#339 - Taiping 16: At Sixes & Sevens

The Taiping's greatest summer curdles into its bloodiest autumn. Two months after the East King demands to be crowned Hong Xiuquan's equal, three of his brother-kings converge on Nanjing with an army he never sees coming. By dawn, the man who once spoke with the voice of God is a head on a pole in the street. Yet the purge doesn't end there: it swallows thousands, devours the men who ordered it, and costs the Heavenly Kingdom its foothold on the Yangtze before the year is out – all without a single Qing soldier's help. Time Period Covered: Dec. 1853–Sep. 1856 CE Major Historical Figures: Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King [1814–1864] Yang Xiuqing, East King [c. 1821–1856] Wei Changhui, North King [d. 1856] Qin Rigang, Yan King [1821–1856] Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863] Xiao Chaogui, West King [d. 1852] Feng Yunshan, South King [d. 1852] Hu Yihuang, Yu King (deposed) Qing Dynasty: Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang/Hunan Army [1811–1872] Xiang Rong, Nanjing S. siege camp commander Nanjing [d. 1856] Tuoming'a, Yangzhou commander Major Sources Cited: Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I. Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom. Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.