Taiping Rebellion

A civil war in Qing China from 1850 to 1864, led by Hong Xiuquan’s Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It devastated large regions and caused millions of deaths.

Hong Xiuquan: A Chinese religious leader who founded the Taiping movement and claimed to be Jesus Christ’s younger brother. His religious vision supplied the rebellion’s leadership and claim to divine authority.
God Worshipping Society: A religious movement founded by Hong Xiuquan that became the organizational foundation of the Taiping uprising. Its congregations and beliefs formed the movement that launched the rebellion.
Nanjing: A major Chinese city that served as the Taiping capital, Tianjing, from 1853 until Qing forces captured it in 1864. Its capture marked the decisive destruction of the Taiping capital.
Nian Rebellion: An armed uprising in northern China from 1851 to 1868, fought by mobile rebel groups against the Qing dynasty. It overlapped with the Taiping war but relied on different regional networks and military tactics.
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: A rebel state established by the Taiping movement in southern China, with its capital at Nanjing from 1853. It was the political regime through which Taiping leaders held territory and challenged Qing rule.
Hong Xiuquan’s religious visions: Visions Hong Xiuquan interpreted as a divine commission to destroy demons and establish a heavenly kingdom. They shaped the distinctive religious program behind Taiping mobilization.
Xiang Army: A regional Qing army organized by Zeng Guofan from troops recruited mainly in Hunan. Its success strengthened provincial military leaders at the expense of centralized Qing command.
Boxer Rebellion: An anti-foreign and anti-Christian uprising in northern China around 1900, suppressed by an international coalition. Its religious mobilization and anti-Christian violence differed sharply from Taiping Christianity.
Taiping Heavenly Army: The military forces of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which fought Qing armies across southern and central China. Its campaigns turned a religious movement into a large-scale civil war.
Opium Wars: Two nineteenth-century conflicts in which Britain, and later France, fought Qing China over trade and diplomatic disputes. Their aftermath weakened Qing authority before the rebellion erupted.

Linked from 43 pages