In the last years of the Qing Dynasty, the corrupt Qing court bowed to the outside world and oppressed the people internally, and the people at home complained and mourned. In 1851, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the largest peasant uprising in history, broke out in China.
Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, presented himself as the Son of God and incited the people to rebel against the rulers of the Qing Dynasty. In just a few years, the rebel army actually captured half of the Qing Dynasty.
During this period, the Qing government was anxious for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom countless times. However, just when everyone thought that Hong Xiu was going to succeed, the uprising movement failed under the joint strangulation of Chinese and foreign forces.
The "worship of God" founded by Hong Xiuquan has its ideological roots in Western Christianity. If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can win in China, it means that Christianity is expected to spread on a new and vast soil. Such an outcome should be expected of Christians in the West.
Logically, the Western countries should support the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so why would the Western countries led by Britain join hands with the Qing government to deal with Hong Xiuquan?
Where is the difference between worship and Christianity? What was the reason for Britain's hatred of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
If you want to solve this mystery, I am afraid that you will have to go back to history to find the answer...
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="2" > the religious origins of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom</h1>
Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was born into a rural family in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Like most men in ancient China, Hong Xiuquan began to study Confucian classics from an early age, in order to one day have the title of The Golden List and the Glory of the Ancestors.
However, until the age of twenty-five, Hong Xiu did not go to high school.
Disheartened, Hong Xiuquan met the Christian Liang Fa and read "Good Words of Persuasion" with him.
After reading this book, Hong Xiuquan was empowered, and the haze in his heart was suddenly swept away.
As a result, he changed from a Confucian student with Confucius as his teacher to a Christian. Although he had not read the Bible, Hong Xiuquan firmly believed that he had been cured of a serious illness and had received God's grace, and that he was God's second son and jesus' brother. "Worship of God" came into being.
After that, Hong Xiuquan and his friends preached in the Liangguang area.
Hong Xiuquan encouraged people to "break free from oppression under god's guidance and create a heavenly kingdom where everyone is equal." When the country's fortunes are bad and the government is incompetent, the ideal life and equal society depicted by the "cult of God" have a great attraction to the people.
Over time, the membership of the Cult of God grew, eventually evolving into a massive peasant uprising.
It can be seen that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement was the product of the combination of foreign religions and local cultures. The idea of "worshiping God" founded by Hong Xiuquan is precisely a "borrowing" of Christian thought. The reason why it is called "borrowing" is because Hong Xiuquan's understanding of Christian doctrine is not in place, and his interpretation of Christianity feels more far-fetched.
Therefore, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom met the orthodox Christian schools of the West, the contradictions between the two would soon be revealed. From the change in the attitude of the English missionary Joseph Ejør to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, we can see the existence of this contradiction.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="4" > Ii. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Christianity</h1>
Joseph was a missionary to the London Society in England. In 1848, Joseph came to China as a missionary. Until his death in 1905, Joseph lived in China. Joseph was knowledgeable and extensive, proficient in religion, economics, language and other disciplines. In him you can see the typical characteristics of the early missionaries who came to China.
In the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Joseph was expectant and sympathetic to this movement. He sympathized with the plight of the Chinese peasants and affirmed their efforts to gain freedom and equality. At the same time, he also believes that this movement will be conducive to the spread of Christianity in China.
In 1860, Joseph took the initiative to go to Suzhou to meet with Li Xiucheng, the king of Zhong. Lee Soo-sung treated him with courtesy and left a good impression on Ayotser. Soon after, Hong Xiuquan's cousin Hong Renjie came to Suzhou and had a long conversation with Joseph.
As a Western-educated intellectual, Ejosse was pleased that Hong's views on the "Trinity" fit the definition of orthodox Christianity. At the same time, Hong told Joseph that his purpose in traveling from Hong Kong to Tianjing was to preach the Gospel of Christianity. Hong Xiuquan crowned him as the Heavenly King, giving him great proselytizing convenience.
In the course of their conversation, Hong Renjie repeatedly mentioned his cousin Hong Xiuquan's plans for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Ejoser sensed that what Hong Xiuquan had done was far beyond the confines of a traditional farmer. Although Ejosse had not met Hong Xiuquan before this, judging from the information that Hong Renjie had conveyed to him, Ejoser believed that Hong Xiuquan was a qualified leader, not a short-sighted person who would only be beautiful.
Since then, Ayotser has been hoping to meet Hong Xiuquan in person. Because Joseph knew that Hong Xiuquan's "worship of God" had its roots in Christianity, he wanted to persuade Hong Xiuquan to lead "worship of God" to the path of orthodox Christianity.
In 1861, Ayotse came to Tianjing to meet with Hong Xiuquan. However, the meeting between the two did not meet as harmonious as imagined, and Hong Xiuquan's stubbornness exceeded Ajoser's imagination.
During this time, Joseph and Hong Xiuquan engaged in a heated debate over the question of whether God is visible or not. Joseph wrote The Theory of The Visible as the Metaphor of The Formlessness of God, which expounded the theological idea of the "Trinity" of orthodox Christianity.
After Hong Xiuquan read it, he replied to Joseph with an oil poem.
Hong Xiuquan insisted that God was visible and that devout believers could see God in worship. At the same time, Hong Xiuquan insisted on his status as the "Son of God" and demanded that Joseph and others recognize his divine status.
Hong Xiuquan's views are the same as those of the ancient Arian school.
The so-called "Arian school" is one of the Christian schools. In the 4th century AD, the Arian school was separated from orthodoxy. After the First Ecumenical Council in 380 AD, the "Idea of the Trinity (i.e., the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as One)" was established, and the Arians were denounced as heretics.
Knowing that his advice was ineffective, Ayotser left Tianjing in a fit of rage. In Ejoser's view, Hong Xiuquan is just a person who lives in a "dream" that he has created, and he has never tried to get out of this unhealthy psychology.
After returning home, Joseph reported the meeting with Hong Xiuquan to the Church of London in England. The church decided that the "cult of God" founded by Hong Xiuquan was heretical, and Britain's hatred of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom came from it. In order to ensure the purity of orthodox Christianity, the Church of London repeatedly appealed to the king, hoping that the king would punish heretics in the East.
Before leaving, Ayotser had a meeting with Hong Renjie, who foresaw the future of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: "This hypocritical regime has no future. While I know you may be disappointed, I want to tell you that it's hard for you to succeed. ”
At this time, there were still 3 years before the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="6" >3, the end of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom</h1>
In the final analysis, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom founded by Hong Xiuquan, although named "worship of God", is actually just a false religion cloaked in "Christianity". Hong Xiuquan's understanding of Christian doctrine is completely contrary to orthodox Christianity, and naturally cannot be supported by Western Christian countries.
In the eyes of the British, the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were not like-minded "allies", but deviant heretics. Therefore, the British not only did not help Hong Xiuquan, but instead sided with the Qing government in the united front. Coupled with the contradictions within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom itself, this regime is doomed to not go far.
In 1864, under the encirclement and suppression of the Xiang Army, Tianjing fell. This was the end of this vigorous peasant movement.
Text/Genki Girl QMQ
Resources:
1. "Hong Xiuquan's Biblical Interpretation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution", Zhou Weichi
2. "Regime in the Guise of Christianity, Heretics in the Eyes of Foreigners", Ye Kefei
3. "On the Change of Attitude of the British London Missionary Joseph to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", Wu Xia
4. "Joseph and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", Mao Jiaqi