RESEARCH REPORT HISTORICAL COMMITTEE THE TAIPING REVOLUTION BATUHAN ŞAHİN ÇAĞLAR GENÇ YASEMİN TANYÜ EMİR SERT MUNDP 2021 – Commitment to Development – Research Report Committee: Historical Committee Agenda Item: The Taiping Revolution Student Officers: Batuhan Şahin, Çağlar Genç, Yasemin Tanyü, Emir Sert Basic Overview of the Issue Lasting nearly fourteen years, the Taiping Revolution was one of the most influential events of the 19th century. Led by Hong Xiuquan, the God Worshipping Society was the ones to ignite this revolution. Fueled by the socioeconomic status of the Qing Dynasty after the Opium Wars, the God Worshipping Society grew fast, even though the supported ideas were extreme. Declaring Hong as the “Taiping King” and arming themselves with gunpowder, the God Worshipping Society eventually clashed with the army of the Qing Dynasty at the end of 1851. One side manipulated by a delusional leader, the other ruled by one of the greatest dynasties, this revolution came to be known as one of the deadliest conflicts in history, costing almost 20 to 70 million lives. Explanation of Important Terms God Worshipping Society The religious movement founded by Hong Xiuquan in 1844 had a major influence during the Taiping Revolution. As the self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ, his religious philosophy relied on combining Christianity with Chinese folk religions and cultural values. He and his closest allies acted as missionaries to convert more followers to their group. Leading up to 1850 as their numbers grew, the society became a large threat towards traditional Chinese values and the control of the Qing Dynasty over their people. The Qing Dynasty began threatening members of the society and the God Worshippers began rioting in numbers of over 10 thousand. As the revolution continued, this number eventually rose to millions of followers. The Opium Wars The Opium Wars are critical in analyzing the reasons behind the scale of the revolution. After the Qing Dynasty’s harsh defeat to Great Britain in the First Opium War, the country experienced a major economic and social crisis. Taxes and homelessness rose while production decreased with the high use of opium rendering many citizens addicted. This opened a door for extreme ideologies such as the ones of Hong Xiuquan to become widely accepted, a trend that has been seen throughout history. MUNDP 2021 – Commitment to Development 1 Committee: Historical Committee Agenda Item: The Taiping Revolution Student Officers: Batuhan Şahin, Çağlar Genç, Yasemin Tanyü, Emir Sert Absolute Imperial Monarchy The Qing Dynasty had a governmental structure of an absolute imperial monarchy, with the Emperor as the head of state, government, and leader of armed forces. This system gave the people no voice in their own country as the biggest advisors to the emperor all resided from within the palace. The disconnect between the emperor and his people, combined with the hardships at the time resulted in many despising their leaders, provoking the revolution. The Mandate of Heaven A structure present in the absolute imperial monarchy of the Qing Dynasty, the Mandate of Heaven legitimized the ruling power of the monarch. It was thought that the Chinese monarch was selected by divine power, represented Heaven and was consequently the Son of Heaven. According to this teaching, if a monarch was to be overthrown, it would be against the will of the gods and the natural order. This protected the crown from rebellions targeting the monarch and stopped many from getting major support. Detailed Background of the Issue The Taiping Revolution was a massive rebellion, one of the most crucial events to have taken place in China. It is also known as one of the deadliest wars. It lasted for 14 years and took nearly 20 million lives. The rebellion began under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan, the self-proclaimed brother of Jesus. He believed that he was sent to reform China in a Christian way. His goal was to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, which had been oppressing China for a long time and to kill all Manchu people (their ethnicity) because in his visions he was instructed to exterminate all “demons”, referring to the Manchu. The rebellion was also the first instance of The Anti-Manchu sentiment, the sentiment against the Manchu rule for their barbaric ways. Additionally, Hong converted Chinese people to the Taiping syncretic version of Christianity, instead of the traditional religion. The Taiping Religion was Hong's own interpretation of Christianity which was a combination of both Christianity and Chinese folk religion, also known as Taiping Christianity. Christianity appealed to most lower-class Chinese people because at the time, Confucian culture was in power and mostly spoke to the higher class. At first, when Hong started to convert people, it wasn’t received well. The first to convert were the Hakka community, a minority that was always economically marginalized and discriminated against. In 1844, one of Hong's followers, Feng Yunshan, formed a religious group named God's Worship Society also known as Bài Shàngdì Huì. MUNDP 2021 – Commitment to Development 2 Committee: Historical Committee Agenda Item: The Taiping Revolution Student Officers: Batuhan Şahin, Çağlar Genç, Yasemin Tanyü, Emir Sert Later in 1847, Hong became the leader of this organization. The Taiping exploited the insecurities of the Chinese people caused by the government's condition and the social and economic problems. This group was composed of mostly peasants and the working class. From just several thousand people, it increased to over a million people - an army that is fanatically devoted to their leader Hong. Before the Rebellion After China lost the First Opium War (1839-1842) to the United Kingdom, which was largely caused by domestic instability, the working class, farmers to be specific were overtaxed and the rents started to increase. Also because of the trade imbalance caused by the illicit import of opium, economic problems started taking over the country. The Treaty of Nanking was signed, and it opened a new trade market for Europeans and Americans, which led to the switch of the Economic activity from the South of China to the North. Many jobs were lost in the south causing an economic depression. At the same time, China’s population nearly doubled, which also made the government weak. The government was led by the Manchus, a minority group that established and ruled the Qing Dynasty and were descendants of the Jurchen people. They became progressively corrupted. In the southern side of China, anti- Manchu sentiments were strong as well as the Hakka community, a minority group that has traditionally been discriminated against by the ethnic majority. The quality of life was very low in China, and the country was in the hands of Western imperial encroachment and Christian missionaries were also all over the country. The people needed saving and needed a new leader. Then Hong came along with his plan to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and to reform the country. He started gaining a lot of followers in a short period of time. His followers were composed of peasants and the working class. They thought they could find a new life and a better life with Hong and his religion. Hong Xiuquan’s life Hong was the youngest son of a Hakka family. He was born in Guangzhou. His family was poor, but they sacrificed a lot for him to have a good education and for him to complete the civil service examinations, this exam selected candidates for the state bureaucracy. After failing his exams for the 3rd time, he felt sick emotionally, and he eventually collapsed. He started having visions. In his visions, he saw an old man (later identified as Jehovah) who gave him a sword and a seal to eradicate the bad spirits. In 1843, he took the exam for the MUNDP 2021 – Commitment to Development 3 Committee: Historical Committee Agenda Item: The Taiping Revolution Student Officers: Batuhan Şahin, Çağlar Genç, Yasemin Tanyü, Emir Sert 4th time, however, he failed again. That year, he re-read the pamphlet he got from the missionary (Stevens); Hong announced that he now understood his visions and that he was the younger brother of Jesus and was sent to China to get rid of the corrupt Qing government and the Confucian teachings referring to them as the devils. Soon after that, he was the leader of the God’s Worship Society. In his teachings, he talked about equality and everyone having the same living standards, as well as following a strict separation between sexes, the abolition of foot binding, land socialization, and suppression of private trade. The Buddhist libraries were destroyed in the Yangtze Delta area and the Temples of Daoism, Confucianism, and other beliefs were defaced. The Beginning of the Rebellion By 1849, the Society had grown into four parts of China. The rebellion started in July 1850 and on 11 January 1851 Jintian Uprising marked the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion. Hong proclaimed his new dynasty, Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace, and took the title of the Heavenly King. The Taiping continued to go through the North and the Yangtze River. As they passed through the countryside the villagers started joining them. Their numbers started increasing rapidly, divided into separate groups of men and women. The Taiping saw men and women as equal, but they were not allowed any contact with one another. Figure 1: The map of their route The Rebellion They captured the city of Nanjing on March 10, 1853, and Hong renamed the city as the Heavenly Capital. They, then, tried to capture the Qing capital Beijing in order to decrease the stress on Nanjing but failed. So, they went into the upper Yangtze valley where they had many victories.