After repeated attempts, Hong Xiuquan founded the theory of "respecting God alone".
In the 23rd year of Daoguang, 1843, a man (about 1.78m) who stood out from the crowd in Lingnan was staring at the poster posted outside imperial academy, and his sallow face was full of gloomy clouds.
This 30-year-old man with concave cheekbones is Hong Xiuquan.
1 814 65438+1October1,Hong Xiuquan was born in Huaxian County, Guangzhou, ranking fourth with five brothers and sisters. Because he was smart and studious as a child, Hong Xiuquan was deeply loved by his father Hong Jingyang and was sent to a private school at the age of seven.
Since the ninth year of Daoguang, Hong Xiuquan, aged 16, has been taking exams one after another, dreaming of "being a Tian Shelang and an emperor at dusk" one day. However, the reality is extremely cruel. Daoguang experienced continuous failures in 16 and 17 years, and Daoguang experienced four tests around 23 years. During 15, I studied hard all day, but I failed and tried again and again. A fire of hatred, gradually rising in the chest.
After the fourth place, Hong Xiuquan was furious and gnashed her teeth like a madman. He came home and ran around the yard like a trapped animal all day, chanting, "If I don't take the Qing Dynasty exam again, I'll take it myself!" " In a rage, he held a hoe and smashed the memorial tablet of Confucius enshrined at home.
Who also didn't expect, the young man in hua county, will become the first shovel tomb dug up in the Qing dynasty.
In fact, as early as the sixteenth year of Daoguang, when Hong Xiuquan went to Guangzhou for the second time to take the exam, the turning point of his life had already appeared. One day, Hong Xiuquan received a pamphlet for free in front of the Palace Garden in Longzang Street? Indian lazy bath punishment? A hole? Dump and stir me?
Liang Fa is an ordinary woodblock printer in Gaoming County, Guangdong Province, who knows a little about writing. 18 1 1 year, he accepted a few taels of silver from the English missionary Ma Lixun and took the risk of carving a Chinese version of the Bible for him, which was a crime of decapitation at that time.
Ma Lixun is an adventurous Christian missionary. Under his persuasion and inspiration, Liang Fa became the first "China Pastor" in China on 1823. From then on, Liang Fa no longer had to sweat to move building blocks and print things, but put on half-baked clothes, secretly preached and received his salary from the Protestant church in London. 1832, Liang Fa wrote "Good Advice to the World", which was personally reviewed and published by his teacher, Ma Lixun, with the signature "Study hard".
Hong Xiuquan's fierce reading of "The Book of Advice to the World" did not help scientific research at all. After the fourth disappointment, he fell ill and had a high fever of more than 40 degrees for four consecutive days. Many visions appeared in front of him.
Hong Xiuquan, who recovered from a serious illness, found a job as a teacher in Lianhuatang Village to earn some food to make a living. During this period, he took out the Book of Persuasion and studied it carefully, and gradually sprouted the idea of "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting the gods alone" and formed a rough theoretical system.
Although this system is covered with the cloak of Christianity, because it doesn't understand the doctrine and doesn't even read the Bible, Hong Xiuquan can only take a shortcut and "hook up" sentences with "God" from Confucian classics to attach his own theory.
There are "God is near you" in the Book of Songs, "God's recommendation" in the Book of Changes and "God only" in the Book of Songs, but they are far from the meaning of "God" in Christianity. Hong Xiuquan, on the other hand, can creatively think: "From Pangu to the three generations, the monarch and the minister are integrated and all worship God." At the same time, he arranged the experience of having a high fever and changing his mind after the third exam, claiming that his "previous life death" was actually to see God and was ordered to "descend to earth" again to punish the devil and save the world. At the same time, he also invented an opponent of "God"-"Yamaraja Demon", and attached this imaginary enemy to any opponent at any time.
For such a fake version of "Christianity", forest, an Englishman, laughed and cried in his book Travel Notes in Tianjing: "If the Pope had the right to rule Hong Xiuquan, he would have been burned to death!" Hong Xiuquan ignored these problems. Together with his childhood playmates Feng Yunshan and his brother Hong Rengan, he began to make gods as his career, develop his disciples, preach "teachings" and hold worship. Over time, there are many Christians in Huaxian County.
With believers, Hong Xiuquan has confidence. With the money donated by parishioners, he found a blacksmith to make a "demon-cutting sword" and sang a song to celebrate his ambition.
Yang used his quick wits to rescue Feng Yunshan.
In addition to spitting and "preaching", Hong Xiuquan spared no effort to smash Confucius' memorial tablets everywhere. This move caused a sensation in the local area. Although Guangzhou was civilized earlier and people were willing to accept new things, they still held Confucius in high esteem psychologically. Hong Xiuquan's action aroused everyone's antipathy, which eventually led to his losing his job as a teacher.
Hong Xiuquan, who is unemployed, is not discouraged. He left his hometown with Feng Yunshan and several young people and embarked on a missionary journey in the Pearl River Delta region.
It's a pity that a few months' travel earned a little money besides selling pens and inkstones along the way, and the result of missionary work was not satisfactory. In all, only 50 people joined the church, and many of them verbally said that they took part in the activities of buying paper and inkstones at a discount. Disappointed, the group decided to go to Guangxi for development.
1844, Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan came to Gu Village, Gui County. I chose to stay here because Hong Xiuquan has a cousin Wang Shengjun who lives here. After they stayed, they made a living by teaching and preaching. The "land god" who refused to sacrifice to the local people because of "respecting God and rejecting foreigners" aroused public anger. After living for only a few months, they couldn't stay any longer and had to leave Gu Village in a gloomy mood.
Hong Xiuquan returned to Hua County and still worked as a teacher. In the past two years, he has written many articles, such as Song of Saving the World by the Original Way and Training to Wake the World by the Original Way. Most of them are jingles in folk songs to persuade people to be kind. Hong Xiuquan only denounced the Buddha as a "cult", but instead said some "good words" from Confucius and Mencius. After learning from a painful experience, Hong Xiuquan realized that Confucius and Mencius had an unshakable position in the eyes of Chinese people, so he changed from "criticism" to "use".
While Hong Xiuquan was engaged in creative work, Feng Yunshan, who chose to stay in Guangxi, became more and more effective in preaching in Zijingshan area. He not only became party member, but also got the official name of "worshipping God". Zijingshan is one of the most backward mountainous areas in Guangxi, with deep and wide gullies, which is especially suitable for guerrilla warfare.
Feng Yunshan was also the last scholar, but he was familiar with the classics and read hundreds of books. He has both political mind and organizational ability. He was the core planner in the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and his importance even surpassed that of Hong Xiuquan.
1In the autumn of 847, when Hong Xiuquan came to Guangxi for the second time, he was glad to find that more than 2,000 Christians had developed in Feng Yunshan. Among these newcomers, Shi Dakai, Yang, Xiao Chaogui and others became the mainstay of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the future. In order to expand its influence, Feng Yunshan chose the famous "Wang Gan Temple" in Xiangzhou. In Guangxi folk, "King Gan" is a well-known sacrificial object for women and children. The "King Gan" in history was from Xiangzhou in the Five Dynasties. He made meritorious military service from the Southern Han Dynasty and sacrificed to local gods after his death, which was called "Ganwang Temple".
1847 10, Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan and others rushed into Wang Gan Temple with sharp weapons, smashed the golden incense burner, and wrote poems on the white wall in the temple, declaring "Wang Gan" an evil god.
Xiangzhou people were about to get together to settle accounts with Hong Xiuquan when a local boy aged 12 suddenly fell down in the street. He was foaming at the mouth, calling himself "King Gan" possessed, and shouted: "These people who hit me are sacred and inviolable. You can't hurt them!" The crowd dispersed in horror. Afterwards, this spooky boy was richly rewarded by Hong Xiuquan.
Proud Hong Xiuquan and others have successively carried out activities to destroy statues, looking for statues in temples around Amethyst Mountain, and once found, they were destroyed. Guangxi is superstitious about these "sacredness". When the local people found that the people who destroyed the temple were not punished, they gradually became convinced of the "God", and many people chose to join the "God Worship Society".
However, after all, something happened in the temple. /kloc-at the end of 0/847, the gentry king of Shiren Village led his family and arrested Feng Yunshan on charges of destroying temples and spreading evil books. Soon, Feng Yunshan's cousin, Liu Lu, called some congregations and took Feng Yunshan back. Wang adamant4, complained to the Guiping county government, said Feng Yunshan illegal * * *, alliance demagoguery, destroyed the national gods. As the main controlling party, Wang rightfully and illegally destroyed the public buildings of the Qing government, which was indeed a crime. Feng Yunshan and Liu Lu were escorted to the official residence, and "worshipping God" was leaderless for a while, and they fell into an unprecedented crisis.
Hong Xiuquan returned to Guangdong to prepare for the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. He naively believes that since the senior promised to allow freedom of belief, it is not impossible to release Feng Yunshan. Unfortunately, the reality has never been as beautiful as the official promise. A little person who was originally unknown saw through the truth. He stepped forward and saved the worship of God. This man is Yang.
Yang lost his father at the age of five and his mother at the age of nine, all thanks to his uncle's upbringing. As an adult, Yang made a living by burning charcoal, and his life was extremely difficult. He is short and thin, with a sparse beard and blind in one eye. But this person is ambitious, has a wide range of friends, gives money generously, and has high emotional intelligence and IQ.
During Feng Yunshan's imprisonment, the worship of God was dispersed, almost to the brink of collapse. 1March 3, 848, Yang, who was in a hurry, suddenly claimed to be possessed by the "heavenly father" and played the trick of descending the gods. He fainted with a clash in public, then suddenly jumped up, looking solemn, claiming to be the "father god" to spread rumors and expel the waverers of the Huang family from the meeting. Because of the popular custom of possessing ghosts and gods in Guangxi, all the congregation believed it. Yang not only gained high prestige, but also stabilized the fear of worshipping God. Soon, Yang's charcoal burning companion Xiao Chaogui fell to the ground with a clash. After the carp jumped up, it called itself "Brother Tian" and made a double spring with Yang.
At the same time, Yang advocated giving priority to bribery and organizing the rescue of Feng Yunshan. He ordered the believers who burn charcoal to take part of the charcoal tax for every kilo of charcoal sold 100, and turn it over to the "holy library", which is called "Kecharcoal", as a special fund to help Feng Yunshan.
In May, Yang, the magistrate of Guiping, accepted bribes and escorted Feng Yunshan back to Huaxian County on the grounds that there was no illegal act by bandits, and was later released. Feng Yunshan's successful rescue is regarded as a very important turning point in the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Many historians believe that without Yang, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom might have perished at this time. Therefore, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom hit Nanjing, the celebrities in Ketan Save Feng all went up a storey still higher.
"Land dispute" ignites jintian uprising.
After the decision was made, Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan presented a difficult problem: If Yang and Xiao Chaogui's right to speak for "Heavenly Father" and "Heavenly Brother" is recognized, the congregation will firmly believe that this means that these two people may surpass Hong Feng's religious authority in the future; However, if you refuse to admit it, it may cause internal strife among members. Reasoning, Yang think and Xiao Chaogui is really no ambition, Hongfeng two people decided to accept this fact. Hong Xiuquan claimed to be the son of God and the brother of Jesus. In this way, the "spokesperson" status of the heavenly father and heavenly brother naturally cannot surpass "God's own son". In the future, the Yejiang Festival and Jiangge Festival of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will be commemorated by Yang and Xiao Chaogui.
By 1850, Hong Xiuquan's position in the worship of gods was increasingly consolidated, and his "prophecy" was verified many times (nothing more than pretending that someone would get sick at some time). In addition, he himself knows some remedies, and is gradually rendered by the congregation as a "God Man who can make the blind see and the dumb speak". At the same time, Wei Changhui, the rich man of Jintian Village, joined the Huimen with his family, which provided great material guarantee for worshipping God. After everything was ready, the long-delayed "land dispute" became the most direct catalyst for jintian uprising.
All along, there have been large-scale armed fights in some areas of Guangxi. The so-called "porters" mainly refer to Hakkas who moved from Guangdong to Guangxi; The so-called "aborigines" mainly refer to the local aborigines in Guangxi. The "dispute over coming to the soil" is by no means a national dispute, because the local Zhuang and Yao people in Guangxi do not have a clear position. Some support "people come" and some support "natives".
As a "foreign land", folk duels have always been very popular in Guangxi. Especially in the last years of Daoguang, land annexation and internal contradictions were fierce, and a large number of refugees from Guangdong, Fujian and Hunan entered Guangxi, resulting in a situation of less land and more people. The government often secretly encourages local aborigines to compete with vagrants for land, so the grievances are getting deeper and deeper. In order to fight for a well, a field and a daughter-in-law, the whole village armed each other and killed each other. Sometimes, after more than ten years, countless people died in this large-scale vendetta.
In this context, "jintian uprising" happened. From July 1850, those Hakkas who lost in the "land dispute" rushed to Jintian Village to help the old and bring the young. The crowd was surging, but the places in the Qing Dynasty did not care about it. I didn't expect these people to rebel, thinking they were just running away.
However, worshipping God seized the opportunity to open a furnace in Wei Changhui's house to make iron and cast weapons, and at the same time, he informed the local congregations to gather in Jintian to prepare for the uprising. At the same time, Hong Xiuquan announced that there would be a plague and only believers could be saved. Yang also said that I would send a catastrophe to the world. After August, there will be no farmland and no house to live in. Only those who believe in me can be saved.
185 1 year 1 month1day, while celebrating Hong Xiuquan's birthday, jintian uprising broke out. More than 10,000 people gathered in Jintian Village to hold a flag-laying ceremony. The flag of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that fell to the ground miraculously "automatically" stood up and fluttered in the wind. Of course, this was also carefully directed by the uprising planners.
The crowd was very excited after the flag-raising ceremony. Led by Hong Xiuquan, the congregation went to the rhinoceros pond with weapons hidden. Mysterious religious forces have once again played a role. When many people haven't figured out the difference between broadsword and hoe, the big army has set off in a mighty way.
At first, some people still had regrets, and later it was clearly recorded in Li Xiucheng's readme. However, after the parade began, it circled for hundreds of miles, and many people could not find their way home, so they had to follow it wholeheartedly.
Since then, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been in full swing. After being trapped in Anqing and capturing monk Ke in Wuchang, it took only two years to enter Nanjing and establish the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom regime. Then they made a massive expedition to the north and broke the blockade of the Qing army twice. Jiangnan Daying and half of Jiangnan rivers and mountains soon fell into the hands of Taiping rebels. For a long time, the generals of the Qing army have been puzzled by a question: Why is the Taiping Army so effective? It turns out that Hong Xiuquan drew a so-called "Little Paradise" goal for every soldier in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, that is, if you succeed in rebellion in the future, you will definitely enjoy all the splendor and live a life like heaven. Attract them with such spiritual opium, naturally many people are willing to give up everything and follow with all their strength. After all, the fantasy of utopia exists in the heart of everyone in China, not fade away. However, heaven does not belong to everyone, and those leaders who shouted the beautiful slogan of liberating farmers soon became rank officials after sitting in the dragon chair. In this way, a regime with the potential to destroy everything, just at the height of its day, took a sharp turn for the worse, rapidly declined and collapsed.
When cultivating righteousness, you have a sharp eye and always go forward; After entering Beijing, I was covered with dust and my life was decadent. The only difference from the peasant uprisings of past dynasties is that this time the insurgents "keep pace with the times" grafted some foreign words from the west and packaged a fantasy of heaven, but its essence has not changed at all. In Qian Mu's words, "they only used the rough traces of western Christianity to imprison fools, but did not create a new foundation according to the spirit of western democracy."