【Title】The last words of Li Xiucheng, a general of the Taiping Rebellion: heroic and unyielding, complex and multifaceted
Li Xiucheng, a general of the Taiping Rebellion, was a brave and fearless warrior, but before he was captured and executed, he showed a complex and multifaceted side in his confession. This article will give you an insight into Li Xiucheng's life and his role and last words in the Taiping Rebellion.
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The Taiping Rebellion, a great peasant uprising in Chinese history, swept through southern China and shook the rule of the Qing Dynasty for a time. And Li Xiucheng, a general of the Taiping Rebellion, as a member of the Taiping Rebellion, experienced the rise and fall of the Taiping Rebellion.
Li Xiucheng stepped onto the stage of history step by step from a small cadre. Born into poverty, he joined the Taiping Army to fill his stomach, and soon he showed extraordinary talent and became an important general of the Taiping Army. After the internal strife, the strength of the Taiping Army was damaged, and Li Xiucheng became a figure that Hong Xiuquan valued, and he incorporated the anti-Qing peasant armed army, injecting more strength into the Taiping Army.
However, Li Xiucheng's life was not all smooth sailing. The Taiping Rebellion eventually failed to complete the great cause of opposing the Qing Dynasty, and the Qing army surrounded Tianjing, and the Taiping Army came to an end. Li Xiucheng escorted Hong Xiuquan's son to Qingliang Mountain and gave his war horse to the young king. However, he was soon discovered, escorted to the Qing camp and put in a cage. During his short time in captivity, Li Xiucheng wrote tens of thousands of words of confessions about the rise and fall of the Taiping Rebellion.
However, this heroic and indomitable general did not escape, his confession in the cage was deleted and modified, and Zeng Guofan killed him on the spot. This arbitrary killing of prisoners has led to speculation, and there are various explanations for Zeng Guofan's motives. But the fact is that part of the original manuscript of Li Xiucheng's confession in the cage was destroyed, and only the remaining confession allows us to see his complex and multifaceted facets.
Li Xiucheng in the confession not only shows the intention of begging for life, but also shows his loyal spirit. He remained heroic and unyielding after his capture, and even summed up the reasons for the defeat of the Kingdom of Heaven in his confession, calling it the "Ten Mistakes of the Celestial Empire". Such a complex performance is somewhat inconsistent with his usual heroic image, but it shows his true side as a person.
Li Xiucheng's life and last words are an important chapter in the history of the Taiping Rebellion, which gives us an insight into the vicissitudes of this era and the multifaceted image of this hero. Whether his last words are complete or not, whether his words of surrender are in line with his identity as a loyal king, Li Xiucheng's life story is worth pondering.
Li Xiucheng, a general of the Taiping Rebellion, a humble but brave warrior, a man who maintained his true nature in the face of death, his last words bear witness to the glory and bitterness of his life. It is he and the story of his era that constitute our deep memory and reflection on this period of history of the Taiping Rebellion.
