In the late Qing Dynasty, there were many peasant uprisings, the most famous and largest of which was the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which originated from Guangxi in 1850 AD, was so large that it affected half of China, almost shaking the foundation of the Qing Dynasty and pushing the feudal peasant uprising to the highest peak in history. Fourteen years have passed since the initial lack of favorability, to repeated victories in battles, and finally to the failure of the split. Even in today's textbooks, the movement is highly praised, calling it a great peasant uprising rare in Chinese history.
The end result was that the Taiping Army was suppressed by the Qing Dynasty and failed. The Qing government began all kinds of "black" and "Taiping Army", saying that they were a group of "Cantonese thieves", "pseudo-thieves", and other derogatory terms, which were intended to reduce the influence of the Taiping Army on the country, and even sent people to publicize how cruel the Taiping Army was, burned and looted, and did all kinds of evil. And what is the real situation? Why did the peasants revolt, not because they were cornered, most of the Taiping Army were ordinary people, and the crimes that the Qing government said, could the Taiping Army do it? On the contrary, the Qing army's suppression of the Taiping Army can be described as bloody, and any means can be used. The generals who suppressed the Taiping Rebellion, such as Zeng Guopan and Chen Guorui, were praised by the Qing government, and those foreigners who helped the Qing government, such as Gordon and Huaer, were all named heroes.
Before the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution, revolutionary ideas such as democracy had spread among the people, and the negative image of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was gradually brushed aside. And Sun Wen often said that he was the second Hong Xiuquan. His evaluation of Hong Xiuquan was: Hong Xiuquan revolted against the poor and expelled the Manchu Qing, although he finally failed and sacrificed, so he could not be evaluated by success or failure.
Sun Wen was born in Guangdong, close to Guangxi, so the rumors of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom spread widely in Guangdong. Sun Wen listened to the old man's story since he was a child, and was deeply influenced by it, which was also his motivation for overthrowing the rule of the Qing government. Therefore, Sun Wen will also regard himself as the "heir of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" and worship Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and others as pioneers.
Later, the Qing government was overthrown. However, in that old society, there was still a slander against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which generally appeared in the local local chronicles, and many places also called the Taiping Army "'Cantonese thieves'" and ''pseudo thieves'.'
In order to wash away the negative impact of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and further publicize the spirit of the Founding Father, the government of the Republic of China at that time also promulgated a special law to strictly prohibit individuals and localities from continuing to slander the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The government said in the "Case of Prohibition of Slandering the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" that it is forbidden to slander the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in any form, and if it is discovered, it will be jailed or beheaded. After the law was promulgated, the whole country was justifying the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Especially in Guangxi, where it originated, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement is described in the county chronicle as follows: Taiping Zhujie, striving for Jintian, exhaling for the Han people, and sharing qin throughout the ages.
In addition to these, local governments have written the movement into textbooks and held commemorative meetings to mourn the heroes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, with the intention of describing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as a pioneer. In this way, the people's perception of the Taiping Army was changed, and from then on, the Taiping Army was no longer a thief, but a national hero. To this day, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is still regarded in textbooks as a great peasant movement, and those leading figures such as Shi Dakai and Li Xiucheng are called heroes.
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