Nineteenth century China is often described as a crumbling, decentralised state; incapable of the modernisation needed to counter the western nations, having fallen from her status as a prosperous empire. The nineteenth century for China was labelled the “century of humiliation” by many in China as wars such as the Opium Wars and the first Sino-Japanese War caused China to become even weaker and increasingly left to the mercy of her enemies. In addition, the people of China were in near complete rebellion against the Qing dynasty, especially towards the end of the century. However, as destabilising as they were, all of these conflicts paled in comparison to the Taiping Rebellion, one of the bloodiest wars in history, and one which nearly toppled the Qing empire.
The Han people of China had been in conflict with the Qing dynasty ever since the Qing took over in 1644. Even though the seventeenth century may be percieved as the distant past two centuries later, the people of China were still often bitter about the invasion, which killed millions. This was owing to the fact that the Qing were ethnically Manchu rather than Han, thus being seen as foreign conquerors and creating resentment among the populace. China’s population was also exploding dramatically, with around 100 million more people by the end of the century; however, resources were not expanding to meet this new demand, leading to famines such as the North China Famine in the 1870s, which killed five to ten million people. Owing to widespread corruption, humiliation in wars and political unrest, a rebellion appeared likely.
At the heart of the Taiping Rebellion was a man named Hong Xiuquan. A failed civil service candidate from the Hakka minority group who, while not Han, was easily sympathised with by the majority Han people. After failing the exam several times he became frustrated with society, and after reading Christian missionary material he developed a messianic complex, and concluded that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, destined to defeat the evil Qing and take back China. Thus the Taiping movement was born and it began to rapidly spread across the nation. Tens of millions of people across China were unhappy with Manchu rule, and the Taiping’s promises of gender equality, land distribution to the poor and Christian evangelical zeal made joining the rebellion attractive to a broad section of society.
The Qing government ruled over hundreds of millions of people and, despite widespread corruption, were still the government of one of the biggest and most populated nations on earth, and defeating them or even rivalling them would be incredibly difficult. However, the Taipings were able to win several key victories including the capture of Yongan in 1851, the march through southern China where they captured and destroyed several strategic cities, and their greatest achievement of the entire war — the capture of Nanjing. This victory shocked the Qing government as it was one of the most important and historical cities for the Chinese people. At Nanjing, renamed Tianjing to reflect the Taipings’ message, Xiuquan built his “heavenly kingdom” which ruled over millions of people. All of these astonishingly quick triumphs occurred through mostly errors on the Qing empire’s part, such as the rampant corruption, an outdated military and dissatisfaction among peasants making them much more likely to side with the new government. However, religious tensions, ethnic tensions and the strategic brilliance of the Taiping army towards the beginning of the war were crucial in the movement’s early success.
Despite the Taipings defeating the Qing government repeatedly early in the war and devastating important regions of the empire the rebellion was completely reliant on the element of surprise. Much of Xiuquan’s victories happened within the first year or two of fighting, as the Qing dynasty, however weakened, did not expect and was not ready for the sheer scale and intensity of the rebellion, having come straight out of the Opium War just eight years prior. Once they were ready and their forces were gathered the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not last. Owing to the failure of the rebels to capture Beijing, the war that was marked by aggressive offensives slowed to a halt, and the conflict became one of attrition. In 1856 the Tianjing Incident occurred in the nation’s capital, where several leaders accused each other of treason and mass killings erupted, tearing the movement into civil war. However, the true fall of the rebellion happened in 1864, after Xiuquan had died, as famine and poor leadership led to the Qing’s recapture of Nanjing.
The war, initiated out of a religious movement, spread over the entirety of the Qing empire, leading to 14 years of conflict and an estimated 20 to 30 million deaths — placing it among the costliest conflicts in human history. While the rebels held their ground initially, the failure of the northern campaign, internal turmoil and Qing support from nations such as Britain meant that the uprising was doomed to fail from the beginning. Despite the massive casualties and failure to overthrow the Qing, the rebellion served as a reminder to the people of China that the empire was not invincible and further hastened its collapse at the turn of the century.
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https://www.britannica.com/event/Taiping-Rebellion
https://www.history.com/topics/asian-history/taiping-rebellion