Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace 太平天囯 | |||||||||
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| 1851–1864 | |||||||||
| Seal | |||||||||
Outline of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
Held at various times during the Taiping Rebellion
Early period
Late period | |||||||||
| Capital | Tianjing (now Nanjing) | ||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Government | Theocratic monarchy | ||||||||
| Taiping Heavenly King | |||||||||
• 1851–1864 | Hong Xiuquan | ||||||||
• 1864 | Hong Tianguifu | ||||||||
| Kings/Prince | |||||||||
• 1851–1852 | Feng Yunshan | ||||||||
• 1851–1856 | Yang Xiuqing | ||||||||
• 1851–1852 | Xiao Chaogui | ||||||||
• 1851–1856 | Wei Changhui | ||||||||
• 1851–1863 | Shi Dakai | ||||||||
• 1859–1864 | Hong Rengan | ||||||||
| Historical era | Late modern period | ||||||||
| 11 January 1851 | |||||||||
| 19 March 1853 | |||||||||
| 1856 | |||||||||
| 19 July 1864 | |||||||||
• Capture of Hong Tianguifu | 25 October 1864 | ||||||||
| Currency | Shengbao (cash) | ||||||||
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| Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Royal seal of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 太平天囯 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 太平天国 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning |
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The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, or the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (1851–1864), was a theocratic monarchy which sought to overthrow the Qing dynasty. The Heavenly Kingdom, or Heavenly Dynasty, was led by Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka man from Guangzhou. Its capital was at Tianjing, present-day Nanjing. The unsuccessful 14-year war it waged against the Qing is known as the Taiping Rebellion.
A self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ and convert to Protestant Christianity, Hong Xiuquan led an army that controlled a significant part of southern China during the middle of the 19th century, eventually expanding to an area populated by nearly 30 million people. The rebel kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of traditional cults for his own Bài Shàngdì Huì (Supreme Emperor Worshipping Society), holding that he was the second son of Heavenly Father (Shangdi) and the Heavenly Mother (Doumu), and the younger brother of Jesus. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government defeated the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces.