaterial to me, for I
will not accept other work of such an anomalous character."

The "other work" that was being stored up for him was of quite
different nature. He might have called it "anomalous," but it was to
tax and bring out every resource in him.

China, that land of distance and mystery, was undergoing a period of
upheaval. A usurper had tried to seize the reins of government, and
the French and British ships had been attacked. The British sent a
force of reprisal, somewhat like that sent against the Boxer rebellion
in recent years. This was in 1860; and Gordon was sent out with the
rank of captain.

The first work of this expeditionary force was scarcely worthy of a
civilized country. They set fire to a summer palace and gardens of a
prince who had mistreated some English prisoners. It was a piece of
vandalism that went against the grain with Gordon.

"You can scarcely imagine the beauty and magnificence of the palaces we
burnt," he writes. "It made one's heart sore to destroy them. It was
wretchedly demoralizing work."

In the Spring of 1862, Gordon had become a major, and was ordered, with
a Lieutenant Carden, to explore the Great Wall of China. This was more
to his liking. The two men were congenial and well fitted by
temperament and experience for the task. They penetrated provinces in
the interior never before entered by a white man, and had a variety of
adventures, some amusing, others exciting.

During the winter it grew extremely cold, high up in the mountains. He
relates that eggs were frozen as hard as if they had been boiled. At
another time they are caught in a terrific dust storm, which he thus
describes:

"The sky was as dark as night; huge columns of dust came sweeping down,
and it blew a regular hurricane, the blue sky appearing now and then
through the breaks. The quantity of dust was indescribable. A canal,
about fifty miles long and eighteen feet wide, and seven deep, was
completely filled up."

From these more or less peaceful incidents, Gordon was presently called
to more exciting events. The great Tai-ping rebellion had been raging
for some months. It was the work of a Chinese schoolmaster, who said
that Heaven had sent him to rescue China. He chose for title "The
Heavenly King," and with some thousands of fanatical followers, overran
a large part of the interior. His seat of government was in Nanking.

In his first clashes with the small British army, in 1862, his troops
had the better of the argument. They spoke with open contempt of the
foreigners, and all English, whether soldiers or missionaries, were in
imminent danger. Things came to such a pass that an American, named
Ward, obtained permission to organize a band of volunteers for mutual
protection. This band did remarkable work, and soon grew from a force
of two hundred, to two thousand--every man of them ready to die in his
tracks.

They met the fanatical followers of "The Heavenly King" more than
half-way, and gave them such thorough doses of hot shot and cold steel,
that the rebels finally ran at sight of them. It is said that Ward's
men fought seventy engagements in one year, and won every fight. The
Imperial Chinese Government was very grateful for their aid, and
conferred upon them a high-sounding name which meant, "Ever-Victorious
Army."

Unluckily, Ward lost his life in leading an assault, and left his army
without a general. Li Hung Chang, the statesman, who was later known
as the Grand Old Man of China, came to the British commander General
Stavely, and asked him to appoint a British officer to lead the
Ever-Victorious Army.

[diego]

Stavely cast about him, and his eye fell upon Major Gordon, who was
then engaged upon a survey of the defenses of Shanghai. He had known
Gordon and admired him. He believed that here was the man for the task.

"What he was before Sebastopol he has been since--faithful, trusty, and
successful," reasoned the General. "Before Pekin and Shanghai he has
evinced just the qualities that are needed now. Although he has never
been in command, he will rise to this occasion, to which he is more
fitted than any other man whom I know."

Gordon at first declined the honor, perhaps through false modesty, and
the command was given to a Captain Holland, with bad results. Holland
traded too much on the invincibility of the Ever-Victorious Army, and
attacked a strongly fortified position at Taitsan. His forces were
driven off with a loss of three hundred men. It was a grievous loss,
but the moral loss was far deeper. His men lost spirit, while the
rebels were extravagant in their glee.

Something had to be done at once. Again they came to Gordon with the
offer of leadership, and this time, he accepted--but not without some
misgiving. In a letter home, dated March 24, 1863, he writes:

"I am afraid you will be much vexed at my having taken the command of
the Sung-kiang force, and that I am now a Mandarin. I have taken the
step on consideration. I think that any one who contributes to putting
down this rebellion fulfils a humane task, and I also think tends a
great deal to open China to civilization."

Gordon soon proved that he had both courage and resourcefulness. He
did not risk another assault upon Taitsan, as the rebels expected, but
decided to attack them in another quarter. He took one thousand men by
river to an inland town, Chanzu. Here was a loyal Chinese garrison
which had been besieged by the rebels and was in sore straits.

The coming of Gordon was a bold and unexpected move, as the rebels must
have outnumbered his force five to one. But Gordon had brought two
field pieces along, and at once opened fire. By night-fall the enemy
had enough of it, and retreated. The next morning the Ever-Victorious
Army marched triumphantly into Chanzu, where they received a great
welcome. Gordon thus received reinforcements not only from this
garrison, but also from some of the rebel forces who had begun to
"smell a mouse" and decided to come over while the coming was good.

Gordon was much interested in some of these young rebel chiefs. He
says that they were very intelligent, and were splendidly dressed in
their silks, and had big pearls in their caps. The head man was about
thirty-five years old, and was ill and worn with anxiety.

"He was so very glad to see me, and chin-chinned most violently,
regretting his inability to give me a present, which I told him was not
the custom of our people."

This rapid victory was productive of several good results. It once
more put the rebels "on the run," it restored the morale of his troops
and gave them confidence in their new leader, and it brought him many
recruits. One especially gratifying result was that several British
officers asked leave to serve under him.

Gordon had made a firm friend of Li Hung Chang, who aided him in every
possible way. He introduced much-needed discipline into his troops,
who had been at first mere adventurers, and also established regular
grades of pay. The Chinese Government was glad to assume these
payments; while the English authorities were well content with the
unique arrangement. Whether or not, Gordon would have called it
"anomalous"--it was working, and that was the main thing.

Gordon saw to it that his men were well armed, well paid, well dressed,
and well fed. Always he had the horrible example of the Crimean
campaign before his eyes, and he was resolved that never again, if he
could help it, should such conditions recur. He was thus one of the
first of our generals to meet the need of a modern army in a modern
way. As he wrote, at the destruction of Sebastopol, "The old army is
dead."

After Gordon had got his new army in readiness--and not until then--he
launched his systematic campaign against the rebels. First he moved
against Quinsan, an important stronghold. It was a large city, some
four or five miles in circumference, and clustered about a commanding
hill. This city and its approaches were held by a force of about
twelve thousand. Against them Gordon brought a force of two thousand
infantry and six hundred artillery.

On the east side of the city was a considerable body of water, Lake
Yansing, and on the other side of the lake, the village of Soochow,
also occupied by the rebels. Gordon brought up his fleet of small
ships and one steamboat on which he had placed guns, and, running in
between the two towns, cut the enemy in two, throwing them into such
confusion that both towns were soon taken by assault.

[diego]

Gordon wrote home an amusing account of this battle. It seems that the
rebels inland were unused to steamboats, and when this vessel charged
up with whistle going, they thought it some sort of wrathful god or
demon.

"The horror of the rebels at the steamer is very great. When she
whistles they cannot make it out," he says; and adds that because of
this victory he has been given the rank of Tsung-ping, or Red Button
Mandarin--about equivalent to brigadier general.

These engagements were but the forerunner of many similar ones. His
army took town after town until order was once more restored, and
"broke the back of the rebellion."

The grateful Chinese Government showered him with titles. He was made
a "Ti-tu," which gave him the highest rank in the Chinese army. The
Emperor himself commanded that he should be rewarded with "a yellow
riding jacket, to be worn on his person, and a pea****'s feather to be
carried on his cap; also, that there be bestowed on him four suits of
the uniform proper to his rank of Ti-tu, in token of our favor and
desire to do him honor."

It must not be inferred that Gordon came into his high honors in China
easily. He was constantly beset by difficulties. His own men on more
than one occasion tried to start a mutiny, and it was only by a display
of his highest and sternest qualities of leadership, that he restored
order. The Chinese officials, also, had to be handled with diplomacy.
They were accustomed to bargaining, and could not believe at first that
Gordon was not working for selfish ends. It was only when they
realized the true character of the man, that their esteem and affection
were fully enlisted.

The Emperor wished to bestow on him a large sum of money, but this was
refused. The Chinese were nonplussed. Prince Kung reported to a
British official as follows:

"We do not know what to do. He will not receive money from us, and we
have already given him every honor which it is in the power of the
Emperor to bestow. But as these can be of little value in his eyes, I
have brought you this letter, and ask you to give it to the Queen of
England, that she may bestow on him some reward which would be more
valuable in his eyes."

The love of this strange race of people for a foreign officer was not
idly bestowed. They were the first to recognize his highest qualities,
and though he later won high rank under the Union Jack, it is as
Chinese Gordon that his name will most frequently appear in history.

A fellow campaigner in China writes: "What is perhaps most striking in
Gordon's career in China, is the entire devotion with which the native
soldiers served him, and the implicit faith they had in the result of
operations in which he was personally present. In their eyes General
Gordon was literally a magician to whom all things were possible. They
believed him to bear a charmed life; and a short stick or rattan cane
which he invariably carried about, and with which he always pointed in
directing the fire of artillery or other operations, was firmly looked
on as a wand or talisman. These notions, especially the men's idea
that their general had a charmed existence, were substantially aided by
Gordon's constant habit, when the troops were under fire, of appearing
suddenly, usually unattended, and calmly standing in the very hottest
part of the fire."

As to Gordon's personal appearance, a pen picture by a comrade-in-arms,
Colonel Butler, deserves place:

"In figure Gordon, at forty years of age, stood somewhat under middle
height, slight but strong, active, and muscular. A profusion of thick
brown hair clustered above a broad open forehead. His features were
regular, his mouth firm, and his expression when silent had a certain
undertone of sadness, which instantly vanished when he spoke. But it
was the clear, blue-gray eye and the low, soft, and very distinct voice
that left the most lasting impression on the memory of the man who had
seen and spoken with Charles Gordon--an eye that seemed to have looked
at great distances and seen the load of life carried on many shoulders,
and a voice that, like the clear chime of some Flemish belfry, had in
it fresh music to welcome the newest hour, even though it had rung out
the note of many a vanished day."


IMPORTANT DATES IN GORDON'S LIFE

1833. January 28. Charles George Gordon born.
1849. Entered Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.
1852. Commissioned second lieutenant of engineers.
1854. Sent to the Crimea, to construct huts and trenches.
1862. Sent as major to explore Great Wall of China.
1863. Took command of "Ever-Victorious Army" in China.
1864. Crushed native rebellion and given highest rank in
Chinese army.
1874. Sent on first expedition to Egypt and the Soudan, as colonel.
1881. Made major-general.
1884. Sent in command of expedition to the Soudan.
1885. January 24. Lost his life in the massacre at Khartoum.

[diego]

Fānziquán (Chinese: 翻子拳; literally "tumbling fist") is a Chinese martial art that emphasizes offense and defense with the hands.

As a Chinese martial art, it is usually practiced in sets of preformulated routines. Its movements have been described thus: "Two fists are fast like the falling rain drops, and fast like a snapping whip". Fanziquan routines are usually quite short and very fast. There are no weapons routines for Fanziquan.

Fānziquán is a source of the modern Eagle Claw style.

Until at least the Ming Dynasty (1368--1644), Fānziquán was known as Bāshǎnfān (Chinese: 八閃翻; literally "8 flash tumbles"), or "8 evasive tumbles".

Fānziquán is often taught in conjunction with Chuōjiǎo, not unlike how Xíngyìquán and Bāguàzhǎng are often taught together. The routines of Chuōjiǎo, with its kicks, wide open stances and focus on hard power, were known as Martial Routines and those of Fānziquán, with their more compact movements combining soft and hard power, were known as Scholarly Routines, which is why the Chuōjiǎo Fānziquán combination is known as "Martial-Scholar".

Both Fānziquán and Chuōjiǎo are associated with the 12th century Song Dynasty general Yue Fei and the association between the two may date that far back. However, as a legendary figure, Yue Fei has had many martial arts attributed to him, including Eagle Claw and Xíngyìquán.

Nonetheless, the association between the two is old enough that by the mid-19th century, Zhao Canyi, a general in the failed Taiping Rebellion, was a master of both styles.

After the failure of the rebellion, Zhao went into seclusion in Hebei Province in Raoyang, where he taught Fānziquán, which emphasizes the hands, to the Wang family and Chuōjiǎo, which emphasizes the feet, to the Duan family.

During practice, the families would exchange techniques.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IKCRZB9pr0A

[diego]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=GZa8vcKPSbk

TAIPING REBELLION MUSEUM...Just a short clip.

Ongoing thread yall:)

[diego]

Chinese Cultural Studies:
The Taiping Rebellion, 1851-1864


image

Hung Xiu*quan (1814-1864) was the son of a farmer and an aspiring Chinese bureaucrat. He came under the influence of Christian missionaries, and reached the conclusion that he was the younger son of Jesus sent to found the Heavenly Kingdom on earth. Faced with the collapse of Qing dynasty rule (under Western onslaught), Hung tapped into the deep millenarianism of the Chinese peasantry (previously expressed in Buddhist terms) and began a rebellion - the Taiping Rebellion ("Taiping tien-quo" means the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace").

There were many other revolts, but this was by far the most serious. Lasting from 1851 to1864 it took control of large swerves of south and central China, including the southern capital of Nanking. There a theocratic*military government was established.

Although it was millenarian in form, the Taiping leaders adopted many policies which would later become the marks of modernizers in China: prohibition of opium*smoking, gambling, the use of tobacco and wine, polygamy, the sale of slaves, and prostitution. The promoted the equality of the sexes: they abolished foot-binding and appointed of women as administrators and officers in the Taiping army. They also tried to abolish the private ownership of land and property, and they developed a program for the equal distribution of land.

The following is an excerpt from the basic document of the Taiping Kingdom, called "The Land System of the Heavenly Kingdom." published in 1853.

All fields are to be divided into nine grades: every mou [6.6 mou equal one acre] of land, which during the two seasons, both early and late, can produce 1,200 catties [of grain] shall be ranked as a superior field of the first class; every mou that produces 1,100 catties as a superior field of the second class; and every mou that produces 1,000 catties as a superior field of the third class. Every mou that produces 900 catties shall be considered as a medium field of the first class; every mou that produces 800 catties as a medium field of the second class; and every mou that produces 700 catties as a medium field of the third class. Every mou that produces 600 catties shall be considered as an inferior field of the first class; every mou that produces 500 catties as an inferior field of the second class; and every mou that produces 400 catties as an inferior field of the third class. One mou of superior field of the first class shall be considered equal to a mou and one*tenth of a superior field of the second class, and to a mou and two*tenths of a superior field of the third class; also to a mou and three*and*a*half tenths of a medium field of the first class, to a mou and five*tenths of a medium field of the second class, and to a mou and seven*and*a*half tenths of a medium field of the third class; also to two mou of an inferior field of the first class, to two mou and four*tenths of an inferior field of the second class, and to three mou of an inferior field of the third class.

The division of land must be according to the number of individuals, whether male or female; calculating upon the number of individuals in a household, if they be numerous, then the amount of land will be larger, and if few, smaller; and it shall be a mixture of the nine classes. If there are six persons in a family, then for three there shall be good land and for three poorer land, and of good and poor each shall have half. All the fields in the empire are to be cultivated by all the people alike. If the land is deficient in one place, then the people must be removed to another, and if the land is deficient in another, then the people must be removed to this place. All the fields throughout the empire, whether of abundant or deficient harvest, shall be taken as a whole: if this place is deficient, then the harvest of that abundant place must be removed to relieve it, and if that place is deficient, then the harvest of this abundant place must be removed in order to relieve the deficient place; thus, all the people in the empire may together enjoy the abundant happiness of the Heavenly Father, Supreme Lord and Great God. There being fields, let all cultivate them; there being food, let all eat; there being clothes, let all be dressed; there being money, let all use it, so that nowhere does inequality exist, and no man is not well fed and clothed.

All men and women, every individual of sixteen years and upwards, shall receive land, twice as much as those of fifteen years of age and under. Thus, those sixteen of years of age and above shall receive a mou of superior land of the first class, and those of fifteen years and under shall receive half that amount, five*tenths of a mou of superior land of the first class; again, if those of sixteen years and above receive three mou of inferior land of the third class, then those of fifteen years and below shall receive half that amount, one and one*half mou of inferior land of the third class.

Throughout the empire the mulberry tree is to be planted close to every wall, so that all women may engage in rearing silkworms, spinning the silk, and making garments. Throughout the empire every family should keep five hens and two sows, which must not be allowed to miss their proper season. At the time of harvest, every sergeant shall direct the corporals to see to it that of` the twenty*five families under his charge each individual has a sufficient supply of food, and aside from the new grain each may receive, the remainder must be deposited in the public granary. Of wheat, pulse, hemp; flax, cloth, silk, fowls, dogs, etc., and money, the same is true; for the whole empire is the universal family of our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. . . . For every twenty*five families there must be established one public granary, and one church where the sergeant must reside. Whenever there are marriages, or births, or funerals, all may go to the public granary; but a limit must be observed, and not a cash be used beyond what is necessary. Thus, every family which celebrates a marriage or a birth will be given one thousand cash and a hundred catties of grain....

[diego]

In every circle of twenty*five families, the work of the potter, the blacksmith, the carpenter, the mason, and other artisans must all be performed by the corporal and privates; when free from husbandry they are to attend to these matters. Every sergeant, in superintending marriages and funeral events in the twenty*five families, should in every case offer a eucharistic sacrifice to our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God; all corrupt ceremonies of former times are abolished.

In every circle of twenty*five families, all young boys must go to church every day, where the sergeant is to teach them to read the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as the book of proclamations of the true ordained Sovereign. Every Sabbath the corporals must lead the men and women to the church, where the males and females are to sit in separate rows. There they will listen to sermons, sing praises, and offer sacrifices to our Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God....

In the creation of an army, for each 13,156 families there must first be a corps general; next there must be five colonels under the command of the corps general; next there must be five captains under the command of each colonel, altogether twenty*five captains; next each of the twenty*five captains must have under his command five lieutenants, altogether 125 lieutenants; next each of the 125 lieutenants must have under his command four sergeants, altogether 500 sergeants; next each of the 500 sergeants must have under his command five corporals, altogether 2,500 corporals; next each of the 2,500 corporals must have under his command four privates, altogether 10,000 privates, the entire army numbering altogether 13,156 men.

After the creation of an army, should the number of families increase, with the increase of five families there shall be an additional corporal; with the increase of twenty*six families there shall be an additional sergeant; with the increase of 105 families there shall be an additional lieutenant; with the increase of 526 families there shall be an additional captain; with the increase of 2,631 families there shall be an additional colonel; with the total increase of 13,156 families there shall be an additional corps general. Before a new corps general is appointed, the colonel and subordinate officers shall remain under the command of the old corps general; with the appointment of a corps general they must be handed over to the command of the new corps general.

Within [the court] and without, all the various officials and people must go every Sabbath to hear the expounding of the Holy Bible, reverently offer their sacrifices, and worship and praise the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. On every seventh seven, the forty*ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel, captains, and lieutenants shall go in turn to the churches in which reside the sergeants under their command and expound the Holy books, instruct the people, examine whether they obey the Commandments and orders or disobey the Commandments and orders, and whether they are diligent or slothful. On the first seventh seven, the forty*ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall go to a certain sergeant's church, on the second seventh seven, the forty*ninth day, the Sabbath, the colonel shall then go to another sergeant's church, visiting them all in order, and after having gone the round he must begin again. The captains and lieutenants shall do the same.

Each man throughout the empire who has a wife, sons, and daughters amounting to three or four mouths, or five, six, seven, eight, or nine mouths, must give up one to be a soldier. With regard to the others, the widowers, widows, orphaned, and childless, the disabled and sick, they shall all be exempted from military service and issued provisions from the public granaries for their sustenance.

Throughout the empire all officials must every Sabbath, according to rank and position, reverently present sacrificial animals and offerings, sacrifice and worship, and praise the Heavenly Father, the Supreme Lord and Great God. They must also expound the Holy books; should any dare to neglect this duty, they shall be reduced to husbandmen. Respect this.

From Franz Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, vol. 2, Dosuments and Comments (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1971), pp. 313*315, 319*320.

http://acc6.its.brooklyn.cuny.edu/~phalsall/texts/taiping.html

[hskwarrior]

OMG LMAO......

boy! we must have created a NEW TAI PING WARRIOR our of you Diego.

This is going to take some time to read. LOL.

Glad our little historical thrashabouts inspired you to learn something as interesting as the Tai Ping Rebellion.

20-30 million people died. that sucked.

Lots of Choy Lee Fut lives lost in them rebellions. :(

[mawali]

diego,

Thanks for the historical references!

RE Gordon: He was a pompous fool who was more into ceremony and title (not to deny his status as a general. He died when al Mahdi confronted his troops at the Khartoum.

RE Hung Si Quan? (excuse the spelling): Being a Christian, his messianic complex was commanded throughout his domain so his strict dsicipline was related to Christian orientation.

55 Day in Peking (Beijing) was based on a true story of the I Ho Quan (Boxers) who beseiged the Foreign enclave in Beijing!

[diego]

diego,

Thanks for the historical references!

RE Gordon: He was a pompous fool who was more into ceremony and title (not to deny his status as a general. He died when al Mahdi confronted his troops at the Khartoum.

RE Hung Si Quan? (excuse the spelling): Being a Christian, his messianic complex was commanded throughout his domain so his strict dsicipline was related to Christian orientation.

55 Day in Peking (Beijing) was based on a true story of the I Ho Quan (Boxers) who beseiged the Foreign enclave in Beijing!

Hello Mawali, thanks for the information I'm going to Google that 55 Day book.:)

Frank, lol I spent three hours Googling everything I posted so far...haven't read it all yet, but this is a thread that could definatly gain a life of its own!.

Peace,
James

[hskwarrior]

Ch'ng China: The Taiping Rebellion

While the Chinese entered into conflict with Europe and European culture during the Opium War and after, it was also convulsed by a number of rebellions in mid-century. With rebellion in Nien (1853-1868), several Muslim rebellions in the southwest (1855-1873) and northwest (1862-1877), and, especially, the Taiping rebellion, the consequences for China during this period were devestating. In the Taiping rebellion alone, which lasted for twenty years, almost twenty to thirty million died as a direct result of the conflict. In fact, the period from 1850 to 1873 saw, as a result of rebellion, drought, and famine, the population of China drop by over sixty million people. Along with humiliating defeats at the hands of European powers, the mid-nineteenth century in China was truly tragic.

The Taiping rebellion, though, is, as an internal disturbance, and odd compliment to the conflicts with the west. It combined both European and Chinese cultural patterns in a unique and volatile mix. The person in which this strange mix fermented was Hung Hsiu-ch'üan (1813-1864), the leader of the rebellion.
Hung Hsiu-ch'üan
Hung Hsiu-ch'üan was the son of a poor farmer near Canton. He was a promising young student, but repeatedly failed the civil service examination in Canton. After one such failure, he overheard a Christian missionary speaking and brought home several Christian treatises. The next year he again failed the exam and, according to some historians, had a nervous breakdown. Whatever happened, Hung had several visions in which an old man told him that people had stopped worshipping him and were worshipping demons; in another, the man appointed him as a slayer of demons. Hung believed that the man in the visions was God the Father and that a younger, middle aged man that visited him in visions was Jesus Christ, his Elder Brother. He himself was the Younger Brother and had been sent by God to earth in order to eradicate demons and demon worship.

Hung, however, did nothing with these visions until seven years later when he began to study with Issachar J. Roberts, a Southern Baptist minister who taught him everything he would know about Christianity. With the Christianity of Roberts, Hung, some relatives, and some followers formed a new religious sect, the God Worshippers, that dedicated itself to the destruction of idols in the region around Canton.

The movement attracted followers for a variety of reasons. Western historians argue that the famines of the 1840's inspired the Chinese to join various movements that were successfully feeding and taking care of themselves. Chinese historians stress the anti-Manchu rhetoric of Hung's early movement. While the God Worshippers were dedicated to the destruction of idols and the stamping out of demon worship, it's clear that they felt that the Manchu rulers were the primary propagators of demon worship. In Hung's early philosophy, he seems to have arrived at the conclusion that the overthrow of the Manchus would help bring in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

The movement, however, did not become open revolt until the government started to harass the God Worshippers systematically. Combined with his belief that the Kingdom of Heaven would be established on the ruins of the Manchu government, the God Worshippers were also militantly organized to destroy and eliminate demon worship. In the late 1840's, Hung reorganized his movement into a military organization. He and other leaders systematically began to build up a treasury (all believers had to give their property to the movement), consolidate forces, and lay up a store of weapons. In December of 1850, Hung was attacked by government forces and, since he had spent so much time preparing for war, he successfuly turned back the attack. In 1851, Hung declared that a new kingdom had been established, the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace; he himself was the Heavenly King and the era of the Taiping, or "Great Peace," had begun.

The Kingdom of Heavenly Peace was a theocratic state with the Heavenly King as Absolute Ruler. Its objective, as implied by its name, was the achievement of peace and prosperity in China with all people worshipping the one and only one god. It consisted of a single hierarchy which undertook all administrative, religious, and military duties. The movement was founded on a radical economic reform program in which all wealth was equally distributed to all members of society. Taiping society itself would be a classless society with no distinctions between people; all members of Taiping society were "brothers" and "sisters" with all the attendant duties and obligations traditionally associated with those relationships in Chinese society. Women were the social and economic equal of men; many administrative posts in the new Kingdom were assigned to women This social and economic reform, combined with its passionate anti-Manchu nationalism, made the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace a magnet for all the Chinese suffering under the dislocations and disasters of the mid-century.
The Rebellion
From a military standpoint, the rebellion got off to an impressive start. The army itself was uncannily disciplined; after elaborate initiation rituals, Taiping believers became fanatically disciplined and devoted soldiers, willing to die without hesitation in God's cause against demonic forces. The army of the Taipings roared northward through the central Yangtze valley to Nanking. In many ways, however, this dramatic progress of the Taipings was no progress at all and explains why they lost so easily despite their impressive start. The central reason they advanced so quickly was that they avoided large urban centers and so encountered little resistance. When they conquered a territory, they made no effort to consolidate the conquest by setting up an administrative mechanism, but instead roared on northwards. There was no room for disagreement in the military hierarchy; not only did the Heavenly King gain his authority directly from God, but the military generals themselves claimed to be guided by God the Father in a series of visions. There was little room, then, for serious strategic thinking in this environment.

The Taipings occupied Nanking in March of 1853; they renamed the city, T'ien-ching, or "Heavenly Capital." From T'ien-ching, they attacked Beijing, but their army, after making rapid progress north, was defeated. For the next ten years, the Taipings occupied themselves with conquering Western territories and fighting continuously to maintain their territory in the central Yangtze valley. The rebellion swung from one side to another, now a defeat, now a victory, now a defeat.

Under the pressures of war and an inefficient administration, the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace slowly began to unravel. The leaders of the Kingdom failed to consolidate their authority in conquered territories, preferring instead to rule over major cities. In reality, then, Taiping rule only extended over major cities in the conquered territories rather than the territories themselves. The Taipings had very few competent officials; efforts to recruit scholar-officials were usually unsuccessful since most educated Chinese were deeply disturbed by the theocratic nature of the state and the lack of education among its leaders.

Most significantly, the Taiping administration began to disintegrate when Hung himself withdrew from active participation in administrative and military affairs. Believing that the Heavenly King should rule only by his divine virtue and not by active engagement in politics, Hung seems, in reality, to have grown steadily more unbalanced. Rather than dedicating himself to divine virtue, he plunged into the sensual pleasures of the palace and the sexual pleasures of the harem of women he had collected around himself. Hung's withdrawal from Taiping administration sent cracks all through the Taiping administration.

By 1864, the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace was coming to an end. Chinese forces had threatened T'ien-ching for months when Hung's central general fled to the south. Hung himself believed that God would defend the Taipings, but in June, 1864, he seems to have lost his certainty of God's protection and poisoned himself. The imperial forces discovered his body, wrapped in the color of the emperor, yellow, wallowing in a sewer beneath the city. At a cost of nearly thirty million lives over a period of twenty years, the Heavenly Peace had come to an end.

[hskwarrior]

The crises of the mid-nineteenth century—the defeat by the British, humiliating treaties imposed on China by Western powers, the Taiping rebellion, the Muslim rebellions, and, most humliating of all, the foreign occupation of Beijing in 1860—all combined to push the Manchu regime to pursue a course of reform. With increased contact with the West brought about the opening of Chinese ports, the new program of reform brought a high level of optimism to the Chinese and the Manchus. This period, from the late 1870's to the 1890's, saw such a flurry of innovation that the Chinese were not averse to referring to these changes as the "revival" or "renewal" of the Ch'ing and China.

The reform that they pursued, which they called "Self Strengthening," had two main components. The first involved learning Western technology, industry, and even language, in order to meet the Western powers as equals. The second component, however, was deeply Chinese and Confucian in nature. Conservative scholars and officials believed that the success against the rebellions and the new revival was largely due to the traditions and institutions of imperial government. They believed that Chinese political institutions, dedicated ideologically to the welfare of the common person (min ) , was the strongest and most moral form of government in the world. When properly administered, such as moral government produced a unity of purpose throughout the nation. In contrast to this, the Western powers were characterized by conflict, aggression, selfishness, anarchy, and disunity. What the times called for was a reform of the moral character of officials. Self-strengthening meant a return to the Confucian ideal of the chün tzu , the "superior man," who excelled in jen , or humaness and all the virtues associated with it. The transformation they sought, then, was a radical transformation of the inward man in order to make him worthy of authority.

The most radical call for reform came from an independent scholar named Wang T'ao (1828-1897), who operated as a journalist in Hongkong and Shanghai under the protection of the British. He had spent time in the West and had visited Japan which had itself undertaken a dynamic program of Westernization. Wang argued that it was not enough to imitate Western technology; China needed to reform its society from the ground up by adopting Western ideas and social norms. This was a radical position and did much to undermine the program of reform. His calls for reform, however, deeply affected the course that the movement took.

By the 1890's it became evident that the Self-Strengthening movement had failed. In Japan, the reform movement that followed the Meiji Restoration in 1868 had produced rapid changes in Japanese society and had fueled an industrial growth unmatched in all of human history. The Chinese reformers, however, had failed to unify the country, reformed none of the institutions of government, and had, in fact, contributed to the gradual weakening and decay of the Ch'ing government. A large part of this failure is due to the relative stability and size of the imperial government. While Meiji Japan was, at its beginning, a decentralized and feudal state, China had been unified under a strong set of institutions for an immensely long time. The reformers were diffused all throughout this government. They could inaugurate reform in their own limited sphere of action, but collective and unified action across the vast, sprawling expanse of Chinese government eluded them.

Because of a weak imperial government under the Empress Dowager T'zu Hsi (1835-1908), who had concentrated power in her hands as a regent only by conceding authority to the eunuchs and regional governor-generals, power in the late nineteenth century was largely diffused to the regions. Under the rule of powerful Governor-Generals, such as Tseng Kuo-fan, Li Hung-chang, Chang Chih-tung, and Tso Tsung-t'ang, the various regional governments began to rebuild themselves after the devestations of the mid-century. They rebuilt infrastructure, reforested, built refugee centers, and dispersed food. As a result of these efforts, most regions in China had recovered by the mid-1890's.

These regional Governors-General were the primary practitioners of self-strengthening. Because they were primarily responsible for the defense of the country with their personal armies, they were the ones that principally adopted Western technologies and practices. Beginning in the 1860's, they began to build arseanals all throughout China and in the 1870's, they began to build commercial industries. The Kaiping Coal Mine was established in 1876 and, the same year, the first telegraph company was established in China. Soon there followed a railroad and cotton factories. These nascent industries were administered by a principle called "government supervision with merchant operation." Major decisions were handled by officials, but the day to day running of the companies was in the hands of merchants.

[hskwarrior]

The One Hundred Days of Reform

K'ang Yu-wei
The dominant figure of the reform movement was K'ang Yu-wei (1858-1927). He had written his ideas on reform in what was to be nearly the final form in two books in the mid-1880's (at the age of only 27): Ta t'ung shu ("Grand Unity") and K'ung Tzu kai-chih k'ao ("Confucius as a Reformer"). By 1895, he had won the highest degree (chin-shih ) and began several reform movements. When China was defeated by Japan in the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, the issue of reform reached a crisis. K'ang argued that China should imitate Japan in its program of reform. Like Meiji Japan, China should adopt a constitutional government and abandon the monarchy.

Desperate for solutions, the Kuang-hsü emperor (ruled 1875-1908) asked K'ang to take over the government in June of 1898. Immediately K'ang set to work on what was to become known as "The One Hundred Days of Reform." Edicts began pouring out of the imperial court with the express purpose of changing China into a modern, constitutional state. These edicts included:

* the inclusion of Western studies in all Chinese education;
* the adoption of a public school system;
* the establishment of popularly elected local assemblies;
* the eventual creation of a national parliamentary government;
* Westernization of the Chinese bureaucracy;
* the development of official ministries to promote commerce, industry, and banking;
* the reform of the army.

It was, to say the least, an ambitious project. The last reform, however, met with bitter opposition since the military was largely in the hands of a few Governor-Generals. The reforms as whole, however, were dramatically threatening to all levels of Chinese society. The edicts issued out of the reform government were implemented in only one out of fifteen provinces; the rest of China resisted the edicts. After only a three months in power, a coup d'etat returned authority to the Empress Dowager and a conservative administration was swept into power.

[hskwarrior]

The Boxer Rebellion

Carving up the Melon
When China was defeated by Japan in 1895, European powers responded with a policy they called, "carving up the Chinese melon." Following the partitioning of Africa among European powers, they turned their sights to what they saw as a terminally weak Chinese government. European powers and America began to scramble for what was called "spheres of interest." These spheres of interest involved holding leases for all railway and commercial privileges in various regions. The Russians got Port Arthur, the British got the New Territories around Hong Kong, the Germans got a leasehold in Shantung, and the Americans got nothing. Concentrating largely on the Philipines and Guam, the Americans had missed the Chinese boat and so insisted on an "open door" policy in China in which commercial opportunities were equally available to all European powers and the political and territorial integrity of China remained untouched.
The Boxers
The imperial court responded to this foreign threat by giving aid to various secret societies. Traditionally, secret societies had been formed in opposition to imperial government; as such, they were certainly a threat to the Ch'ing government. However, anti-foreign sentiment had risen so greatly in China that the Empress Dowager believed that the secret societies could be the vanguard in a military expulsion of Europeans. This policy reached its climax in 1900 with the Boxer Rebellion.

The Boxers, or "The Righteous and Harmonious Fists," were a religious society that had originally rebelled against the imperial government in Shantung in 1898. They practiced an animistic magic of rituals and spells which they believed made them impervious to bullets and pain. The Boxers believed that the expulsion of foreign devils would magically renew Chinese society and begin a new golden age. Much of their discontent, however, was focussed on the economic scarcity of the 1890's. They were a passionate and confident group, full of contempt for authority and violent emotions.

In reality, the Boxer rebellion could hardly be classified as either a rebellion or a war against the Europeans. China was largely under the control of regional Governors General; these regional officials ignored the Empress Dowager's instructions and put forth every effort to prevent disorder or any harm coming to foreigners. The Boxer Rebellion, then, was only limited to a few places, but concentrated itself in Beijing. The Western response was swift and severe. Within a couple months, an international force captured and occupied Beijing and forced the imperial government to agree to the most humiliating terms yet: the Boxer Protocol of 1901. Under the Boxer Protocol, European powers got the right to maintain military forces in the capital, thus placing the imperial government more or less under arrest. The Protocols suspended the civil service examination, demanded a huge indemnity to be paid to European powers for the losses they had suffered, and required government officials to be prosecuted for their role in the rebellion. In addition, the Protocols suspended all arms imports into the country.
Reform
The humiliation of the Boxer Protocols set China on new course of reform that dynamically put into place all of the reforms originally proposed by K'ang Yu-wei. In 1901, the education system was reformed to allow the admission of girls and the curriculum was changed from the study of the Classics and Confucian studies to the study of Western mathematics, science, engineering, and geography. The civil service examination was changed to reflect this new curriculum, and in 1905 it was abandoned altogether. The Chinese began to send its youth to Europe and to Japan to study the new sciences, such as economics, and radical new Western modes of thinking started making their way into China, such as Marxism. The military was reorganized under Yuan Shih-k'ai (1859-1916), who adopted Western and Japanese models of military organization and discipline. Key to this new military was the establishment of the military as a career; a new professional officer corps was created built on a new principle: loyalty to one's commander rather than loyalty to the Emperor.

The provincial assemblies that had originally been proposed by K'ang Yu-wei were established in 1909, the year in which the last emperor, Pu Yi, the Hsüan-tung emperor, ascended the throne. A national, democratically elected Consultative Assembly was established in 1910. Although the Assembly was meant to support the imperial court, in reality it was frequently odds with the interests of the imperial government. This is where things stood in 1911 when an uprising began in Szechwan province in the west. Angered at a government plan to nationalize the railways, the uprising soon grew into a national revolution that would end once and for all imperial rule in China. That, however, is a story for another day.

[hskwarrior]

The Opium Wars


The Opium War, also called the Anglo-Chinese War, was the most humiliating defeat China ever suffered. In European history, it is perhaps the most sordid, base, and vicious event in European history, possibly, just possibly, overshadowed by the excesses of the Third Reich in the twentieth century.

By the 1830's, the English had become the major drug-trafficking criminal organization in the world; very few drug cartels of the twentieth century can even touch the England of the early nineteenth century in sheer size of criminality. Growing opium in India, the East India Company shipped tons of opium into Canton which it traded for Chinese manufactured goods and for tea. This trade had produced, quite literally, a country filled with drug addicts, as opium parlors proliferated all throughout China in the early part of the nineteenth century. This trafficing, it should be stressed, was a criminal activity after 1836, but the British traders generously bribed Canton officials in order to keep the opium traffic flowing. The effects on Chinese society were devestating. In fact, there are few periods in Chinese history that approach the early nineteenth century in terms of pure human misery and tragedy. In an effort to stem the tragedy, the imperial government made opium illegal in 1836 and began to aggressively close down the opium dens.
Lin Tse-hsü
The key player in the prelude to war was a brilliant and highly moral official named Lin Tse-hsü. Deeply concerned about the opium menace, he maneuverd himself into being appointed Imperial Commissioner at Canton. His express purpose was to cut off the opium trade at its source by rooting out corrupt officials and cracking down on British trade in the drug.

He took over in March of 1839 and within two months, absolutely invulnerable to bribery and corruption, he had taken action against Chinese merchants and Western traders and shut down all the traffic in opium. He destroyed all the existing stores of opium and, victorious in his war against opium, he composed a letter to Queen Victoria of England requesting that the British cease all opium trade. His letter included the argument that, since Britain had made opium trade and consumption illegal in England because of its harmful effects, it should not export that harm to other countries. Trade, according to Lin, should only be in beneficial objects.

To be fair to England, if the only issue on the table were opium, the English probably (just probably) would have acceded to Lin's request. The British, however, had been nursing several grievances against China, and Lin's take-no-prisoners enforcement of Chinese laws combined to outrage the British against his decapitation of the opium trade. The most serious bone of contention involved treaty relations; because the British refused to submit to the emperor, there were no formal treaty relations between the two countries. The most serious problem precipitated by this lack of treaty relations involved the relationship between foreigners and Chinese law. The British, on principle, refused to hand over British citizens to a Chinese legal system that they felt was vicious and barbaric. The Chinese, equally principled, demanded that all foreigners who were accused of committing crimes on Chinese soil were to be dealt with solely by Chinese officials. In many ways, this was the real issue of the Opium War. In addition to enforcing the opium laws, Lin aggressively pursued foreign nationals accused of crimes.

The English, despite Lin's eloquent letter, refused to back down from the opium trade. In response, Lin threatened to cut off all trade with England and expel all English from China. Thus began the Opium War.
The War
War broke out when Chinese junks attempted to turn back English merchant vessels in November of 1839; although this was a low-level conflict, it inspired the English to send warships in June of 1840. The Chinese, with old-style weapons and artillery, were no match for the British gunships, which ranged up and down the coast shooting at forts and fighting on land. The Chinese were equally unprepared for the technological superiority of the British land armies, and suffered continual defeats. Finally, in 1842, the Chinese were forced to agree to an ignomious peace under the Treaty of Nanking.

The treaty imposed on the Chinese was weighted entirely to the British side. Its first and fundamental demand was for British "extraterritoriality"; all British citizens would be subjected to British, not Chinese, law if they committed any crime on Chinese soil. The British would no longer have to pay tribute to the imperial administration in order to trade with China, and they gained five open ports for British trade: Canton, Shanghai, Foochow, Ningpo, and Amoy. No restrictions were placed on British trade, and, as a consequence, opium trade more than doubled in the three decades following the Treaty of Nanking. The treaty also established England as the "most favored nation" trading with China; this clause granted to Britain any trading rights granted to other countries. Two years later, China, against its will, signed similar treaties with France and the United States.

Lin Tse-hsü was officially disgraced for his actions in Canton and was sent to a remote appointment in Turkestan. Of all the imperial officials, however, Lin was the first to realize the momentuous lesson of the Opium War. In a series of letters he began to agitate the imperial government to adopt Western technology, arms, and methods of warfare. He was first to see that the war was about technological superiority; his influence, however, had dwindled to nothing, so his admonitions fell on deaf ears.

It wasn't until a second conflict with England that Chinese officials began to take seriously the adoption of Western technologies. Even with the Treaty of Nanking, trade in Canton and other ports remained fairly restricted; the British were incensed by what they felt was clear treaty violations. The Chinese, for their part, were angered at the wholescale export of Chinese nationals to America and the Caribbean to work at what was no better than slave labor. These conflicts came to a head in 1856 in a series of skirmishes that ended in 1860. A second set of treaties further humiliated and weakened the imperial government. The most ignominious of the provisions in these treaties was the complete legalization of opium and the humiliating provision that allowed for the free and unrestricted propagation of Christianity in all regions of China.
The Illustrated Gazatteer of Maritime Countries
China's defeat at the hands of England led to the publication of the Illustrated Gazatteer of Maritime Countries by Wei Yüan (1794-1856). The Gazatteer marks the first landmark event in the modernization of China. Wei Yüan, a distinguished but minor official, argued in the Gazatteer that the Europeans had developed technologies and methods of warfare in their ceaseless and barbaric quest for power, profit, and material wealth. Civilization, represented by China, was in danger of falling to the technological superiority of the Western powers. Because China is a peaceful and civilized nation, it can overcome the West only if it learns and matches the technology and techniques of the West. The purpose of the Gazatteer was to disseminate knowledge about the Europeans, their technologies, their methods of warfare, and their selfish anarchy to learned officials. It is a landmark event in Chinese history, for it was the first systematic attempt to educate the Chinese in Western technologies and culture. This drive for modernization, begun by Lin Tse-hsü and perpetuated by Wei Yüan would gain momentum and emerge as the basis for the "Self-Strengthening" from 1874 to 1895.

[diego]

"The movement attracted followers for a variety of reasons. Western historians argue that the famines of the 1840's inspired the Chinese to join various movements that were successfully feeding and taking care of themselves. Chinese historians stress the anti-Manchu rhetoric of Hung's early movement. While the God Worshippers were dedicated to the destruction of idols and the stamping out of demon worship, it's clear that they felt that the Manchu rulers were the primary propagators of demon worship. In Hung's early philosophy, he seems to have arrived at the conclusion that the overthrow of the Manchus would help bring in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

The movement, however, did not become open revolt until the government started to harass the God Worshippers systematically. Combined with his belief that the Kingdom of Heaven would be established on the ruins of the Manchu government, the God Worshippers were also militantly organized to destroy and eliminate demon worship."

Okay this^ just brought this study into a level beyond just academic interest...this Taiping thing is a beast:) I would love to find some of Hung's writings on the demon worshiping Ching...ever since I was interested in gung fu I've only read about the revolutionaries in china...you never get to hear about the bad guys...which is bad, as peeps in revolution have agendas that can sometimes cloud the truth. I heard you don't hear about Lama styles much cuz the Ching liked them, and heads support Shaolin not the Forbidden Palace...:)

lol brand nubian just came on that mix I sent you...it's time for the revolution PEACE GOD:D

[diego]

http://www.essaytown.com/topics/taiping_rebellion_essays_papers.html

$40 bucks, I'm not that interested:)

[diego]

Paper # 63432 Add to Cart (You can always remove it later)
The Taiping Rebellion, 2005.
This paper discusses the Taiping Rebellion, which pushed China into the modern world, playing a significant role in ending China's isolationism, and its leader Hong Xiuquan, who believed he had spiritual guidance for the military campaign.
1,980 words (approx. 7.9 pages), 3 sources, APA, $ 62.95
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Abstract
This paper explains that the Taiping Rebellion, from 1850 to 1864, which uniquely combined the ideals of pre-Confucian utopianism with Protestant beliefs, began to change the nation's socio-political development with its different stance on areas such as land laws; about 25 million people died in the process. The author points out that after the Taiping Rebellion, the age of the emperors was finished. The paper concludes that, although the Taipings had never heard of Karl Marx or of Communism, they shared many of the same ideals: The Heavenly Kingdom of the Taipings is not so distant from the commune-oriented Marxist utopia, setting the stage for the Communist Revolution to come.

From the Paper
"While recovering, Hong had several visions where an old man said that people had stopped worshipping him and were instead praising demons. In another dream, this same man chose him as a demon slayer. Having earlier read the information from the Christian missionary, Hong believed that the man in the visions was God the Father. A younger golden-haired man, who also was in the images and presented him with a sword, was Jesus Christ, his Elder Brother. Hong, himself, was the Younger Brother and had been sent by God to earth to destroy the demons and demon worship. Hong began to preach his message to the public, baptize converts and openly destroy Confucian and ancestral shrines."

Abstract
The Taiping rebellion is often regarded as a domestic civil war, but it was a response against European imperialism as well. The rebels, after all, were fighting a ruling class, the Manchu dynasty, that was at the subservience of European powers. This meant, in turn, that the Manchus were exploiting the Chinese people. In the end, the Taiping rebellion had failed, partly because the wealthier classes, who were in league with European imperialists, preferred to support the Manchu dynasty, which to them stood for stability. The anti-imperialist nature of the Taiping rebellion was well illustrated by the fact that its forces were eventually put down not only by Chinese imperial troops, but also by their allies -- a mixed force of Europeans, who feared to lose their commercial interests if the Manchu dynasty fell. In order to understand China's response to imperialism in the late 19th century, therefore, it is necessary to perceive the role that the Taiping rebellion played in moulding China's anti-imperialist ideology and capability.


Abstract
This paper analyzes the origins and impact of the Taiping Rebellion on modern China. The paper focuses on the leader of the Taiping Rebellion, the development of his ideology, and the lasting effect the Taiping Rebellion had on the Chinese. It explains that the Taiping Rebellion aimed not merely to overthrow a dynasty, but to effect great societal changes among China's people.

From the Paper
"The Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) made a major impact on the history of modern China. Hung Hsiu-ch'uan brought about the conceptual framework that would become the focus for the mobilization of the uprising. Hung's ideals attacked not only the dynastic rule itself, bringing a general governmental upheaval to the Ching Dynasty from which it would never fully recover, but the "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace" challenged China's very social system as well. To understand the Taiping Ideology one must look not only to the historical and societal framework, but, to its sources of origin as well."


Abstract
The Taiping Rebellion was a religion-based rebellion brought about directly through the peoples' dissatisfaction with China's socio-economic and political situation of the time, which caused the poor and oppressed people to look up to Hong Xiuquan's millenarian vision and follow him into a violent rebellion. This paper elaborates on the preceding thesis and puts it into a global context.

From the Paper
"At the same time that Britain and other countries across the globe were coming into an "Industrial Revolution", China was just trying to survive. They were not evolving industrially but instead were making use the resources and labor they had at hand. However, the critical shortage of land and lack of resources further hindered China from beginning their own Industrial Revolution. Labor-intensive agriculture and the Qing Dynasty's rules on restricted trade put a strain on the Chinese economy and thus trickled down to the people who were also facing other persecution and restrictions put in place by the Qing dynasty (Marks, 117-118). All of this funneled into the Taiping Rebellion."


Abstract
This paper critiques Franz Michael's article titled "The Land System of the Heavenly Dynasty - The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Volume 2: Documents and Comments" published in 1971 in Seattle and London by the University of Washington Press. In this article, the writer examines the causes for and development of the Taiping Rebellion in the mid 1800s.

From the Paper
"On the heels of the Opium War and Unequal Treaties that weakened China from the outside in, the Taiping rebellion erupted (see Appendix A). According to some researchers, this revolt was one of the bloodiest civil wars in human history killing between twenty and forty million people (Roberts, para. 1963). Due to increased foreign trade, the displacement of traditional economy decreased income due to opium importation. The Qing dynasty was unsuccessful in curbing foreign influence on China, especially with the rising influence of Westernization."

[diego]

Abstract
J. Spence's book "God's Chinese Son" deals with the life of Hong Xiuquan, the leader of China's famous Taiping Rebellion of the nineteenth century. This report looks at Spence's portrait of Hong Xiuquan in terms of the author's background, the general topic of the Taiping Rebellion, the reasons for choosing this topic, the use of sources and, finally, conclusions about the book.

From the Paper
"The topic also involves the Western imperialist in China and is seen to have had several motivations. First of all, there was the monetary consideration: a great amount of riches was seen to be there for the taking in China, and many rushed to claim it. It also affected the way in which they thought of adding glory to their own cultural and religious
assumptions: by establishing order and the expressed will of the Christian religion in these new areas, the settlers reflected what they believed to be divine law in the provided areas of settlement in China, and the Christian church gained in power and wealth. Conquest was seen as a religious task: the souls of the native inhabitants were seen to be at stake, and missionaries vied to provide religious conversion and instruction, often reaching societies before explorers."


Abstract
The paper looks at two rebellions in Chinese history; the Tai Ping Rebellion, which was a rebellion of religious fanatics seeking to overthrow the traditional culture of China, and the Boxer Rebellion, which, although religious based, sought to rid the country of European influence. The paper examines the history behind the Tai Ping movement that led it to rebellion, the damage it caused and how it was squashed. However, it also shows how Taiping leaders adopted many policies that would later become the marks of modernizers in China. The Boxer Rebellion, on the other hand, was neither a rebellion or a war against the Europeans, since it was limited to only a few places. By 1901, the imperial government was forced to agree to the humiliating terms of the Boxer Protocol, under which European powers got the right to maintain military forces in the capital. The Boxer Protocols established a new course of reform for China.

From the Paper
"While China was involved in conflicts with Europeans during the Opium War, it was also convulsed by a number of rebellions during the mid-century, including the rebellion in Nien, 1853-1858, where several Muslim rebellions in the southwest and northwest, and especially the Taiping rebellion, resulted in devastating consequences for China. The Taiping rebellion alone lasted for twenty years, leading to some thirty million deaths, in fact, from 1850 to 1873, the rebellion, together with drought and famine caused the Chinese population to drop by over sixty million people, a truly tragic period for China. The Taiping rebellion was an internal disturbance instigated by Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, who possessed a unique mix of European and Chinese cultural. He was the son of a poor farmer near Canton, who had visions which led him to believe that he was sent by God to earth in order to eradicate the demons. After studying under a Baptist minister, Hung and some followers formed a new religious sect called the God Worshippers, dedicated to the destruction of idols in the region around Canton. He believed that the Manchu rulers were the main propagators of demon worship and that to overthrow them would help bring in the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. During the late 1840's, Hung reorganized his movement into a military organization, and began to build a treasury, consolidate forces, and store up weapons. In December 1850, he was attacked by government forces, and successfully defeated them, and the following year declared that the Kingdom of Heavenly Peace at been established with himself as the Heavenly King, thus the era of the Taiping or Great Peace began."

[diego]

I imagine the white church would have something interesting to read on Hung's views of god...:cool:

[diego]

Effects of the Taiping Revolution
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Secret Societies, always a factor in Southern China, now rose to prominence

* Suddenly, the people of China realized that the Ch'ing was no longer an absolute power.
* With that act, the Taipings awakened a nation to rebellion.
* The Taiping ideology came to be a conglomerate of Christianity and the golden age of Chinese culture. The Taiping goal was simple: destroy the Manchus and restore to China her past greatness.
* The leader of the Taipings, Hung Hsiu-Ch'uan, shaped the entire rebellion and thus much of modern China
* Hung tried to pass several times until 1843.
* This incident may have fed his hostility towards the Ch'ing and China's condition.
* Hung spent two months studying the bible doctrines under the missionary. Some years before, in 1835, Leang-afa, the first protestant Christian in China, had given Hung several papers also about religion.

Confucianism had a large influence on the Taiping religion

* The Taiping fatalist outlook also stems from Confucianism.
* Though severely factionalized and having changed leaders several times, they managed to install a Taiping government in Nanking, stressing egalitarian values and claiming to be in the process of restoring China's glory.
* By 1863 the Taiping Rebellion was falling apart. Hung Jen-kan, the third and final leader of the Rebellion, had attempted during his rule to reevaluate the tenets and beliefs of the Taipings, as well as salvage the Taiping cause.

Manchu Response

* The initial response of the Manchus to the Taiping Rebellion was fairly straightforward.
* The Manchu government, weak from a "debauched" emperor and the Opium War, could ultimately not withstand such a severe earthquake as the Taiping Rebellion.

Long Term Effects of the Rebellion

* Although a technical failure, the Taiping Rebellion changed the way the Chinese government functioned.
* The Chinese economy in every respect increasingly became a subsidy of Japan, especially North and Northeast China.
* China was pushed into the modern world by force. Soon Japan began to take Chinese territory.
* China was taken from the inside out.
* The Taiping Rebellion changed the face of China
* The Taiping Rebellion played a significant role in ending China's isolationist outlook.
* After the Taiping Rebellion, China would never again be a realm unto herself.
* With the failure of the Taiping movement, the age of the emperors was finished.
* The people of China, on the verge of joining the forming world community, took refuge briefly in their unique blend of traditional culture and modern idealism.
* The Taiping Rebellion was a reaction against progress, more importantly against change. That action continues to mold the current events in China, a sign that the people, not the central authority, can control the future of China.


Factors Behind the 1851 Taiping Rebellion
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Introduction

* Several Key factors important for the development of the Taiping Rebellion
o Decay of traditional Buddhism and Taoism
o Anti-Manchu sentiments creating anti-Confucian sentiments
o Restlessness of Chinese under Manchu Rule
+ Corruptness of Officials
+ Parasitical government
+ Humiliation at the hands of foreign powers
o Disparity between the growing wealth of the rich south and poor northern sections of China
o Economic hardship and changes due to western trade
o Western dominance of treaty ports
+ Western culture and beliefs moved slowly into the foreground in China.
# Especially the Christian doctrine spread by missionaries which found itself at the center of the Taiping ideology.
# Even radical quasi-Christian movements like the Taiping Rebellion made use of Confucian, Taoist, and Buddhist ideas to develop its tenets.
* These led to deep disillusion with Manchu Dynasty
* Shook Manchu Dynasty to more unsteady foundations and led to the communist revolution nearly a century later

The Taiping Rebellion is one of the forerunners of China's awakening.

* China had been slowly breaking away from tradition for several hundred years, and the Taipings only widened the rift between modern China and its ancestors.
* Secret societies like the Taipings had existed in China for as long as there were Emperors to oppose.
* Not only did the Chinese elite take notice of the Taiping Rebellion, but there were foreigners watching as well.
* The Taiping Rebellion marked the birth of China as a country among others, rather than the only nation under Heaven.

Decaying of Old Beliefs

* Chinese saw Christian god as ‘jealous’
* Buddhism accepted Confucian principals
* Many Chinese were ‘Confucian in thought but could attend various Buddhist ceremonies
* Mid 19th Century the great religions had degenerated and no longer influenced the precepts of most people
* Sole survivor was the worshipping of ancestors
* Confucian concepts still had a strong grip on society

The outburst of pro-chinese thinking prompted an anti-Manchu feeling

* Especially in the south where Manchu rule had never been strong. The Manchus, only a century before given credit for China's success in conquest, were charged now with all of China's problems.
* Among the elite of China, an aversion to absolute rule was spreading. Scholars thought that the Manchus had outlived their use after a brief golden age, and that the time had come to place the rule of China in Chinese hands again.
* The foreign ideas and people who now streamed into China without hindrance were strongly resented.
* The Manchu dynasty, called the Ch'ing3, came to power after the Ming.
* Called in to aid a rebellion that the now-weak Ming dynasty could not control, the Manchus took over Peking in 1644 and turned over the rule of South China to the Chinese generals who had aided in their conquest.
* The Opium War and its aftermath had a great influence on the Ch'ing dynasty.
* Later, one of the Taiping leaders would state:
o “The problem the Manchus were faced with in China was their preservation as a ruling body despite their obvious minority, (only two percent of the entire population of China was Manchu). Intermarriage and trade with the Chinese was illegal.”

Manchu Decadence

* Through the success of the dynasty, the Manchu were now a decadent race
* The mandate of heaven was being withdrawn
* Social and Economic distress led uprisings that were suppressed by the government.
* Mood of despair amongst people because
o Manchu extorted more out of a weak and sick population every year for their own glory
o Manchu failed to protect the sovereignty of China form the westerners
* Growing population causing problems
o Food shortages due to increased demand
o Starvation
o Banditry
o Epidemics such as plague
o General Lawlessness

Economic Factors

* Trade in South, created uneven distribution of wealth
o “… the rise of the south and decay of the northwest. From the reign of Chien-lung onwards the south, and in particular the Yangtze delta and tea producing districts … became by far the wealthiest and most populous part of the empire … the focus of economic life.” – C.P. Fitzgerald: China
* Areas in south had always had the strongest Manchu opposition
* They also had greatest influence of western ideas
* They economic strength of this region was very important to the rebellion

[diego]

The Course of the Taiping Rebellion
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Tien-wang – The Heavenly King – and his Ideas

* Hung Hsiu-ch’uan (1813-1864) came into the scene of unrest and uncertainty
* Radical effect on China
* Even though rebellion failed he started the demise of the Qing Dynasty and the concept of new forms of Government
* Son of a farmer who was a village headsman
* Hung worked as a village school teacher
* Sat imperial examinations twice and failed, 2nd time in 1937
* Whilst sit exams in Canton, he received Christian material from a missionary
* Had a dream and felt he had been commanded by god to cleanse China of its evils.
* Hung assumed this was gods work
* Hung then sat the imperial examinations again at Canton and failed
* He believed he was prejudiced by the Manchu and be came active in anti-Manchu sentiments
* In 1847 he received his first full translated version of the bible from Issachar Roberts who described him as
o “The most earnest and deeply interested student of Christianity he had ever found in China; but … strongly tinctured with fanaticism …” – Charles Taylor
* Hung gathered support from relatives
* Strong in his convictions and persuasive because of these
* Slight and patchy knowledge of Christianity, and as a result initially interested foreign missionaries denounced him as a heretic

Outbreak of Rebellion

* Hung and follwers armed themselves and the rebellion broke out
* The Manchu order the suppression of the rebellion but this proved very difficult
* The rebels soon captured Yungan in Kwangsi and formed a headquarters where Hung and others developed their political beliefs and strategies
* Programme of Hung based around the eradication of the Manchu and replace with a state to be called Taiping Tien or The Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace.
o Hung was to be Heavenly King
o Five other Kings would form a state council
o Civil and Military administrations would be set up
o Military aspect important to capture territory and then defend it
o Land was to be redistributed
o Opium was banned but the exportation of Tea and silk was encouraged
o Industrialisation and infrastructure improvements were envisaged
# The social programme
* Chinese customs of foot-binding and the keeping of concubines were eradicated
* Monogamy and equality between men and women
* Written language to be simplified
* Formation of hospitals and other institutions
* Taiping leaders disregarded their own regulations and behaved like emperors i.e. above the law
* Peculiar form of Christianity was to be observed by all or face harsh penalties.

Progress of the rebellion

* On the first day of the Chinese new year hung was crowned
* Traditional ceremony reviving customs that had been abolished by the Manchu
* By 1852 the rebels had crossed into Hunan defeating the imperial forces
* Victories resulted from unwillingness of rebel troops and the Taiping understanding of guerrilla warfare
* Parallels between Taiping army and Red army
* Struggled to implement social programmes
* In January 1953, Wuchang and Hangkow were taken
* Nanking fell on march 20 and beame capital for the next 20 years

Nanking, the Taiping Capital

* From relative safety in Nanking Hung began to implement what can be described as relatively socialist reforms
* Power was concentrated in his hands
* Taiping ideas were far in advance of anything that existed in China at that time
* Harassment by imperial armies in the Countryside and poor administrative skills made it impossible to implement reforms
* Like emperors Hung turned away from the people in to a pleasure loving extortionist, quite different from the energetic revolutionary he was at the beginning of the rebellion
* On Nanking’s recapture, Hung committed suicide and his body was wrapped in yellow imperial silk

Lack of Foreign Recognition

* Religious leaders from various nations could not accept Hung’s government
* He had thought that they would support a Christian state
* Whilst the foreigners recognised forms of Christianity it exist outside their beliefs and was deemed heretical
* It was to the political advantage of the foreign powers to keep the Manchu on the throne as they owed huge debts and could control them
* They moved against Taiping to maintain trading rights

The Defeat of Taiping

* After 1853 the success of the rebellion reduced largely due poor leadership and loss of military strength
* Encountered opposition of Gentry class who wanted to presercve their place in a Confucian society
* There was a brief revival under the leadership of a new king Li Hsui-cheng, in the early 1860’s
o The coastal provinces were thrown into panic
o Soochow soon fell to his army

http://www.revision-notes.co.uk/revision/814.html

[diego]

* Hung spent two months studying the bible doctrines under the missionary. Some years before, in 1835, Leang-afa, the first protestant Christian in China, had given Hung several papers also about religion."

see Hung is like all the exconvicts that found hezues, allah, rastafari etc...now the thing is Jesus was a revolutionary and this cooky chinese guy starts thinking he linked to that through incarnation....thing is he actually won. I wonder how much faith Hung had, or was it good marketing. Mad superstitions with the general populace back in the day.

[extrajoseph]

"The Boxers, or "The Righteous and Harmonious Fists," were a religious society that had originally rebelled against the imperial government in Shantung in 1898. They practiced an animistic magic of rituals and spells which they believed made them impervious to bullets and pain.... They were a passionate and confident group, full of contempt for authority and violent emotions."

Now I understand why the Chinese government reacted the way they did with Falun Gong. Also why we have Lingongjing (Empty Force) and it won't go away.

Lian gong + weird belief = big trouble. :D

[diego]

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=YEJZQznoE78

"IT'S ALL IN THE REFLEXES":cool:

[diego]

http://www.chinahistoryforum.com/index.php?showtopic=21251

[extrajoseph]

< 还有一点，那就是太平天国宣扬的是神道理论，太平天国的将领们宣称是上天派来改变这个世界的，这与2000 年来中国人接受的孔孟思想等传统礼教相悖，于是也有很多人（包括汉族人）对太平天国有情绪上的抵触，称太平 天国为“邪教”。再加上后期太平军的指挥失误，导致了最终的灭亡。>

Babel Fish translation:

Also some point, that is the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom publicizes is 神道 the theory, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom military officers declared is the heaven sends to change this world, this traditional Confucianism and so on Confucius and Mencius thought which the Chinese accepts with 2000 disobeys, thereupon also has very many people (including the Han Nationality person) to have in the mood to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom the contradiction, called the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is "the evil cults". In addition later period Taiping army's direction fault, has caused final demise.

[hskwarrior]

http://www.3821.idv.tw/3821/read.php?tid=364

[diego]

http://www.3821.idv.tw/3821/read.php?tid=364

babelfish won't translate:)

[diego]

http://books.google.com/books?q=tai+ping+rebellion&btnG=Search+Books

https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/1811/6626/1/Thesis%20Adrienne%20Johnson.pdf

^"Taiping Pipe Dreams: Women’s Roles in
the Taiping Rebellion
A Senior Honors Thesis
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for
graduation with distinction in History in the undergraduate
colleges of The Ohio State University
by
Adrienne Johnson
The Ohio State University
June 2006
Project Advisor: Professor Cynthia Brokaw, Department of
History"

In the 1905 issue of RECORD OF CHRISTIAN WORK they have a page on the TP Rebellion...the website hasn't put it up yet, looks like it will take them awhile...gonna email!.
http://www.biblebelievers.com/ROCW/index.html

http://books.google.com/books?lr=&id=6a13vYSEbjoC&dq=tai+ping+rebellion&q=tai+ping+rebellion&pgis=1#search