Even in the fallout of the Opium War, dreams endure—but what happens to a dream deferred?

In Canton, one young man’s starry-eyed visions of success run headlong into the brutal wall of the Imperial Examination system.

And when that dream finally shatters, it neither dries up, nor festers.... it explodes into prophetic visions so awesome and so terrible that they will shake the very foundations of Heaven itself.

Time Period Covered:

1827 – 1844

Major Historical Figures:

The Daoguang Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Minning) [r. 1820–1850]

Hong Xiuquan (Hong Huoxiu), failed examination candidate, Second Son of God[1814–1864]

Li Jingfang, friend, relative, first convert [fl. 1840s]

Hong Rengan [1822–1864]

Feng Yunshan [1815–1852]

Liang Fa (Liang Afa), author of Good Words to Exhort the Age [1789–1855]

Major Sources Cited:

Hong Xiuquan. Taiping Heavenly Chronicle (Taiping Tianri).

Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion” in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.

Liang Fa. Good Words to Exhort the Age (Quanshi Liangyan)

Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.

Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.

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#324 - Taiping 1: The Second Son of God