God Worshipping Society

The God Worshipping Society (拜上帝教) was a religious movement led by Hong Xiuquan, which drew on his own unique interpretation of Christianity.[1]

Formation

In 1843, Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka school teacher and failed imperial examinee, became convinced that he was the son of God the Father and the younger brother of Jesus Christ.[2] The next year, Hong and Feng Yunshan, Hong's distant cousin[3] and one of the earliest converts to Hong's faith,[4] traveled to Sigu, Guiping county, Guangxi to preach their version of Christianity.[5] In November 1844, Hong returned home without Feng, who remained in the area and continued to preach.[6] After Hong's departure, Feng traveled deeper and deeper into the heart of the Thistle Mountain region, preaching and baptizing new converts.[7] Feng christened this group of believers the "God-worshiping Society."[8] Hakkas from this area, generally poor and beset by both bandits and local Chinese families angry at the presence of the Hakka in their ancestral lands, found refuge in the group with its promise of solidarity.[9]

While the God Worshipping Society shared some similar characteristics with traditional Chinese secret societies, it differed in that the participants adopted a new religious faith that firmly rejected Chinese tradition.[10] The Society was militant from its inception, due to the prevalence of both intervillage fighting and conflicts between Hakka and non-Hakka villagers.[11] Generally, individuals did not convert alone, but rather entire families, clans, occupational groups, or even villages would convert en masse.[12] On August 27, 1847, when Hong Xiuquan returned to Thistle Mountain, the God Worshipers numbered over 2,000.[13][14] At this time, the most of the God Worshipers were peasants and miners.[15]

Growth

With Hong's return, the God Worshipping Society took on a more rebellious character.[16] Hong began to describe himself as a king and explicitly identified the ruling Manchus and their supporters as demons which must be destroyed.[17] The God Worshipers treated their entire community as a family, leading to establishment of a common treasury and a requirement of chastity.[18]

In January 1848, Feng Yunshan was arrested and banished to Guangdong.[19] Hong Xiuquan left for Guangdong shortly thereafter to reunite with Feng.[20] In the absence of both Feng and Hong, two new leaders emerged to fill the void:Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui.[21] Both claimed to enter trances which allowed them to speak as a member of the Trinity; God the Father in the case of Yang and Jesus Christ in the case of Xiao.[22] While speaking as Jesus or God the Father, Xiao and Yang would necessarily have more authority than even Hong Xiuquan.[23] Upon Hong and Feng's return in the summer of 1849, they investigated Yang and Xiao's claims and declared them to be genuine.[24]

Rebellion

In February 1850, a local corps passed through a number of God Worshiping villages and threatened to kill the converts.[25] In response, Feng Yunshan began to call for open revolt by the God Worshippers.[26] In July 1850, the God Worshipper's leaders directed their followers to converge in Jintian and quickly amassed a force of 10,000-30,000 people.[27] While the majority of the group were Hakka, some followers were Punti, Miao, or members of other local tribal groups.[28] Membership in the God Worshippers was eclectic; they counted businessmen, refugees, farmers, mercenaries, and members of secret societies and mutual-protection alliances among their ranks.[29] The God Worshippers were also joined by a number of bandit groups, including several thousand pirates lead by Luo Dagang.[30]

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

On the 11th day of the first lunar month of 1851, which was also Hong Xiuquan's birthday, the God Worshipping Society proclaimed the Jintian Uprising against the ruling Qing dynasty, and declared the formation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, thus beginning the Taiping Rebellion, which has been described as the "most gigantic man-made disaster" of the nineteenth century.[31]

Notes

  1. ↑ Gao, James Z. (2009). Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949). Scarecrow Press. p. 136. ISBN 0810863081.
  2. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 25, 64-65, 67 (1996)
  3. ↑ Jen Yu-wen, The Taiping Revolutionary Movement 22-23 (1973)
  4. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 67, 69, 80 (1996)
  5. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 71 (1996)
  6. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 78-79 (1996)
  7. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 79-80 (1996)
  8. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 80 (1996)
  9. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 81, 88 (1996)
  10. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 29 (1966)
  11. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 30 (1966)
  12. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 30 (1966)
  13. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence, God's Chinese Son 95 (1996)
  14. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 31 (1966)
  15. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 31 (1966)
  16. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 31 (1966)
  17. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 31-32 (1966)
  18. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 33 (1966)
  19. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 34-35 (1966)
  20. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 35-37 (1966)
  21. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 35 (1966)
  22. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 35 (1966)
  23. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 36 (1966)
  24. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 37 (1966)
  25. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 37 (1966)
  26. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 37 (1966)
  27. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 39 (1966)
  28. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 40-41 (1966)
  29. ↑ Pamela Kyle Crossley, The Wobbling Pivot: China Since 1800 104 (2010)
  30. ↑ Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 40 (1966)
  31. ↑ Kuhn (1977).

References


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