Many people may not be familiar with the name Hong Tianguifu, but if you mention Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, they are all familiar with it, this Hong Tianguifu is Hong Xiuquan's eldest son, the last "emperor" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
As the "crown prince" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Tianguifu is not the "second generation of emperors" born with a golden key.
In 1849, when Hong Tianguifu was born, Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing, Xiao Chaogui, Wei Changhui and others had just established the "God Worship Cult".
Even when he was born in Guangdong, his father Hong Xiuquan was not by his side, but in Guangxi to discuss the continued expansion of the ranks of the parishioners.
According to the relevant historical records of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, when Hong Tianguifu was born, "ten thousand birds came to the court" and "red light surrounded the room", a scene of auspicious arrival.
When his uncle Hong Renji named him in place of his father, he followed the tradition of the clan, which is to write some meaningful names on a slip of paper, and then draw one of them by drawing lots.
Originally, Hong Renji pulled out "Tiangui" for the child, but after Hong Xiuquan went home, he probably felt that this name was "not personalized enough", so he added the word "Fu" to the end, so he had "Hong Tianguifu", a four-character "long name" that was rare at that time.
Two years after Hong Tianguifu was born, that is, in 1851, his status suddenly became noble.
Because, his father, Hong Xiuquan, launched the Jintian Uprising this year and established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
While dividing the kings, he, as the son of the "Heavenly King", naturally became the "young crown prince" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
However, this did not make Hong Tianguifu's childhood happier than others, because he did not have a childhood of his own.
For as long as he can remember, Hong Tianguifu has been marching and fighting with the army of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and his life can be described as "wandering", so Hong Tianguifu's body is a little weak compared to other children of the same age.
When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was established as the capital of Nanjing, 5-year-old Hong Tianguifu was taken into Nanjing's "Tianwang Mansion", until 11 years later, "Tianjing" was breached, and he never got out of the cage built by this deep-walled compound.
Others think that Hong Tianguifu lives a life of fine clothes and food, but in fact, his life is always under the control of others.
On the surface, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was under the guise of "asking for the people's lives and doing the right thing for heaven", but in fact, when those "princes" grasped a certain amount of power, they all started their own small calculations.
Among them, Yang Xiuqing, the "East King", relied on the name of "Heavenly Father Descends to Earth" to point fingers at Hong Xiuquan, and at the same time began to intervene more in Hong Xiuquan's family affairs.
In 1853, Yang Xiuqing was "disciplining" Hong Tianguifu for being naughty, but in fact, he accused Sang of scolding Hong Xiuquan and scolding a dog blood sprinkler by the way.
Hong Xiuquan, who had nowhere to vent his grievances, naturally sent all the fire to his son, but the way he used was different: dead study.
Hong Xiuquan was originally a down-and-out talent who repeatedly failed the exam, and after coming into contact with Western Catholicism, his teachings were "transformed" and used.
Therefore, while propagating the religious ideas and promulgating legal codes that he created, he also blended Eastern and Western ideas into them.
It's just that the effect of the blend is not ideal, which can be seen from the education of Hong Tianguifu.
The traditional Confucian classics such as "The Three Character Classic", "Thousand Character Text" and "Ten Perfect Great Fortune Poems", as well as the books published by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom such as "Taiping Salvation Message" and "Poems of the Heavenly Father", which contain strong religious thoughts, were all textbooks of Hong Tianguifu when he was a child.
Because the doctrinal thinking is not sound enough, the teachings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom often cannot be justified, so Hong Xiuquan also restricts everyone, including his son, from reading ancient classics, calling them "demon books".
On the one hand, he wants to learn, and on the other hand, he abandons criticism, so that Hong Tianguifu, a child who is not deeply involved in the world, has lost the ability to make normal judgments under the fierce "bombardment" of two thoughts.
According to Hong Xiuquan's regulations, Hong Tianguifu should recite the "Praise Sutra" and "pray to God" before eating, and he should present the "Heavenly Father" four times a day at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
And they all have to "say goodbye", "wish long live", "long live". It can be seen that at this time, Hong Xiuquan was completely intoxicated with the sound of "long live".
The matter of men and women is also an ethical concept that makes Hong Tianguifu feel confused.
When Hong Xiuquan founded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he claimed that "men and women are equal", not only did women enjoy the same rights as men to study and work, but also a large number of female champions, female officials, and female generals appeared in the court of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which was indeed a rare thing to see in the feudal period.
But when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was set as the capital of Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan was addicted to the extravagant life of the harem "without leaving the Heavenly King's Mansion for 11 years" and took the woman as his plaything.
In Hong Tianguifu's body, he was also poisoned by this distorted ethics.
On the one hand, Hong Xiuquan does not allow other men to enter his harem, so he can only be taught by his daughter Hong Tianjiao to Hong Tianguifu, and even accompany and play, accompanied by little palace maids and eunuchs, which makes this boy who is growing up inevitably contaminated with a lot of fat powder.
In addition, when Hong Tianguifu was 9 years old, he was already designated by the "Heavenly Father" Hong Xiuquan to give himself four "good matches", wives and concubines of the same age, and became a "man" prematurely.
The virtual age of 9 years old, in fact, is only 7 years old, whether in modern times or in the feudal period, such an age is a proper underage "child marriage", which will have a great impact on the physical and mental development of children.
Hong Tianguifu was in such a distorted life, waiting until he "ascended the throne".
In 1864, there were internal battles and frequent defeats in external battles, and under this internal and external pressure, Hong Xiuquan fell ill and died in his own house.
15-year-old Hong Tianguifu took advantage of the situation to become the new "Heavenly King" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the first thing he had to face after ascending the throne was the danger of the imminent destruction of the city.
Hong Tianguifu has never governed the government and has not experienced wars, and in the face of life and death, he can only hope for many uncles, but it is too late.
Only a little more than a month after ascending the throne, the city of Nanjing was breached, and he, the "Heavenly King", became a fugitive who fled from the wilderness.
Hong Tianguifu, who escaped from Nanjing City, thought that he had escaped from the encirclement of the Qing army and escaped from the deformed family that had shackled him for more than ten years.
But he was wrong, and there was no way for him to escape the invisible cage that his father had put on him. He once "did chores" for farmers in order to satisfy his stomach, but he was disliked and driven out of the farm.
also because of the kind of "high school" that he believed in the scholars, he offended the children who let the horses go, and was then captured by the Qing soldiers who were chasing.
The Qing court did not show mercy to this "waste man" who was not an adult, and on November 18, 1864, Hong Tianguifu was tied to the execution ground and executed by Ling Chi.
It is said that at that time, the executioner cut 1,516 knives on his body, until the blood on his body dried up, and the 16-year-old "Last Heavenly King" was unwilling to swallow his last breath.
Is Hong Tianguifu wrong?
Maybe there is, maybe it's wrong that he was born in that chaotic era, maybe it's wrong that he was born in such a chaotic family, that's all.
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