Taiping Rebellion

Taiping Rebellion - 1850-1864

China: The Crisis within-

• Massive population growth – 1700 to 1850
• Millions of Chinese became addicted to drug “Opium”
• Consequences
• Growing pressure on the land
• Less farm for Chinese peasants
• Unemployment o Poverty
• Misery and Starvation

China: The Crisis Within

• China’s centralized state could not progress to cope with the rampant population
• Failed to perform functions like:
• Social welfare
• Tax collection
• Public safety
• Flood control
• Outcome:
• The central government lost authority to officials in the provinces and local landowners.
• By 1850, the royal court became corrupt.
• Government officials treated the poor and peasants harshly.

Who was Hong Xiuquan- Why was he important?

• Hong Xiuquan claimed that he had a vision and that he was the younger brother of Jesus and had the duty to establish a heavenly kingdom on Earth (given the task by God). He preached a mixture of Confucianism and Christianity, declaring a new dynasty called the Taiping (meaning Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace) and proclaiming Tian Wang (Heavenly King)
• He organised Chinese peasants and bandits into an army. At this time, China was in a severe famine, and Chinese peasants were walking the countryside searching for food. Peasants followed him because the Qing government weren't providing anything.
• In 1853, Hong's army marched north and conquered the city of Nanjing. Nanjing was then declared the capital of the new Taiping dynasty. It was the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion, a 10-year revolt against the Qing dynasty.

The Taiping Rebellion

• 1850- 1864- A revolt by China’s people against the ruling Manchu Dynasty due to their failure to deal effectively with the drug opium issue and the interference of British merchants, eventually a fail.
• Hong XiuquanLeader of the Taiping Rebellion.

Goals - Taiping Rebellion

Following were the goals of Taiping rebellion:

1. Private property abolition
2. Equal land distribution
3. End of opium smoking and prostitution
4. Expulsion of all Qing dynasty "Foreigners."
5. Transformation of China into an industrial nation with railroads, healthcare for all, and universal public education

The Taiping Rebellion- A Failure

Uprising failed due to the following:

• Division and indecisiveness within Taiping leadership
• Inability to connect with other rebel groups throughout China
• Western military support (Great Britain) for pro-Qing forces
• Rebel forces finally got crushed in 1864
• As many as 30 million Chinese had died during this rebellion