The Story of China: The Epic History of a World Power from the Middle Kingdom to Mao and the China Dream

by Michael Wood

The Taiping had now gained power, but what would they do with it? It is a question faced by all of China’s revolutionaries. Once God’s kingdom on earth had been established in Nanjing, a blizzard of ideological pronouncements came pouring from the throne. In one of the book-production capitals of China they set up printing presses and a workshop for woodblock cutting; their publications included Taiping translations of the Old and New Testaments. They banned opium, tobacco, alcohol, footbinding, prostitution and gambling. Gender separation was enforced in public places and the death penalty introduced for sex between men. Most important of all, China was to be classless. Private ownership of property and land was abolished; both would be owned and distributed by the state.