Yang Xiuqing (1820-1856), a native of Ping'aishan, Guiping County, Guangxi, has been burning charcoal and planting mountains for generations, and has lived in poverty. He burned charcoal, hit iron, and once wandered the rivers and lakes.
In 1844, he worshipped God in bauhinia Mountain. After Feng Yunshan was arrested and imprisoned, the God worshipper masses on the Bauhinia Mountain were shaken, and Yang Xiuqing claimed to be possessed by the Heavenly Father (God) and appeared to be holy, issued orders, united the masses, and consolidated the God worship organization. Since then, he has gained the power to represent God' rumors.
After the Jintian Uprising, he served as the chief general of the Chinese army. In Shui'an Prefecture, he was given the title of Eastern King, Nine Thousand Years Old, presided over the imperial government, and exercised restraint over the kings. In June 1852, he captured Daozhou in Hunan and issued a letter in the name of him and Xiao Chaogui, calling on the people to rise up and overthrow the Qing dynasty. After the capital Tianjing was established, he and Hong Xiuquan led the Northern Expedition, the Western Expedition, and the Eastern Expedition. He established great merits for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but he took credit for power and arrogantly respected himself.
In order to establish his personal majesty, he went so far as to execute his warriors at will, and he also reprimanded Qin Rigang, the Prince of Yan, Chen Chengrong, the Marquis of Xingguo, and Huang Yukun ,The Marquis of Weiguo (Shi Dakai's father-in-law), and even reprimanded Hong Xiuquan with a small staff. In August 1856, under the pretext of "Heavenly Father's Descent", he forced The Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan to personally go to the Eastern King's Mansion and name him "Long Live".
On September 2, Wei Changhui took advantage of Hong Xiuquan's conflict with Yang Xiuqing and killed him. In November 1859, hong xiuquan, in order to mourn Yang Xiuqing, set September 2 as the "Eastern Ascension Festival" of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.