In 1851, the Jintian Rebellion broke out, and Hong Xiuquan proclaimed himself the Heavenly King, establishing the name "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom". However, in Hong Xiuquan's later years, he made a very strange move, in less than half a month, twice changed the name of the country, and also strictly implemented it, stipulating that anyone who did not comply should be sentenced to the death penalty of five horses and a corpse. The national name is very important for a regime and cannot be easily changed, but why does Hong Xiuquan change the national name twice in half a month?
I. "God's Kingdom of Heaven"
On March 6, 1861, Hong Xiuquan issued a decree to change the name of the country to "God's Kingdom of Heaven". Hong Xiuquan's will is like this, "Brother Yuan's young son sits in heaven, and the heavenly kingdom is peaceful and the sky is rising." The Heavenly Kingdom is the head, and the Taiping unifies the Tianshan River. Now it is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of Heaven, and the whole world is one with the Father. From now on, the kingdom of God will be more glorious." Hong Xiuquan used a poem of oil to announce the change of the name of the country, and also ordered that the words on the jade seal be changed to "God's Heavenly Kingdom".
So why did Hong Xiuquan do this? In fact, he explained the reason in the edict. Hong Xiuquan said, "Although Grandpa is the father of the Taiping Heavenly Emperor, and brother is the brother of the Taiping Heavenly Lord, in the end Grandpa is the only one." Full respect for God, change the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to God's Heavenly Kingdom, more in line with the truth. That is to say, in Hong Xiuquan's view, the highest status in the kingdom of heaven must be said to be "Heavenly Father", in order to show respect for the Heavenly Father, so "God's Heavenly Kingdom" is used as the new name of the country.
II. "Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, Heavenly King, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"
Less than half a month after Hong Xiuquan had changed the name of the country, he made another decree to change the name of the country again to "Heavenly Father Heavenly Brother Heavenly King Taiping Heavenly Kingdom". In other words, Hong Xiuquan restored the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom", but added the titles of Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, and Heavenly King in front of it. In order to implement the new name of the country, Hong Xiuquan took many measures, and he even decreed that "all those who show and seal the furniture must be engraved with the words Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother Heavenly King, and those who disobey will be divided into five horses."
Although Hong Xiuquan did not hesitate to implement the new name of the country with severe punishment, his move was still opposed by some senior generals. For example, Li Xiucheng, the King of Loyalty, and Li Shixian, the King of Servants. Li Xiucheng said: "At that time, everyone obeyed the name, and I and Li Shixian did not agree to claim it, and Li Shixian was not willing to call it this now. It can be seen from this that Hong Xiuquan's change of the name of the country caused a lot of fluctuations within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Li Shixian was even punished for not writing a new name for the country.
Third, Hong Xiuquan's intentions
According to Hong Xiuquan's explanation, he changed the name of the country to honor the Heavenly Father and Heavenly Brother, but in fact, the problem was not so simple! After being captured, Li Xiucheng explained that the reason for Hong Xiuquan's change of the country name was that he was afraid that others would usurp power and seize the throne, "fearing that others will occupy his country, and this is also true." Hong Xiuquan completely regarded the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as his own personal property, so he added "Heavenly Father, Heavenly Brother, Heavenly King" in front of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which means very clearly, the Heavenly Kingdom is the Heavenly Father, the Heavenly Brother and the Heavenly King!
Yang Xiuqing, the spokesperson of the Heavenly Father, and Xiao Chaogui, the spokesman of the Heavenly Brother, died long ago, and in fact only the Heavenly King was alive, in other words, this was the "Heavenly King Taiping Heavenly Kingdom". In addition, it also reflects another problem, that is, Hong Xiuquan is still obsessed with his religious theory! After the Tianjing rebellion, people became suspicious of the belief in the worship of God, and Hong Xiuquan tried to reconstruct the theoretical system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom religion to highlight the sacred status of the Heavenly King and maintain his rule.
References: 1. "Collection of Documents and Historical Materials of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"; 2. "Li Xiucheng's Self-Description"; 3. "Compilation of Documents of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"