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History of Modern China Assignment 2, 16th October 2011 Question: Explain the political and social programmes of the

Taiping Rebellion, with special reference to its land policies. Around the middle of the nineteenth century the Chinese empire was severely shaken by a series of popular movements that were both political and social in nature. One of the most lasting and most highly organized anti-dynastic movements was the Taiping Rebellion. Aiming to create a new power symbolized by a new dynasty, the Taiping leaders conceived of many new political and social programmes. This essay seeks to explain these programmes in detail and discuss their shortcomings and the extent of their applications in the Taiping zones. After the God Worshippers won several victories against the imperial troops, at the beginning of 1851, Hong Xiu-quan, the leader of the rebels, proclaimed the Taiping state, the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (), and called himself the Heavenly King. To emphasize their messianic and universal nature, Hong assigned the four cardinal points of the Chinese esoteric tradition to his lieutenants. Xiao Chao-gui the wool-cutter, was the Western King, Yang Xiu-qing the charcoal dealer the Eastern King, Feng Yun-shan the schoolmaster the Southern King, and Wei Chang-hui the rich merchant-landowner the Northern King. Shi Da-kai, the Hakka who, like Hong, had failed the Confucian examinations, was the Assistant King. In short, the Taiping kingdom was a theocracy, in which religion, civil and military administration, culture, and society in general were all interwoven. All their political and economic institutions were called heavenly or holy: the treasury, the rice granaries, the capital and the dynasty. The Taiping military institutions were derived from The Rites of Chou and the systems developed by the Ming general Chi Chi-kuang. The unique feature is the unity of the military and civil administration. Soldiers were farmers, and officers were assigned civil as well as military duties. The military officers were also civil administrators. Every twenty-five families formed a basic social unit, each with a public storehouse and a church under the charge of the master sergeant. He administered the civil, educational, religious, financial, and judicial matters of his twenty-five families and took charge of their litigations, marriages, and funerals. All the expenses of these affairs were paid out of the public storehouse, but there was a limit to what each event could cost. In time of peace the soldiers and corporals performed public works. The children of the twenty-five families went to church daily to receive instructions from the master sergeant on the Old and New Testaments and Christian tracts written by Hong. Page | 1

History of Modern China Assignment 2, 16th October 2011 However, this political structure is not as perfect as it seems. Franz Michael argued that the key leaders, the kings, each retained a complete administrative staff together with his personal military leadership, and these staffs controlled the financial income from the territory held by the respective army. The duplication of administrative authorities under each of the kings hindered any attempts to entirely unify the administration or command. Thus, no centralized administrative system was established. Hong became increasingly a puppet of the military leaders. Quarrels among the kings escalated into the crisis of 1856, in which two large factions led by Yang and Wei were both massacred. Rampant factionism was not only among the top leaders but also in regional divisions, i.e. the veterans from Guangxi had blue-eyed-boy treatment, while the non-Guangxi fighters were discriminated against. This internal dissension weakened the Taipings tremendously and contributed significantly to its eventual downfall. In addition, John K. Fairbank pointed out the incompetency of the Taiping leaders as one weakness of their polity. Absorbed in religion and warfare, the Taiping leaders were inept in economics, politics, and overall planning. Lacking trained administrators, they generally failed to take over and govern the countryside as a base area for supplies of men and food. Instead they campaigned from city to city, living off the proceeds of loot and requisitions, much like the imperial armies. Furthermore, the dogmatic theocratic programmes hindered any meaningful co-operation between the Taipings and their potential allies. The Ten Commandments, baptism, the keeping of the Sabbath were believed in, practiced, and ruthlessly enforced. Triad leaders could not join the movement unless they agreed to renounce Buddhist practices and turn in their property to a common storehouse. There was also a basic divergence of aims between the Taipings and the Triads. The Triads sough to overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming, the Taipings to overthrow and found anew. Thus, Taipings political programmes did not win many external supports which could have helped them in times of emergencies. Besides implementing changes in the political programmes, the Taipings also introduced many innovations in social programmes. One element of change in the social structure concerned the position of women. In theory, men and women were equal in the Taiping kingdom. Women were allowed to fight in the army, take examinations, and take office in the government and they enjoyed certain privileges. Womens Residential Halls, governed by Hongs sister, operated the Page | 2

History of Modern China Assignment 2, 16th October 2011 young and unmarried, as well as for those women whose husbands had been killed in battle or were away. A number of social welfare measures were taken to support the disabled, the sick, the widowed and the orphaned. The egalitarian and ascetic spirit of the movement was thus manifested. However, Vincent Shih argued that equality of gender only existed in theory, but in fact the treatment of women differed according to circumstance. The very use of women as reward for courageous fighting revealed the attitude of the Taiping leaders. The kingdoms social programmes also demanded its people to lead a highly moral life. Opium-smoking, the use of tobacco and wine, prostitution, foot-binding, sale of slaves, gambling, and polygamy were all prohibited. Everyone was under a sacred obligation to work, to perform the ceremonies of cult, to fight the enemies of the Heavenly Kingdom, and to obey the will of God and the mission of Hong. However, there were ironic inconsistencies in Taiping life. They advocated the equality of sexes and monogamy as the correct form of marriage; but Hong himself and his kings kept many concubines. Perhaps the most drastic Taiping programme was the abolition of the private ownership of land and property. The spirit behind it was that all children of God must share his blessings, must be free from want, must have land to fill, rice to eat, clothes to wear, and money to spend. The Taipings divided land into nine classes according to yield. All men and women over sixteen sui received a share of land, and everyone under sixteen received half a share. Thus, if a man received one mou of A+ land, his children up through the age of fifteen received half a mou of the same quality of land. The distribution of land did not become the property of the recipient; he was merely given the right to use it for production. All surplus products beyond ones needs had to be surrendered to the public storehouse. Savings and private property were prohibited. Women enjoyed equal rights in the distribution of land. The Land System of the Heavenly Kingdom stipulates: Land is to be distributed according to the number of persons [in a family], irrespective of sex. However, this idea of communal utilization merely looks good on paper, but due to incessant warfare and the unsettled conditions they could not put it into practice except in a few experimental pockets.

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History of Modern China Assignment 2, 16th October 2011 Thus, with the analysis of the Taiping programmes, we could conclude that the Taiping system was more like a utopian description aimed at mobilizing the masses than a plan which could be applied to concrete situations. Expectedly, it proved impossible to translate completely into action. In some sense, the Taiping leaders tried to put new wine in an old bottle; the flavor of the new was eventually soured by the old. The Taipings were soon permeated with old Chinese corruptionsnepotism and debaucheryand the old Chinese habit of conservatism and fixed ideas.

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