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

Mar 24, 2011 William1.2 rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: china, history, nonfiction, 19-ce

Notes
1. The book is about the rise of one Hong Xiuquan in the mid-19th century China to become leader of the Christian millenarian sect that caused the Taiping Rebellion.

2. The book for me really begins with the excellent overview of the pantheistic religious traditions prevalent in Hong Xiuquan's home district of Hua, about forty miles north of Canton. This is no doubt the ignorance against which Hong will rant in furture chapters.

3. For some reason, perhaps because it's hardwired into me by ge ...more

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Aug 22, 2012 David rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-history

There are millions of goopy songs and movies about star-crossed lovers, but you hardly ever hear anything about star-crossed readers. I am a star-crossed reader.

I bought this book in the year 2000 and placed it lovingly in my crates of books to be shipped around the world to an extremely isolated location, where I planned to live for a few years. My vision: to sit out on the veranda on long tropical evenings, sipping cocktails and reading this particularly lunatic tale of historical mayhem and r There are millions of goopy songs and movies about star-crossed lovers, but you hardly ever hear anything about star-crossed readers. I am a star-crossed reader.

I bought this book in the year 2000 and placed it lovingly in my crates of books to be shipped around the world to an extremely isolated location, where I planned to live for a few years. My vision: to sit out on the veranda on long tropical evenings, sipping cocktails and reading this particularly lunatic tale of historical mayhem and religious fanaticism while getting pleasantly smashed.

For circs. too complicated to explain (involving do-gooding gone wrong), the box was routed into storage in Sterling, Virginia, where it languished for 12 years. Happily, the world, she is full of books, so the tropical veranda-sitting proceeded more or less as planned, with no shortage of mayhem, fictional and historical, to help pass the steamy hours. As planned, cocktails were served.

When at long last this handsome volume was liberated from its Old Dominion incarceration, I greeted it as a long-lost. I dropped everything to dive into it. Sadly, at the same time, I was enduring an avalanche of personal possessions arriving from various corners of the globe. Most of them were not the better for the years in storage and/or the trans-oceanic voyage, with the notable exception of the mistakenly-stored Bushmills, which survived Sterling hard time admirably.

But I digress. This is a serious book. It's very readable by the standards of serious history, but far from a light read. It would be an excellent book to read under the guidance of an expert, although experts in lunatic Chinese historical episodes are sadly thin on the ground most everywhere. If you have the twilight music of the tropical reptiles as a background, it may be possible to propel your imagination and get lost in this exotic time and place. However, when the background music is one's long-suffering wife taking a box-cutter to newly-arrived crates of personal possessions, concentration is more difficult, if only because of the visible thought balloons over l.-s. wife's head betray other possible uses for that box-cutter for those who fail to do their bit.

Under these circs., I throw myself on the mercy of the political correctness police by admitting that I had difficulty keeping the Chinese names in the narrative straight, as all the Yangs, Xiaos, Lis, and Fangs blended together in my mind in a way they might not have if they had been named, for example, O'Leary, Murkowsky, Benedetto, and Schultz. Ditto place names. I advise future readers to come at the text with a robust note-taking method in place.

The authorial style is a bit eccentric, but it's not wholly inappropriate for an eccentric historical episode. The author's decision to tell the story in the present tense is a bit distracting, as is his decision to relate the appearances of visions of Jesus (and his family) to Taiping Heavenly Kingdom leadership in a rather deadpan, matter-of-fact manner. Example (p. 107): “Jesus comes back to earth many times in 1848, and through the mouth Xiao brings varied messages to Hong Xiuquan and the God-worshippers.” Spence says that Jesus spoke through various trance-prone members of the Heavenly Kingdom ruling circle, but I would have love to hear what exactly happen. What was a trance like? Did the messages come mid-trance, or as a summary afterward? Was just anybody allowed to have a trance, or only members of the inner circle? Were there fakers? Attention seekers? How could they tell? What if members received conflicting messages?

In summary, the problems of a man and his book don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Clearly this book and I were not meant to be, even though I enjoyed the good times we had. If the circs. had been different, we could have made beautiful music together.

...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Ashley rated it liked it

Talk about your crazy Christians!!! I finally finished God’s Chinese Son, and man. It was more challenging than I thought to set aside my preconceived notions of what is acceptable, or at the very least, understandable regarding religious doctrine. For those not in the know, this book by Jonathan Spence follows the rise and end of the Taiping in nineteenth century china. And for those really not in the know, the Taiping were some crazy Christians. Seriously. It movement originated with a guy who Talk about your crazy Christians!!! I finally finished God’s Chinese Son, and man. It was more challenging than I thought to set aside my preconceived notions of what is acceptable, or at the very least, understandable regarding religious doctrine. For those not in the know, this book by Jonathan Spence follows the rise and end of the Taiping in nineteenth century china. And for those really not in the know, the Taiping were some crazy Christians. Seriously. It movement originated with a guy who had a nervous breakdown after failing his regional level examinations for the second time in a row. This episode included a vision of being taken up into Heaven where he met his true father (God), his older brother (Jesus) and this really cool important chick (Mary). He found out that it was his job to bring Christianity to the people of China and to drive out the Demons (Qing, the ruling dynasty) and essentially restore the Kingdom of Heaven that was promised in the ancient gospels.

At first I was somewhat with it, I mean aside from his crazy nervous breakdown, I was totally on the side of the Taiping. The rulers were doing a lot of things, (as well as the British) that deserved to be fought against. But, as the movement progressed, I was having a more and more difficult time figuring out how he garnered so many followers. I cannot explain to you how bizarre their doctrines are to me. Admittedly its my own preconceived Western thought of portrayed Christianity that is getting in the way. If I was a true open minded blank slate the Taiping might not seem so far out there, and had the book not set side by side the alterations that Hong Xiuquan was making in the religious texts it might not seem so obvious, but as it were, crazy.

The book on the other hand, was great. I highly recommend it for a work of nonfiction edification. It was engaging and I feel lots smarter and in fact enjoyed reading it. All of which are statements that I do not readily make towards weighty historical tomes. Even if you have no interest in the subject but you don’t mind the genre, go for it. To give you an idea of how important the civil war was in shaping Chinese culture even today, over twenty million died in the ‘skirmish’. It definitely makes me more willing to understand why the Chinese government tends to persecute Christians. I know this was a hundred and fifty years ago and several regimes and ways of life in the past but geez, the American Civil War still has an unsightly scar on our country, and we can’t claim nearly as many dead. (admittedly China had 30 million dead in the 1970’s because of famine which is a much more recent and relevant number) So read it. Spence does such an excellent job I don’t think that a person needs any background at all in Chinese history to understand any references or culture. ...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Stephen rated it really liked it

Interesting read. Hong Xiuquan was a local school teacher who took (and failed) the Confucian licenate tests several times to try to rise in position in the governing Qing bureaucracy. After his fourth and final attempt, Hong had a fever induced vision while he was bed ridden for forty days with an illness. Hong had recently read and been influenced by some protestant religious tracts that were being distributed at the examination site. The vision he had had him ascending to heaven where he foug ...more

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May 29, 2012 Graham rated it liked it

A thorough investigation of the Taiping Rebellion. As historical scholarship, it's exhaustive. As a casual read for somebody, like myself, without an extensive grounding in Chinese history, it can be exhausting. As far as the former, there's little better. As far as the latter, it's hard to recommend, except for those keenly interested in some of history's more obscure currents.

I will say that I would have liked to see more of the results of the aftermath of the Taipings. It doesn't examine the ...more

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Oct 16, 2010 Zoey rated it it was ok

Shelves: for-school, could-not-finish, exotic, zzzz, historical

If you like informative books that try to compact as many details as possible between their covers, you'll probably like this book. For me this book is a chore to read. Although Dr. Spence's writing is very educational and seemingly well-researched, it makes for a dry read. The Taiping Rebellion is interesting to learn about, but my rating has nothing to do with what Dr. Spence was writing about and everything to do with how he actually wrote it.

The book is packed with facts big and small. Most ...more

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Jul 02, 2018 Adrian rated it really liked it

An interesting, overlooked, and truly bizarre chapter of history. Hong Xiuquan was in many ways a Chinese Savonarola or David Koresh, but with far more devastating consequences. The story of Hong Xiuquan is a bizarre tale, brought to life by Jonathan D. Spence in lively form that is detailed, yet accessible to the layperson.
Considering the cast of characters involved, including Charles Gordon and Lord Elgin, one can only wonder why this episode is not better known in the West, but Spence has don ...more

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Oct 01, 2012 Gene rated it really liked it

I really did enjoy this book about the Taiping Rebellion in China. Having lived in the Orient for almost 25 years and also being a Christian missionary, I found it doubly interesting and instructive. Sometimes just a little Christianity can do more harm than good if the recipient is mentally unstable, and I think it is fair to judge Hong Xiuquan to have been in just that sort of condition, with a mixture of self-serving and corruption thrown in for good measure. I also saw glimpses of what would I really did enjoy this book about the Taiping Rebellion in China. Having lived in the Orient for almost 25 years and also being a Christian missionary, I found it doubly interesting and instructive. Sometimes just a little Christianity can do more harm than good if the recipient is mentally unstable, and I think it is fair to judge Hong Xiuquan to have been in just that sort of condition, with a mixture of self-serving and corruption thrown in for good measure. I also saw glimpses of what would later be Communist excesses in the way the Taiping movement was directed. Certainly the Chinese people of the 19th and 20th Centuries were not unwilling to follow unscrupulous megalomaniacs. Things went on among the leadership and the following that are truly difficult to believe. People willingly giving up family life for the cause, people living in starvation and sickness while the leaders feasted and clothed themselves in silken luxury. You would think it couldn't survive such blatant injustices, and yet people continued to devotedly follow the movement. I would love to delve further into the psychology of such occurrences throughout history. Something about at least some of us makes us vulnerable to such treachery.

I have only a few gripes. I wish we could delve further into the thoughts of Hong Xiuquan himself, but perhaps he left too few reflections in writing to make this possible. I also felt the book spent too much attention on the activities of Westerners in China at the time of the start of Hong's movement and in it's fall. It was really peripheral (outside of the initial missionary contact with Hong) and somewhat boring. I'd like to see it more through the eyes of the common peasant in China. Also, I really would have loved the notes to include the Chinese characters for the various terms and designations that are given in transliteration or translation. That would make the book much more revealing to a reader who can also read Chinese.

Still, it is a very good book about a historical event that has fascinated me for quite some time. Well worth reading. If you live in Taitung and would like to borrow it, just let me know. ...more

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Jun 02, 2012 Ill D rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, reviewed

Highly successful as a work of narrative and psycho-history (yes, that is a real term). However, I was hoping for a more birds eye narrative that would explain the social, economic, political, and religious forces that affected (Hong) Xiuquan, his world and how these impetuses caused this young many to wreak so much havoc on the Middle Kingdom in the late-middle 19th century. Moreover, for what is probably one of the most bloody and destructive events in not just the 19th century but world histo Highly successful as a work of narrative and psycho-history (yes, that is a real term). However, I was hoping for a more birds eye narrative that would explain the social, economic, political, and religious forces that affected (Hong) Xiuquan, his world and how these impetuses caused this young many to wreak so much havoc on the Middle Kingdom in the late-middle 19th century. Moreover, for what is probably one of the most bloody and destructive events in not just the 19th century but world history as a whole, in which at least 20 million, at its highest estimates 40 million people died; Spence seems to mistakenly overlook or more likely gloss over these facts intentionally in order to focus purely on narrative.

It succeeds in what it sets out to accomplish which is to place us within the head of Hong and elucidate his mind-state throughout this upheaval and how he integrates Christian texts, as well as Chinese culture, its own particular folklore and finally his own theological insights into a synthetic synthesis. However, for those us us looking for an empirical/thematic (more mainstream, and I mean this in the best way possible because I really do enjoy Spence's work, and I really respect his position as the best White scholar of Chinese culture, study of the Taiping Rebellion we'll have to look elsewhere. Most likely a cursory visit to our local library will suffice.

Either way, it's a fantastic read and would serve as an excellent companion to a mere study of the facts. Spence is an excellent author with a very warm writing style. Also, this work encapsulates a vast swathe of sources, indigenous Chinese as well as colonial British into a very complex narrative. Additionally, Spence is able to connect a lot of dots that no one during this time period would been aware of. He definitely deserves a high salute for being able to tie such a copious amount of sources into a tight and elucidating story.

Two thumbs up. Recommended for anyone interested in the preceding century that set the stage for the violent birth of Modern China. ...more

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Nov 29, 2013 Jonathan rated it liked it

Shelves: chinese-history, history

Hong Xiuquan failed the provincial tests on Confucian texts to get a job in the old Imperial Chinese bureaucracy four times. So, after a dream that he had ascended to heaven to meet his father God and his big brother Jesus, he set out on a new career as a messianic leader, "God's Chinese Son." Oh, and he also decided to revolt against the Quin Dynasty who ruled China back then. The result was the bloodiest event in history up until the Second World War: the Taiping Rebellion of 1845-64 in which ...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Chris Brown rated it it was amazing

Jonathan Spence is THE modern Chinese historian. No one else comes close. Here is covering one of the most interesting, bizarre uprisings in world history and the beginning of the end for the Qing Dynasty: The Taiping Rebellion. Anyone interested in history, religious leaders, China, or just excellent scholarship and writing needs to read this book.

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Oct 16, 2017 Bob Newman rated it really liked it

Strange Sect Runs Amok in 19th Century China
When I studied World History in high school back in the '50s, we didn't study China at all. We were fully concentrated on the history of Europe and its antecedents in Egypt, the Fertile Crescent, Greece and Rome. I think things have improved a bit, but in general, if you ask the average person around here what was the biggest war of the 19th century---those who can remember any that is---they are likely to say either the American Civil War or the Napol Strange Sect Runs Amok in 19th Century China
When I studied World History in high school back in the '50s, we didn't study China at all. We were fully concentrated on the history of Europe and its antecedents in Egypt, the Fertile Crescent, Greece and Rome. I think things have improved a bit, but in general, if you ask the average person around here what was the biggest war of the 19th century---those who can remember any that is---they are likely to say either the American Civil War or the Napoleonic Wars. Nobody at all would say the Taiping Rebellion in China which took place from 1850 to 1864 and had some echoes after that too. But upwards of 30 million people died in that terrible conflagration caused by the severe conditions of the Chinese countryside, the weakness of the Manchu or Qing Dynasty, pressure from European powers, and the introduction of Christian texts and beliefs into a society with a completely different world view. Spence's amazingly talented book analyzes the rise of Hong Xiuquan, a millenarian leader who believed himself to be Jesus' younger brother and appointed by God to bring about Paradise on earth. Having failed the traditional Chinese civil service exams, he began preaching his syncretic religion among the poor of backwoods towns and villages. The story of the Taipings is of how this poor preacher became the leader of a vast rebellion that conquered most of central China and nearly took Beijing, the capital. Spence concentrates on the Chinese interpretations of various parts of the Bible that the Taipings then held sacred, trying to show what beliefs motivated the movement. He includes English translations of many of Hong Xiuquan's writings and closely weaves contacts with Western Christian missionaries and military men with the Taiping movement. Puritanical, believing in land reform and communal ownership, and dead set against the rule over China of a "foreign" (Manchu) dynasty, the Taiping armies came very close to changing the course of Chinese and world history. Interestingly written and with a very moving ending, which shows how little the West had understood what happened, the book for me had one grave setback, and one only. There is no conclusion! What did all this mean to Chinese history? How did it influence what happened afterwards? As I read, I kept thinking of parallels with the Communist revolution that took off only 72 years later, parallels of the long marches of the Taipings looking for a secure center and Mao's Long March to Yenan, parallels of the Taiping promise to divide the land equally and Communist land reform promises. There are more similarities. The fantastic religious element cannot be compared completely with the more practical Marxist doctrine, yet the people in both movements fought for an ideal, not just to follow a king. Spence says not a word. I couldn't quite figure out why and that's why I didn't give the five stars that this otherwise deserved. ...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Zeke Chase rated it it was amazing

Shelves: china

The Taiping Rebellion is considered history's deadliest uprising, a messianic Christian rebellion that left 20-30 million dead in just 14 years. Fought between 1850 and 1864 in southern China, it was led by Hong Xiuquan, a man proclaiming himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ, and became the most fundamentalist theocracy in human history. At it's peak, it involved everything totalitarian that “The Onion” could think of and more, including a capital ban on all sex – it was Rick Santorum's w The Taiping Rebellion is considered history's deadliest uprising, a messianic Christian rebellion that left 20-30 million dead in just 14 years. Fought between 1850 and 1864 in southern China, it was led by Hong Xiuquan, a man proclaiming himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ, and became the most fundamentalist theocracy in human history. At it's peak, it involved everything totalitarian that “The Onion” could think of and more, including a capital ban on all sex – it was Rick Santorum's wet dream, which, ironically enough, he'd then be beheaded for having.

I say “at it's peak” because the war can more or less be divided into two phases – the rise, correlating roughly with the with the reign of East King Yang Xiuqing (1850-1856), and the fall, correlating roughly with the reign of Shield King Hong Rengan (1858-1864). Both men in their time served as the Number 2 to Hong Xiuquan's Ernst Stavro Blofeld. Despite the rise of Loyal King Li Xuecheng as supreme military commander in the latter half of the war, the Taiping won no notable victories under Hong Rengan (that weren't lost so quickly that they were negligible) and with the rise of Qing General Zeng Goufan and the minor but significant interventions by the West, the unprecedented rise of the Taiping was quashed and the movement bloodily suppressed.

This is the second such book I've read on the subject; the first being “Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom” by Stephen R. Platt (review here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...), which deals very little with the Taiping theology or Hong Xiuquan himself, but instead thoroughly details the latter half of the war under Hong Rengan. Yang Xiuqing isn't even named by name in Platt's book, but instead merely referred to as “the East King” in the brief passage that mentions his attempted coup. This book, “God's Chinese Son”, deals almost exclusively with Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping theology, with brief explanations to battles along the way filled in. Some of the major players of the war – Zeng Goufan, Frederick Townsend Ward, and even Hong Rengan – receive minor attention, whereas whole chapters deal exclusively with Hong Xiuquan trying to come to terms with the infallibility of the Bible and the incest between Lot and his daughters. This book also includes a detailed history of the original five kings – East, Yang; West, Xiao Chaogui; South, Feng Yunshan; North, Wei Changhui; and Wing, Shi Dakai – including the dark details of Yang's insubordination, execution and the massacre of several thousand of his followers. Following that period, however, Hong Rengan's term is loosely skimmed over and the war comes to an abrupt end. There is little explanation as to the rise of Zeng Goufan's army, and the Western intervention is skimmed over in about half a sentence.

The insanity of the fundamentalist theocracy is plentiful, though. It details the sex segregation policy, the various “communications” between God, Jesus and Hong, Hong's debates on the incorporeality of God, the brilliantly cruel and bloody counter-coup against Yang, how local piracy and banditry helped to push and mould the Taiping, the cruelty Hong showed towards his 88 concubines (including kicking them while they were pregnant), along with snippets of some of the crueler punishments (failing to attend a prayer meeting was punishable by 100 blows with a heavy pole; one such man was sentenced to 140 blows for engaging in sex, his partner, even though likely kidnapped and raped, was sentenced to 100 blows; prostitutes were not only executed, but had their entire families executed as well).

In short, this book is very detailed, and highly informative, but it probably works best in tandem with Platt's book. Furthermore, this book (unlike Platt's) assumes a certain amount of foreknowledge on the subject. For example, if you were to pick up a book on Operation Valkyrie, it might not go into Hitler's entire biography and cover the entire European Theatre. Well, Yang's coup is to Valkyrie as Hong is to Hitler, and Spence assumes you know a little something about the Taiping before you start reading this. This is not so much a book on the Taiping Rebellion as it is on Hong Xiuquan and his theology, with snapshots of the rebellion interspersed to help frame his actions. Therefore, I would recommend reading Platt's book first, as I did, and then this one.

Some reviewers find fault with this book because the narrative is told in present tense, as though it's a novel following Hong through the years. Although it's a different way to do a history narrative, I quickly got used to it, and, given the sometimes nonlinear shifts (for example, when a character is introduced and Spence spends two pages filling in his back story, during which he reverts to past tense), the present tense helps to keeps the reader progressing with the narrative.

Two things this book could have used were a dramatis personae and an epilogue. At times, I found it hard to keep the names of some of the minor kings straight, and found myself flipping back through the chapters to refresh myself. The conclusion to the book is very abrupt, and, apart from a brief reference to the destructiveness of the Taiping in the Foreword, little is done to show the significance of the rebellion.

In the end, this book is rife with excellent history and explicit detail. It is a powerful narrative of the madman responsible for history's deadliest civil war, and the insane, puritanical, apocalyptic theology that guided him.

...more

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Aug 25, 2018 Dan Slimmon rated it really liked it

Shelves: china, biography, history, war

this book almost comes closer to biography than history. it's the story of hong xiuquan and those in his inner circle, rather than the taiping civil war itself. for the latter, check out stephen platt's autumn in the heavenly kingdom . but they're both good books.

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Feb 19, 2018 JB rated it really liked it

I chose to read this book for a World History book review assignment. My Professor highly recommended this account, and now I do too. Spence is an amazing writer who knows how to frame large amounts of information in a digestible and engaging way. It was a slow and heavy read for me but entirely worthwhile. Now I’ve an interest in pursuing his other works.

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May 18, 2018 Tycho Toothaker rated it really liked it

Very good history of the Taiping Rebellion. I found it to cover a bit too extensively the particular campaigns and troop movements, but that's just because that's not what I wanted from it. Told in a very compelling way.

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Sep 01, 2017 Tim rated it it was amazing

Evangelical Christians are scary.

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Feb 10, 2012 Derek Weese rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a hard book to review as it covers a broad and complex story in a manner that I thought could have been done better and with far greater detail. The setting is China immediately following the Opium War with the British in the early 1840's (Qing Dynasty). The Chinese are, to say the least, down on their luck in this point in history. Western powers are slowly beginning to encroach upon Chinese territory and the Opium War has just proved that militarily China has about as much chance of wi This is a hard book to review as it covers a broad and complex story in a manner that I thought could have been done better and with far greater detail. The setting is China immediately following the Opium War with the British in the early 1840's (Qing Dynasty). The Chinese are, to say the least, down on their luck in this point in history. Western powers are slowly beginning to encroach upon Chinese territory and the Opium War has just proved that militarily China has about as much chance of winning a snowball fight in hell as it does in defeating a Western power in battle. The gap between rich and poor is tremendous (more of a gaping chasm than a gap really) and there is endemic drought and famine; all in all a terrible time to be Chinese.
In steps Hong Xiuquan. He is a young man of the Hakka, one of the many minority groups in China, and he is looking to take the Civil Service Exam...he fails. Having failed my fair share of exams in my lifetime I can fully understand his frustration...however, I never went so far as to have visions of God and Jesus and a holy quest to establish through force God's Kingdom on Earth. (Though there was that time in Math 110...)
At first, he seems like a likeable enough fellow, he converts to Christianity following a tract he picked up from a Western missionary, continues to have visions (which I must say become more and more egocentric, he is now, of course, the younger brother of Jesus) and sets up a society of his followers called the Taiping or eternal peace...too bad they fail to live up to that name.
Joking aside, Hong Xiuquan is a direct warning from history about giving power to madmen. As time progresses the Qing try to stamp out his movement as being un-Chinese. This, of course, leads to a HUUUGE civil war where even the lowest estimates figure around 20million people will lose their lives. Up until the Second World War that would make the Taiping Rebellion the bloodiest war in human history. Xiuquan and his followers wage a holy across southern China, smashing Qing Armies, storming cities and trying to upset the social order. Certainly there is much to admire with him, he believed in equality of the sexes, equality of the classes and land distribution. However, he was a fruitcake, which would have been funny had he not had so much power.
His movement begins to crumble when, ironically, his cultist (clearly he was not really Christian) beliefs force the separation of men and women going so far as to not allow married couples to engage in sex. How exactly was he supposed to 'be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth'...? Truth be told, overly stringent relational standards and the complete prohibition of sexual activity is generally the FIRST sign of a cult. Not to mention it brings to fruition 1 Timothy chapter 4 (my father is a pastor, he clues me in on the many, many, many theological conundrums that Xiuquan got himself involved in) which pretty much spells out C U L T. Again, dark humor aside (I am actually rather outraged by this man, hence the snideness) Hong Xiuquan leads his followers down the path of doom and being blown to hell by Western trained Qing forces. His own soldiers begin to openly revolt against him, why? The sex ban, it doesn't exactly make a man all warm and fuzzy towards his fearless leader.
By the late 1850's, from his capitol in Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan's movement begins to die. Despite some spectacular battlefield success, the Qing keep coming back and even go so far as to allow Western forces to train, arm and at times lead their forces in battle. This leads to more and more Qing military success and the erosion of the Taiping armed forces while Xiuquan's quite frankly ridiculous theology erodes his own base of support from within.
In the end he and his followers don't survive. He himself will die in his early 50's before the war ends while his son is taken captive by Qing forces following the fall of Nanjing and quite brutally executed. Jesus can't seem to spare the time to lift a finger to help his younger siblings.
All in all this is far too fascinating a story to be told in a book that is barely over 300 pages. It's too complex, too big and it's so unknown in the West that it just demands to be told. Spence, who is a good writer (rare in an academic...no offense to academics, truly) can't seem to make this book work to it's full potential. By focusing the narrative on Hong Xiuquan and his ever deepening slip into madness, I think that Spence does more to muddle the story than to make it clear. Regardless with this being only one of two books that I can think of in English on the subject it is a worthy addition to anyone's historical library. It is an easy read, it's just disappointing that by following the leader of the rebellion, pretty much everything else about this epic story becomes shrouded in fog. Not Spence's intent I'm sure. But I still recommend it if for nothing else it tells a bit part of one of the most fascinating stories in history as well as showing how Christianity, if unregulated by a hierarchy and established doctrine, can slip into madness. ...more

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Feb 28, 2018 Thomas Kingston rated it it was amazing

Solid coverage regarding one of China's most overlooked eras. Bringing apocalyptic cults, a guy who think's he's Jesus' brother and a civil war with millions of deaths - to life (no pun intended)

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Mar 08, 2017 Ian Muehlenhaus rated it it was amazing

This book was amazing.

The Christian God kills people everywhere, all the time. Even in nineteenth-century China. Wow!

Great historical review.

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Oct 05, 2017 Ernest rated it it was amazing

Shelves: china, history

There is a strong narrative voice present; while the main thread of this book is a rather biographical account of Hong Xiuquan, a man whose thoughts, philosophies and visions are central to the Taiping movement, Spence is also conscious of how outside forces, a historical and economic context also shape his journey. Neither does he deprive other vital characters of agency and decisions: from the perfidy of Yang Xiuqing, the East King, to the accounts and experiences of mercenaries, all are faith There is a strong narrative voice present; while the main thread of this book is a rather biographical account of Hong Xiuquan, a man whose thoughts, philosophies and visions are central to the Taiping movement, Spence is also conscious of how outside forces, a historical and economic context also shape his journey. Neither does he deprive other vital characters of agency and decisions: from the perfidy of Yang Xiuqing, the East King, to the accounts and experiences of mercenaries, all are faithfully represented.

One focus of the book I find especially insightful is its focus on original texts and proclamations, and cross-referencing them with their intended references- the Biblical texts and verses that Hong engages in through theology. Doing so allows Spence to create an original account and focuses on what some may call microhistories- disputes between man and man, such as in the case of Lord Elgin's slight, but these are explanations for small incidents that end up shaping the foreign policy and outlook of the Kingdom.

A question I do have perhaps depends on records that are now lost or greatly inaccessible to us: since the entire operation of a proto-state and its administration invariably are beyond the micromanagement and strict control of leaders like Hong, Yang, or Shi, what picture do we have of the inhabitants of cities occupied by the Taiping? The book seems to cast them as victims of punishment, and perhaps more active when in the dying days of the Taiping they begin to sell out fleeing officials to Qing forces, but surely there are more localized acts of resistance and defiance. Soldiers too seem largely cast as automatons, following the wills and plans (flawed as they are) of high level commanders- what were their thoughts? How sincerely did many of them believe in the cause? Spence often alludes to both foreign allies and local converts being opportunists of some sort, but perhaps this could be explored in greater detail. Given that religious zealism seems subordinated to the political gain of figures like Yang, perhaps this could be explored further.

Finally, the book also often suggests that there are vestiges of Confucian thought, and that Taoism, Buddhism or even folk religion often led to a syncretic expression of belief amongst the God-Worshippers. Hong seems sympathetic to Confucian classics at some points, and a greater psychological picture could be explored. This seems to hint at an underlying stubbornness and resilience of belief systems could be a natural product of them being centuries, if not millenia old too. Not unexpected, but the radicalism of the Taiping movement could perhaps provide a moment of cross-examination with more traditional Chinese systems that Spence also seems to be familiar with.

Now the previous two paragraphs should not detract from how this book is a great and compelling overview of the Taiping Rebellion. Certainly it's not dated despite being published in 1996, and would be well complemented by the work of Meyer-Fong (who looks at the socioeconomic impact of the devastation of the conflict, apt as Spence chooses to end the book as the Taiping falls). ...more

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Jun 07, 2018 Jeremy Salkeld rated it really liked it

Shelves: taiping

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, this was my first true introduction to the Taiping (my interest had first been piqued by a tantalisingly brief section in Philip Ball's 'The Water Kingdom' (2016)). On the other hand, on reflection I feel as though this book has unfortunately, and unintentionally, tainted much of subsequent popular discourse. Too often these days, when the Taiping come up they are often painted as merely a cult dedicated to their leader, who thought he was I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, this was my first true introduction to the Taiping (my interest had first been piqued by a tantalisingly brief section in Philip Ball's 'The Water Kingdom' (2016)). On the other hand, on reflection I feel as though this book has unfortunately, and unintentionally, tainted much of subsequent popular discourse. Too often these days, when the Taiping come up they are often painted as merely a cult dedicated to their leader, who thought he was the second son of God and brother of Jesus. 'Ha, ha, ha', 'what idiots', move on. Spence's somewhat deterministic view of Chinese history leads him to imply that the Taiping could never have been successful, or have changed China, which inadvertently contributes to the popular notion that they were just a one-off event. Even the Dictionary of World Biography presents a thoroughly outdated view of Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping – and cites Spence! (Although to be fair to Spence, it is clear that the editor of the Dictionary of the World Biography probably hadn't actually read this book, or cared so little that the glaring contradictions with it were never addressed.)

And I don't want to say I dislike it. Far from it. I love the style of writing, even though (in fact possibly because) it rambles a fair bit, the exploration of Hong Xiuquan's beliefs and psyche is genuinely fascinating, and it does a very good job grounding the God-Worshippers and early Taiping in their wider context. Unfortunately, being principally a biographical work with context, when Hong loses sight of the wider world, so must the book, and so the whole thing just sort of... ends. I came out of it, now to my great shame, parading the whole 'brother of Jesus' thing as the key point, and it wouldn't be for another month and a half, when I read Platt, that I came to realise just how significant the Taiping could have been.

And so, despite being among most readable books there is on the Taiping, I cannot endorse it as an introductory text. Platt's 'Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom' (2012) or Franz Michael and Zhang Zhongli's 'The Taiping Rebellion, Volume I' (1966) would be my first pick, then Spence. ...more

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Dec 27, 2011 Dwain rated it liked it

This was an interesting book, and although it is not particularly long, getting through it was a slog. Jonathan Spence's writing style is dense and academic, which makes for slower reading, but the way he tells the story makes it harder to follow and stay engaged. Spence, who is a prominent China scholar, explains a situation or experience in great detail, then jumps several years and often to another set of people to describe the next event. This helps the reader to have a very good understandi ...more

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Jul 22, 2014 Michael Nash rated it it was amazing

I don't like to throw around the word "masterpiece" like it was nothing, but that was a word that I thought throughout this book. When writing general history like this there's always a trade off between providing the reader with accurate, nuanced historical information and providing a compelling narrative. In God's Chinese Spence somehow manages substantial fidelity to both goals.
Spence manages to cram an astounding amount of detail into his prose. I one paragraph near the beginning I learned ...more

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Aug 26, 2014 Randol Hooper rated it really liked it

This is a very accessible book on one of the most complicated and fascinating events in Chinese History. It's a narrative biography of Hong Xiuquan, the central figure in the Taiping Rebellion. Rarely studied in the United States the Taiping Rebellion was one of the bloodiest civil wars in world history with a death toll that would not be seen until the advent of mechanized warfare in the 20th century. As much a nationalist rebellion as a religious movement the Taiping movement very nearly toppl ...more

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Nov 10, 2013 Eadweard rated it really liked it

Shelves: chinese, history-scholarly-etc, non-fiction, non-fiction-read, christianity-theology

Village teacher and failed imperial examination candidate Hong Xiuquan has a vision, he's the younger brother of Jesus Christ and youngest son of God, and as such, he was sent to Earth to spread the word, slay the foreign demons (manchus) and establish his own Heavenly Kingdom.

A very interesting book on a conflict that is not that well known, it's fascinating how such a 'lowly' person could amass so many followers and carve out a chunk of southern China for himself (common in chinese history). H ...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Bubba rated it liked it

Shelves: 19th-20th-century-imperialism, britain-and-ireland, east-asia, religion-philosophy-mythology, revolution-insurgency

Good old-fashioned narrative history, using a variety of European and Chinese sources. It tells the story of Hong Xiuquan, a 19th century failed Confucian scholar who blended a vivid vision/dream of God and his family with Christian missionary tracks he came across in southeast China. Hong came to beleive that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ and went about setting up his heavenly kingdom, "Taiping." His missionary efforts garnered support among the societal outcasts in southeast China ...more

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Sep 15, 2014 Czarny Pies rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Des gens qui aiment l'histoire des mouvments populaires.

Shelves: asian-history

Ce livre raconte l'histoire de la Révolte des Taiping et du Royaume celeste d'Hong Xiuquan un état trois le grandeur la France qui a existe dans le Sud de la Chine entre 1851 et 1864. Hong Xiuquan le chef du Royaume Celeste était d'origine paysanne. Apres avoir frequenté des missionnaires protestants des Etats-Unis, Hong Xiuqan est devenu convaincu qu'il était le fils du Dieu et que Dieu lui avait donné la mission de creer un royaume égalitaire en Chine. Grace au charisma d'Hong Xiuqan, les fort ...more

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Aug 02, 2007 George rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: anyone interested in Chinese or 19th Century History

Stickly non-fiction, although you would be excused if you chose not to believe it. This is the story of Hong Xiuquan, one of the important but most bizarre historical figures of the 19th Century. Hong was a young Chinese scholar who aspired to become a civil servant in imperial government. However, he flunked the exams and fell into extended illness. When he eventually recovered from his fever, he awoke to the realization that he was, in fact, the Younger Brother of Jesus Christ and the Second S ...more

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May 03, 2007 Max rated it really liked it

The Taiping Rebellion is one of those many fascinating and epic stories in history given short shrift in the West for no good reason. How could one *not* find a massive (20 million casualties!) cultish evangelical Christian rebellion against the 19th century Qing Dynasty in China, resisted by an alliance of Qing and Western forces, fascinating? Spence's book is a great, heavily-footnoted take on a captivating event. He spends less time on the military history than on the ideas that drive the reb ...more

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