A Chinese who claimed to be a son of God

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A Chinese who claimed to be a son of God  
 
     Book gives a comprehensive picture of the Taiping Rebellion, led by
the 
messianic Hong Xiuquan, its origin, religious beliefs and 
     military successes and failures  
 
  
     Book review by Francis Chin 
     Genre: History  
 
     GOD'S CHINESE SON  
     By Jonathan Spence  
     HarperCollins/400 pages/$35.90  
 
     ONE of the most catastrophic events to have shaken modern China was
the 
Taiping Revolution in the mid-19th century.  
 
     Started by a band of Bible-chanting, hymn-singing Hakka peasants and 
miners in the remote mountains of Guangxi, south-west China, the Taipings 
     sought to establish a Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (Taiping
Tianguo) 
on Earth.  
 
     Led by the messianic Hong Xiuquan, who proclaimed himself the Son of
God 
and younger brother of Jesus, the God-worshippers (to distinguish them 
     from the "idol-worshipping" ordinary people) conquered one-third of
China 
and set up their New Jerusalem in the old Ming capital of Nanjing.  
 
     In God's Chinese Son, The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Of Hong Xiuquan, 
renowned Chinese historian and Yale University professor Jonathan Spence 
     offers a fresh look at the extraordinary Hong, his millenarian-style 
Christianity and his army of God-worshippers.  
 
     For more than a decade, from 1850 - 64, the greater part of China was 
torn apart in a titanic war between the Manchu troops (aided by British and

     French gunboats, cannons and men) and Hong's Taiping followers. It
ended 
only with his death and the near-total massacre of his followers, as well
as 
     the inhabitants of Nanjing, Hangzhou and other great Taiping cities.  
 
     Today, the memory of the Taiping is honoured by the communist
government 
in Beijing, which views it as a prototype revolution of peasants in the 
     modern world.  
 
     It is also probable that Mao Zedong and his Red Army commanders
absorbed, 
understood and applied the Taipings' military tactics and doctrines in 
     the 1930 - 49 civil war. Many of the Taipings' campaign marches and 
strategic advance corresponded closely with those of the Red Army.  
 
     Now, thanks to Spence's extensive research and access to hitherto
unknown 
Taiping texts, a comprehensive picture of its origin, religious beliefs and

     military successes and failures has emerged.  
 
     It should clear away popular misconceptions based partly on the
Taiping's 
strange but explosive mix of Christian doctrines and Chinese tradition.  
 
     More importantly, the author points out that as the year 2000
approaches, 
many communities are gripped by a kind of "millenarian" fever -- an 
     apocalyptic belief in the end of human society and the coming of
Paradise 
on Earth.  
 
     It was precisely such a millenarian vision that motivated and drove
the 
Taiping followers to set up their Heavenly Kingdom.  
 
     Spence writes: "Borne aloft on the wings of such millenarian belief,
Hong 
began late in the 1840s to assemble an army of the 'God-worshipping'
faithful, 
     who by 1850 had coalesced into the Taiping Heavenly Army.  
 
     "It was at the head of this army that Hong fought his destructive yet 
triumphant way through southern and central China, until in 1853, his
combined 
     forces seized the mighty Yangzi River city of Nanjing.  
 
     "Here, in a community that was at once scriptural, imagined and rooted
in 
the soil, they created their Taiping New Jerusalem, which remained their
base 
     for 11 years until in 1864 -- after 20 million people or more in the 
regions under their sway had lost their lives in battle or from starvation
-- 
Hong and 
     the remnants of his army perished in their turn from famine, fire, and

sword."  
 
     Almost half the book is devoted to Hong's relatively unknown early
days 
in Canton, his encounter with missionaries, his vision and ascent to
Heaven, 
     and the doctrinal basis of his mission to rid the world of demons and 
evil-doers.  
 
     Hong had in his possession a series of tracts. These explained the
origin 
and nature of evil and of the Lord of Heaven, Jehovah, who sent his holy
son, 
     Jesus, to save mankind. At the birth of Jesus, the angels had
announced: 
"Glory to God in the highest and on Earth, great peace (taiping) and
goodwill 
     towards men." (Luke 2:14).  
 
     Hong, who had repeatedly failed the state examinations -- the only
route 
then to official glory -- believed that God was his celestial father and
that 
the 
     elder brother he saw in his vision was none other than Jesus Christ.  
 
     His divine mandate was to continue what Jesus had started, to preach
the 
true doctrine of salvation, destroy demons and set up the Heavenly Kingdom 
     of Taiping or Great Peace.  
 
     From his wandering and preaching among the Hakka villages in 
poverty-ridden Guangxi, he managed to build up a band of dedicated
followers 
     emulating the 300 warriors of the biblical Gideon (Judges 7:7).  
 
     The book explores the awful economic conditions of the Hakkas, the 
hostility of local people towards these "guest-people", and the attraction
of 
     Hong's message for them.  
 
     There are extensive excerpts from Taiping texts discussing their 
religious indoctrination and direct messages from God and Jesus to comfort,

counsel 
     and console the faithful.  
 
     When the Taiping band moved out of its first base in Thistle Mountain,

Spence uses detailed maps to aid the reader in following the fast-paced 
     narrative of the pitched battles with Manchu troops on land and water,

the long march north-east along the Yangzi River and the army's logistic
feat 
in 
     moving hundreds of thousands of men, women and children safely through

enemy territory.  
 
     In less than three years of brilliant campaigning, the army captured 
stoutly-defended towns and cities, including Nanjing, where Hong set up his
New 
     Jerusalem.  
 
     Here, the Taiping followers held outdoor services on the Sabbath Day 
where huge crowds gathered while a sea of flags and streamers, red, yellow,

     white and green, floated in the wind over them, to listen to the two 
preachers appointed for the day expounding a soldier's duty, love of family
and 
     attention to prayer.  
 
     "It is hard for Nanjing visitors not to be moved by such servic"
remarks 
Spence.  
  
The book, however, was cursory in its treatment of the closing years, when
the 
Taiping court was riven by intrigue, poorly-focused campaigns and, 
     finally, Hong's death. Still, it is written with sympathy and 
understanding of China's only modern-day messiah.  
 
     What would have been if the Taiping army were to occupy the whole of 
China? The national religion today would have been Taiping Christianity,
and 
     the national tongue Hakka. The country would have been ruled by a very

harsh, inward-looking religious regime, something like the Taleban fighters
in 
     Afghanistan today.  
 
     One contributing factor to the ultimate failure of the Taiping was the

inability of its leaders to see beyond their narrow religious vision and 
accommodate 
     other Chinese communities with myriads of faiths and customs.  
 
     As a result, once they moved out of their mountain fastness, they
could 
not secure popular support. The local population, particularly north of the

     Yangzi, regarded the Taiping followers as no better than the Manchus. 

 
     Ultimately, the revolution was rejected because it was alien to the 
pragmatic, tolerant nature of the Chinese people.