Hong Xiuquan

Fully ten separate dynasties over China’s long and illustrious history have considered Nanjing their capital (the city’s name itself means “Southern Capital,” just as Beijing means “Northern Capital”) –- and certainly one of the strangest to Western ears is that of the Taiping. Hong Xiuquan was a Christian who considered himself the Son of God (he thought of Jesus as his older brother) – and unfortunately his attempts to overthrow the Qing dynasty resulted in one of the deadliest periods for Chinese citizens. Occurring at approximately the same time as the American Civil War, this little known (outside of China) struggle resulted in perhaps thirty times as many deaths – somewhere on the order of twenty million people died during the civil strife.

I’ve recently finished reading a fascinating and extremely well-written book that attempts to make sense of it all: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, The West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War by Stephen R. Platt, a history professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. That subtitle makes clear that this was not the “Taiping Rebellion” – an anodyne phrase later used in the West to convey an uprising against the legitimate government – but rather a full-blown civil war. He also makes a strong case that the western powers – principally Britain & the US – made a rather unfortunate decision to support the wrong side. Worried about existing trade at established treaty ports and holding strong sway over the existing Qing government, the West was not inclined to support the Taiping side – despite their modernizing, trade-oriented and Christian proclivities. Instead, they helped to crush the uprising…. only to forestall an inevitable Qing collapse by about half a century, leading to a much more volatile (and ultimately anti-Western) country.

I’ve taken the opportunity over recent weeks to visit the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum, as well as the Presidential Palace (site of Hong Xiuquan’s palace, and later Chiang Kai Shek’s KMT headquarters). Platt’s book brings it all vividly to life — & I wonder if he might be another David McCullough, Doris Kearns Goodwin, or Barbara Tuchman in the making?