Finally pooled and stilled at Nanjing, in the afterglow of victory, the Taiping reflect on what they’ve become, and what they’ve yet to accomplish. In the cold light of the morning after, though, dreams do not equal result, nor clouds a working constitution. And as the world begins to take note and come knocking, the question hanging over it all remains: what will come next?

Time Period Covered:
Spring–Summer 1853 CE

Major Historical Figures:
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:
Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864]
Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856]
Xiao Chaogui, West King, signing from beyond the grave [d. 1852]
Fu Shanxiang, first & only female zhuangyuan of the examination [fl. 1853; dates uncertain]
Lin Fengxiang, general of the Northern Expedition [d. 1855]; The Women's Army of the Heavenly Kingdom [org. 1851]
Qing Dynasty:
Zeng Guofan, Confucian official, founder of the Xiang (Hunan) Army [1811–1872]
Great Britain:
Sir George Bonham, Governor of Hong Kong & plenipotentiary to China [1803–1863]
Thomas Taylor Meadows, consular interpreter [1815–1868]
Cmdr. Edmund Gardiner Fishbourne, HMS Hermes [1811–1887]
Abroad:
Karl Marx, correspondent, New-York Daily Tribune [1818–1883]

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.

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