In 1864, Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was in dire straits. Zeng Guofan's Hunan army is like a giant beast, eating away at this once glorious city step by step. There was a shortage of food and grass in the city, and the morale of the army was weakened, and it was difficult to continue. At this critical juncture, the loyal king Li Xiucheng risked his life to break through and finally fought his way out of the bloody road, opening up a way for Hong Xiuquan to escape.
However, when Li Xiucheng hopefully proposed an evacuation to Hong Xiuquan, the founder of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom unexpectedly refused. Hong Xiuquan said something, which not only made Li Xiucheng speechless, but also made everyone present fall into deep thought. What kind of words could have made such a decision made by such a powerful leader in the face of life and death? How will Hong Xiuquan's choice affect the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom?
By the beginning of 1864, the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was already in jeopardy. After several years of hard fighting, the Hunan army led by Zeng Guofan finally compressed the main force of the Taiping army to a corner of Tianjing (Nanjing). This once prosperous capital city is now surrounded like an isolated island floating in the sea of enemy troops.
Zeng Guofan was well aware of the importance of Tianjing, and he set up the general headquarters in Yuhuatai and personally commanded this crucial battle. In order to completely cut off the retreat of the Taiping army, he ordered Peng Yulin, the commander of the naval division, to lead his troops into the estuary and block the waterway exit of Tianjing. This arrangement made the situation of the Taiping army even more dangerous.
The situation in the city is also becoming more and more dire. As the siege lengthened, the supply of food and grass became increasingly scarce. Hungry people began to appear in the streets, and some soldiers were depressed by hunger. Signs of discouragement gradually appeared, and from time to time small groups of troops sneaked out of the city at night and surrendered to the Qing army.
At this critical moment, King Chung Lee so-sung realized that action had to be taken. As one of the most outstanding generals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he knew that if he did not break the deadlock as soon as possible, Tianjing would fall. After careful consideration, Li Xiucheng decided to personally lead the army to break through the siege and seek foreign aid.
On a dark and windy night, Li Xiucheng led the elite troops and quietly assembled near a remote city gate in the east of the city. Their goal was to break through the encirclement of the Hunan army, go to Anhui and Zhejiang, and regroup their forces to relieve the siege of Tianjing.
The horn of the breakout sounded before dawn. Li Xiucheng led the army to violently attack the Hunan army's defense line and caught the opponent by surprise. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle, and the sonorous sound of shouting and killing and weapons colliding resounded in the sky. Li Xiucheng personally charged into battle and opened the way for his subordinates with the long knife in his hand.
After hours of fierce fighting, Li Xiucheng's troops finally broke through the encirclement of the Hunan army. However, this breakout came at a heavy cost. Of the thousands of elites that Li Xiucheng brought out of the city, less than a thousand of them managed to get out of the siege in the end. Still, the operation gave a glimmer of hope to the Taiping forces inside and outside Tianjing.
Li Xiucheng led the remnants to advance quickly in the direction of Anhui. Along the way, they avoided the main force of the Hunan army, and with the help of the terrain and the cover of the local people, they successfully reached Anqing. There, Li Xiucheng began to regroup his forces, and at the same time sent envoys to contact the Taiping generals in various places who had not yet been destroyed.
However, time became increasingly unfavorable for the Taipings. The Hunan army, under the command of Zeng Guofan, was gradually tightening the encirclement. Li Xiucheng knew that if he could not organize a strong reinforcement army as soon as possible, Tianjing would be unable to escape the fate of destruction.
At this moment, Li Xiucheng received an exciting news for him: the generals of the Taiping Army in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places expressed their willingness to respond to the call and organize reinforcements. This gave Li Xiucheng great confidence, and he decided to personally lead this newly formed army to break through the blockade of the Hunan army again and rescue Tianjing.
However, when Li Xiucheng led his army to the city of Tianjing, he was surprised to find that the Hunan army's defensive line was even stronger than when he left. Zeng Guofan had apparently anticipated that the Taiping army might launch a rescue operation, so he strengthened his defenses. Li Xiucheng realized that with the army at hand, it was almost impossible to break through the encirclement.
At this critical juncture, Li Xiucheng made a bold decision: he decided to take another risk and infiltrate Tianjing in person, report the situation in the outside world to Hong Xiuquan, and discuss the next plan of action. After some careful preparation, Li Xiucheng finally managed to sneak into Tianjing City in the middle of the night.
When Li Xiucheng came to Hong Xiuquan, he couldn't wait to report the situation in the outside world and put forward his own suggestion: while the Hunan army was not fully ready, organize a large-scale breakout operation, and move Hong Xiuquan and other important generals to a safe place, in order to make a comeback.
Lee's suggestion sparked a heated discussion among the top echelons of Tianjing. Most generals believed that in the face of Zeng's increasingly tightening encirclement, evacuating Tianjing might be the only option to preserve their strength. However, when all eyes were on Hong Xiu's body, the founder of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom unexpectedly rejected the proposal to evacuate.
Hong Xiuquan slowly stood up and looked around. His majestic gaze swept over everyone present, and finally stopped at Li Xiucheng. After a period of silence, Hong Xiuquan spoke, his voice calm and firm: "Brothers, what are we founding the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom for?" Is it to escape? No! It is to build a new world of fairness and justice! Now that we are in adversity, we should stick to our beliefs instead of running away! "
As soon as these words came out, everyone present was shocked. Hong Xiuquan continued: "Tianjing is our foundation and our lifeblood. To abandon Tianjing is to give up our ideals and beliefs. We once proclaimed the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom here, how can we give up so easily now? Even if we die, we will die in this land that we protect with our blood and lives! "
Hong Xiuquan's words are full of passion and determination, but they also reveal a trace of stubbornness and blind confidence. He continued: "Li Xiucheng, you said that the situation outside is grim, but have you ever thought that it is precisely because of our persistence that the enemy is so jealous? Our perseverance is the greatest deterrent to the enemy! "
Li Xiucheng tried to refute: "Heavenly King, but we have little food and grass left, soldiers..."
Hong Xiuquan interrupted him: "There is not enough food and grass, we can cut back on food and clothing; Morale is low, and we can motivate morale. As long as we are united, there is no difficulty that we cannot overcome! "
Hong Xiuquan's words not only made Li Xiucheng speechless, but also made everyone present fall into contemplation. Some were moved by Hong Xiuquan's determination, while others were apprehensive about this almost stubborn persistence.
At this moment, a young general stood up, he was Hong Xiuquan's nephew Hong Renji. He proposed a compromise plan: "Heavenly King, can we consider letting only some of the people evacuate, while you and the main generals stay in Tianjing?" This will not only preserve some of our strength, but also show our determination to defend the city to the death. "
Hong Xiuquan thought for a moment, and finally shook his head: "No, we either hold on to it together or evacuate together." Spreading power will only make us more vulnerable. "
The decision silenced those present again. Hong Xiuquan's attitude was already very clear, and they knew that no amount of persuasion could change his mind.
At this moment, an unexpected news came: the Hunan army had begun a new round of fierce attacks. The sound of artillery fire was faintly heard, breaking the silence in the chamber.
Hong Xiuquan immediately ordered: "The whole army is on alert!" We must let the enemy know that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom will not fall easily! "
With the issuance of this order, tense preparations began in Tianjing City. Despite the scarcity of supplies and low morale, Hong Xiuquan's decision still stimulated the fighting spirit of the soldiers to a certain extent. They began to fortify the walls and renovate the fortifications in preparation for the coming fierce battle.
Although Li Xiucheng was suspicious of Hong Xiuquan's decision, as a loyal general, he still began to set up defenses. He knew very well that the next battle would be the most difficult since the founding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
At the same time, Zeng Guofan, who was outside the city, was also paying close attention to the movements in Tianjing City. When he learned that Hong Xiuquan had decided to defend Tianjing, he couldn't help but show a complicated expression. On the one hand, he was puzzled by Hong Xiuquan's stubbornness; On the other hand, he also had to admire the other party's persistence and courage.
Zeng Guofan gathered his generals and began to discuss the final plan of attack. They knew that as long as Tianjing was captured, the rule of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom would be completely over. However, they also know that this battle will not be easy against a group of enemies determined to die.
In this way, both sides inside and outside Tianjing City are preparing for the final decisive battle. There was an air of tension and unease in the air, like the calm before a storm. Both the Taiping and Hunan armies knew that this battle would be a decisive battle, and it would not only affect the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also affect the future direction of the whole of China.
With Hong Xiuquan's decision to defend Tianjing, the Taiping army threw themselves into the final resistance. However, in the face of the powerful offensive of the Hunan army led by Zeng Guofan, Tianjing's defense line was completely broken on July 19, 1864.
On that day, as soon as the sky was dark, the Hunan army launched a fierce attack. The sound of artillery fire resounded in the sky, and the walls continued to collapse under the heavy bombardment. The Taiping soldiers resisted with all their might, but they could not withstand the fierce attack of the enemy. By noon, the Hunan army had finally broken through the defensive line of the city wall and poured into the Tianjing City.
The city was in chaos. The streets were filled with fleeing soldiers and civilians, smoke and dust, and cries and shouts. Li Xiucheng led the last group of loyal subordinates to engage in fierce street battles with the Hunan army in the streets and alleys. However, in the face of an enemy who was superior in numbers and equipment, their resistance seemed so insignificant.
At the critical juncture when the city was about to fall, Hong Xiuquan convened the last military meeting. In the main hall of the Heavenly King's Mansion, several remaining important generals gathered together to discuss the final countermeasures. Hong Xiuquan's face did not have the slightest panic, and his gaze was still firm.
"Brothers," Hong Xiuquan began, "our cause is coming to an end, but our spirit will never die. Even if Tenkyo falls, our ideals will live on forever. "
At this time, a general proposed to organize a final breakout, but Hong Xiuquan refused again. He said: "We have decided to live and die with Tianjing, and we cannot change our minds now. We want to tell the world with our actions that the ideals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are worth our lives. "
Just then, there was a rush of footsteps outside. A soldier covered in blood rushed into the main hall and panted and reported: "Heavenly King, the Hunan army has broken through the inner city defense line and is approaching the Heavenly King's Mansion!" "
Hong Xiuquan listened to the report with a calm face. He turned to his cronies and whispered a few words. Then he stood up and announced to the crowd, "Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come. We may fail, but our spirit will live on forever. Let us express our will with death and interpret our faith with our lives! "
After speaking, Hong Xiuquan led the remaining generals to the backyard of the Heavenly King's Mansion. A large vat had already been prepared there, filled with poison. Hong Xiuquan took the lead in stepping forward, picked up a bowl of poison, and drank it all. Seeing this, other generals followed suit.
At the same time that Hong Xiuquan drank the poison, the Hunan army had already invaded the Heavenly King's Mansion. Zeng Guofan personally led the team and rushed into the main hall. However, when they arrived in the backyard, they saw Hong Xiuquan and his generals already lying on the ground, dying.
Zeng Guofan approached Hong Xiuquan and leaned over to check. Hong Xiuquan had lost consciousness, but there was a strange calmness on his face. Zeng Guofan stood up and let out a long sigh. He knew that this moment not only meant the end of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also marked the end of an era.
With Hong Xiuquan's death, Tianjing's resistance completely collapsed. After learning the news, Li Xiucheng also laid down his arms and chose to surrender. The Hunan army soon took control of the entire city, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had existed for 14 years, came to an end.
News of the fall of Tianjing soon spread throughout the country. For the Qing court, this was undoubtedly a great victory. However, it was a sad day for those who had followed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ultimately failed, the ideals and spirit it advocated left an indelible mark on China's history.
In the days that followed, Zeng Guofan began to deal with many affairs after the fall of Tianjing. He ordered the proper resettlement of the captives and began to rebuild the war-torn city. However, for Hong Xiuquan's body, Zeng Guofan gave special treatment. He ordered Hong Xiuquan's body to be cremated and his ashes scattered into the Yangtze River to show his determination to completely destroy the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
The fall of Tianjing and the death of Hong Xiuquan not only marked the end of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but also heralded the beginning of a new phase in Chinese history. Although this 14-year peasant uprising failed, the social and ideological impact it brought about had a profound impact on China's later historical process.
With the fall of Tianjing and the death of Hong Xiuquan, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, which had existed for 14 years, officially came to an end. However, the legacy and influence it left behind are far from disappearing, but continue and ferment in Chinese society in various forms.
On a political level, the Taiping Rebellion dealt a heavy blow to the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Although the Qing court eventually suppressed the uprising, the war, which lasted for many years, had greatly weakened the foundations of the Qing government. Although Tongzhi Zhongxing temporarily stabilized the situation, the decline of the Qing Dynasty could not be reversed. The social contradictions and crisis of rule exposed by the Taiping Rebellion became an important driving force for political change in China in the decades that followed.
The influence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was also reflected in the changes in the social structure. During the uprising, a large number of peasants left their land to participate in the war, and the traditional rural social structure was destroyed. At the same time, the regimental training system, which arose to suppress the uprising, also changed the pattern of distribution of local power. These changes laid the groundwork for later social changes.
On the economic front, the Taiping Rebellion had a huge impact on China's traditional agricultural economy. The Yangtze River basin, as the most important agricultural region in China, was severely damaged during the war. Large amounts of farmland have been left barren, the population has plummeted, and productivity has been severely destroyed. This situation forced the Qing government to take a series of measures to restore the economy, including encouraging the reclamation of wasteland and reducing taxes. To a certain extent, these policies have promoted the recovery and development of the rural economy.
However, perhaps the most far-reaching impact of the Taiping Rebellion was in the ideological and cultural sphere. Although the religious ideas of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom seemed rather strange at the time, the ideas of equality and anti-feudalism advocated by it had a profound influence on later Chinese intellectuals. For example, some of the reform ideas put forward by Hong Renji in the "New Chapter of Senior Administration", such as the abolition of the imperial examination, the development of industry, and the equality of men and women, were not implemented at the time, but they became one of the ideological sources of the later reform movement.
The cultural policies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are also worth paying attention to. They abolished the traditional Baguwen and advocated vernacular writing, which to a certain extent contributed to the modernization of Chinese literature. Although the Taiping regime ultimately failed, some of their attempts at culture provided useful references for the later New Culture Movement.
On the military front, the Taiping Rebellion also left a deep impact. This large-scale war, which lasted for many years, not only tempered the Qing army, but also cultivated a large number of military talents. Zeng Guofan, Li Hongzhang and others rose to prominence in the process of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and became important political and military figures in the late Qing Dynasty. The Huai Army, the Hunan Army and other new armies they founded played an important role in the subsequent Westernization Movement.
The Taiping Rebellion also had a profound impact on China's foreign relations. The uprising attracted great attention from the Western powers, who took the opportunity to deepen their interference in China's internal affairs. At the same time, the Qing government, which had to buy weapons from the West in order to suppress the uprising, objectively contributed to the process of China's military modernization. All these laid the foundation for the later Westernization Movement and the Self-Improvement Movement.
In terms of religion, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ultimately failed, the Christian ideas it spread left its mark on Chinese society. Although the religious philosophy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was very different from orthodox Christianity, it did expose more Chinese to this foreign religion. After the Taiping Rebellion, the spread of Christianity in China accelerated significantly.
In addition, the Taiping Rebellion had a significant impact on China's demographic structure and distribution. The war led to a massive decline in the population of the Yangtze River basin, while large-scale population migration changed the pattern of China's population. For example, a large number of Hunan soldiers stayed in Jiangsu and Zhejiang after the war, forming a new group of immigrants. These changes had a profound impact on China's subsequent social and economic development.
Overall, although the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom ultimately failed, the social changes and ideological shocks it triggered planted the seeds for China's later modernization process. It was not only the last climax of the traditional Chinese peasant uprising, but also the precursor of the modern Chinese revolution. The social contradictions and problems exposed by the Taiping Rebellion became an important driving force for social change in China in the following decades.
As the largest and most far-reaching peasant uprising in modern Chinese history, the Taiping Rebellion has been the focus of academic debate since its conclusion. With the passage of time and the deepening of research, the evaluation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has also undergone several major transformations.
In the first decades after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Qing government adopted a blanket negative attitude towards it. Official history books refer to the Taiping army as "bandits" and describe the uprising as a rebellion by a group of rioters. This view was also common among the intellectuals of the time. For example, the famous scholar Wang Tao, in his "Outer Compilation of the Records of the Taoyuan", compared the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to a "flood beast", believing that it brought great disasters to China.
However, with the outbreak of the Xinhai Revolution and the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the evaluation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom began to shift. Some revolutionaries began to re-examine the Taiping Rebellion as a precursor to the anti-Qing revolution. Sun Yat-sen has repeatedly expressed his respect for the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, calling it "the forerunner of the revolution". During this period, there were also some research works that sympathized with and affirmed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, such as Luo Ergang's "History of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom".
In the thirties of the 20th century, with the spread of Marxist historiography in China, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had a new position. Left-wing historians represented by Guo Moruo regard the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom as the climax of the peasant revolutionary movement in modern China and the forerunner of the anti-feudal and anti-imperialist struggle. This view became the mainstream official evaluation after the founding of the People's Republic of China.
In the 1950s, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Taiping Rebellion, there was a wave of research on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in China. A large number of historical materials have been excavated and collated, and many research works have been published. This period emphasized the progressive and revolutionary nature of the Taiping Movement, portraying it as a great peasant revolution.
However, from the 1980s onwards, with the opening up of the academic environment and the diversification of research methods, the evaluation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom changed again. Some scholars have begun to question previous simplistic assessments, pointing out the problems and limitations of the Taiping Rebellion.
For example, some scholars have pointed out that the religious ideals of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were in fact strongly feudal, far from the ideals of equality that they profess. Corruption and infighting in the later period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom also became the focus of criticism. At the same time, some researchers have also paid attention to the enormous damage caused by the Taiping Rebellion to Chinese society, and questioned whether it actually promoted social progress.
In the midst of this reflection, some new research perspectives have emerged. For example, some scholars have begun to study the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the perspective of cultural history, exploring the formation process and characteristics of its religious thought. There are also scholars who study the social life conditions in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from the perspective of social history. These new studies provide a richer and more three-dimensional perspective for our understanding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has continued to show a trend of diversification. Some scholars have begun to examine the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the context of global history, exploring its connection to social movements around the world in the mid-19th century. For example, some researchers have compared the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with the European revolutionary movements of the same period and explored the similarities and differences between them.
At the same time, the discovery and collation of some new historical materials have also injected new vitality into the study of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. For example, a number of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom documents discovered in Taiwan in recent years provide new clues to our understanding of the inner workings of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The emergence of these new materials has given new room for interpretation to some long-standing controversial issues.
When evaluating the influence of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom on China's modernization process, new views have also emerged in the academic circles. Some scholars believe that although the Taiping Rebellion ultimately failed, it objectively accelerated the decline of the Qing dynasty and set the stage for later changes. At the same time, some of the reform ideas put forward by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, such as the abolition of the imperial examination and the development of industry, although they were not realized at the time, influenced the later reform movement.
However, some scholars hold the opposite view, arguing that the Taiping Rebellion actually slowed down China's modernization. They point out that the devastation caused by the Taiping Rebellion deprived China of a possible opportunity for peaceful reform, and instead strengthened the position of conservative forces.
The evaluation of the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has also been the focus of debate. The evaluation of Hong Xiuquan, Yang Xiuqing and others, from the early comprehensive affirmation to the later criticism and questioning, and then to a more objective and peaceful attitude in recent years, reflects the deepening of the understanding of the academic community.
In general, with the deepening of research and the expansion of perspectives, the evaluation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has become more and more diversified and complex. Scholars have come to realize that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a complex historical phenomenon that had both its progressive and its limitations. This complex historical evaluation actually reflects the complexity and twists and turns of China's modern history.