Deng Xiaoping & Hong Xiuquan

I find it amusing for you to refute Deng Xiaoping as a Hakka. What has the general population of Sichuan to do with a minority Hakka community? Most people in Guangzhou are Cantonese, but the small Hakka community in Meixian has always produced a high level of literacy. If I am not mistaken, the literacy rate in Meixian is the highest in China. Hakkas were and are always minority, and it is primarily in this sense of minority that they see China as a whole and not sectarianised. Proportionately, the Hakkas achieve more than other Chinese, and I am proud of their contributions, although I am not a Hakka myself.

Hong Xiuquan is an interesting chap. Whether he is partly deranged to call himself the brother of Jesus is secondary to most Taiping revolutionaries. The fact that so many people joined his movement resulting in the capture of Nanjing and the near collapse of the Qing dynasty was because he gave a better and fairer alternative to the people than the Qings (Manchus). He definitely cooperated with the White Lotus, since both the Taipings and the White Lotus Society consider the Qings as their common enemy. Unfortunately, the Taipings fell apart because of internal conflicts. Implosion is always more dealy than explosion. Instead of seeing movies, I think it will be more production for you to read more serious Chinese history. Western sources such as by Jonathan Spence and Robert H. Lin will be helpful. Qing imperial view of Hong Xiuquan will definitely be biased.

When I was at Sichuan two years ago, I was keen to go to see the famous Luding Bridge between Kanding and Moxi, but time did not allow me to do so. Luding Bridge was where the Taiping remnants were tarpped by the Qing troops and totally annilated (men, women and children). Yet, the Luding became even more famous for the glorious capture by the Long Marchers in the face of overwhelming odds. You should read the Long March by Dick Wilson and also by Harrison Salisbury. The Kanding area was the origin of the famous Kanding Qing Ge (Kanding Love Song).

Papaka, I find your views on China very unorthodox and sometimes totally in conflict with recorded reality. You once asked me in CTB Yahoo whether I could write a letter in Chinese, but despite my answer you did not reply to my question of who you are and why you are interested in China. It will be interesting to know your bearing because obviously you like to communicate and contribute, as well as to learn.