BACKGROUND
I won’t spell them all out, but I hope you see the many similarities between China in the 1850’s and the USA today.
Chinese Superiority Complex
Chinese folk, throughout most of their history, believed they were the only civilized country on earth, and that they were surrounded by uncouth, illiterate barbarians. They were the greatest nation on earth. They said Europeans have more hair than monkeys, noses larger than anteaters and they all smelled worse than dead bodies. Some even believed European women were so ugly that they became pregnant by staring at their shadows. The disgust for everything not-China exists to this very day …. Chinese Internet forums are filled with anti-Western diatribes, all allowed and encouraged by the State’s censors. One Chinese proverb states: “We can fool any foreigner.” The Chinese have a special venom reserved for Blacks. To read more about Chinese xenophobia, click the link at the end of this article – “Foreigners and Racism in China”.
Perhaps the Chinese had ample reason to be proud. After the collapse of the Western Roman Empire (476CE) and as Europe marched toward its “Dark Ages” … the Chinese civilization only shone ever more brilliant while becoming technologically advanced. China’s Golden Age lasted for 700 years; the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), and Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Some of their contributions to humanity include; gunpowder, weapons using gunpowder, paper, silk, magnetic compass, moveable type, and banknotes. While the Chinese regarded the rest of the world as inferior, it is crucially important to note that China was not isolated. Foreign trade and other contacts with the outside world, particularly Japan, increased considerably during the Ming Dynasty. Chinese merchants explored all of the Indian Ocean, reaching East Africa with the voyages of Zheng He.
If you were a Chinese leader, or even a peasant, you would have thought the supremacy of China would last forever. But, nothing lasts forever.
The final forty years of the Ming Dynasty should have been a clue that the sun was setting on the Chinese empire. There were famines, drought, flooding on the Yellow River, a bubonic plague pandemic, and other natural disasters … resulting in the deaths of tens of millions. The country was beset with civil unrest and foreign threats. A Japanese Shogun tried to conquer China. While both Japanese campaigns failed, the war was very costly for the Ming court …. estimates are that it cost 26 million ounces for silver for the wars, significantly draining the empire’s coffers.
Additionally, the Chinese economic colossus proved itself to be hollow. The flow of foreign money was greatly diminished due to fighting between Spain and the Dutch and English. The Spanish rulers tried to have the silver of the Americas brought directly to Spain instead of being exported to the Ming Empire. This raised the price of silver sharply. Because of the inflation of the price of silver and natural disasters, the farmers could no longer pay their taxes via banknotes. They had to pay their taxes in silver, which many could not do. Revenues decreased substantially. This resulted in great deficits … so much so that soldiers were not getting paid, and they deserted in huge numbers.
All these foreign and economic woes led to political instability, which led a centralized imperial bureaucracy whose rigidness and endless passing of laws was totally incapable of addressing the nation’s problems.
This resulted in a disastrous new mindset, one that would plague China for centuries afterwards. Chinese leaders, intoxicated by their beliefs in China’s days of glory past, couldn’t face the current music. It was unthinkable to them that the European barbarians who benefited from Chinese technology, was now in a position to surpass them. So, instead of looking forward and outward, China now decided it was best to look inward and backward.
Blinded by a belief in their invincibly, the unthinkable occurred in 1644. A semi-civilized nomadic people — the Manchu — invaded and established the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). It was only the second non-Han Chinese dynasty to rule over all Chinese territory. Things started out badly under the Qings. It took them 65 years to conquer all of China …. at a cost of lives unfathomable to Americans … 25 million dead souls. But, then things got better. By the end of the sixth emperor’s reign – Qianlong, 1711-1799 — China ruled more than one-third of the world’s population (my god, they breed fast!!), and had the largest economy in the world.
But, China’s long history can be read as one endless series of peasant rebellions. Once again, things turned to (Chinese) crap. By the 19th century the Qing Empire economically was internally stagnant and Western powers were a threat.
Economically, Qianlong began his reign with about 44 million ounces of silver in Treasury surplus. At the peak of Qianlong’s reign (1775) the treasury surplus was 96 million ounces of silver. All that was squandered over the next couple decades; — frequent travel expeditions, huge palace constructions, wars, campaigns against rebellion, an opulent, lavish and extravagant lifestyle, — cost the treasury a total of 195 million ounces of silver. Shovel-ready jobs didn’t exist. The state was bankrupt.
Embezzlement and corruption by officials was widespread and overlooked with a nod and a wink. Qianlong’s most trusted minister was a man named “Heshen”, who was entrusted with the day-to-day governance of the country Well, at least they had the sense to execute him. His fortune at the time of execution? 1.2 BILLION ounces of silver … or, the total of 12 years of treasury surplus (apparently he had sex with a western woman whose offspring eventually gave birth to Dick Chaney).
Militarily, China’s dream of perpetual world dominance was (once again) shattered when they were defeated in the First Opium War (1839-1842) against Britain. And, then again, in the Second Opium War (1856-1860) against Britain and France. China was forced into a humiliating peace treaty, had to open its ports to foreign trade and at a great disadvantage, and ceded territory to the victors to the extent that some historians called it the biggest land grab since Columbus discovered America.
The Chinese emperor was an absolute monarch and called the “Son of Heaven”. However, he was NOT immune to political replacement, whether peaceful of violent, due to the Chinese political philosophy known as the “Mandate Of Heaven”.
Quite simply, according to this belief, heaven bestows its mandate to a just ruler …. the Son of Heaven. It has this very important feature; the “mandate” could be lost if a dynasty proved to be an economic, social, or military failure. It was believed that a ruler had lost the Mandate of Heaven when natural disasters occurred in great number, and when, more realistically, the sovereign had apparently lost his concern for the people. In response, the royal house would be overthrown, and a new house would rule, having been granted the Mandate of Heaven. By the mid-19th century the Qing failed on all three counts; China was defeated in two wars with Western powers, social unrest was widespread, and the economy had all but collapsed.
Heaven was calling for a new leader to emerge. It was under this chaos which brought forth Hong Xiuquan (1814-1864) … the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
JESUS’ BROTHER
Hong was born to poor farmers belonging to an ethnic group called “Hakka” — aka, the “Jews of Asia”. The are two theories regarding the origin of this designation. The first is that “hakka” roughly translates to “guest families”, meaning, these people left their homelands to settle down in other parts of the country, in contrast to residents originally from the area … just as the Jews settled in Palestine. The other possibility has to do with the Hakkas heavy emphasis on education and public service, such as, military service and banking. The Hakka, while a minority (about 4% of the population), constitute an overwhelming disproportionate number of important Chinese political and military leaders. Some historians go as far as to say that almost all Chinese revolutions were started by, or supported by, Hakka leadership.
True to form, Hong’s family made financial sacrifices to provide a formal education for him, in the hope that he could one day complete all of the civil service examinations …. a notoriously difficult exam with only a 1% pass rate. He took the test four times. He failed four times. So, he became a teacher in the Detroit School system …. err, Gurp!, excuse me, …. a teacher in his village.
On Hong’s first visit to Guangzhou in 1836 (to take the civil service examination) he heard a Christian missionary preach. He took some Christian tracts and read them. Not much else happened, except, the seed was sown.
His second trip in 1837 (failure #2) resulted in Hong having a nervous breakdown. This resulted in several mystical experiences and visions. Hong had recurring dreams whereby he was visited by two figures, an old, paternal figure and an elder brother-figure. In one specific dream, Hong dreamed of angels carrying him to heaven, where he met the elder-brother figure with a long golden beard wearing a black dragon robe, who gave him a sword and a magic seal, and told him to purge China of demons …. meaning, the religions of Buddhism, Confucian ancestor worship, and Daoism. In order to complete his mission of ridding the world of demons, the elder brother-figure changed Hong’s name to “Hong Xiuquan”. It took a few years, but Hong was eventually able to interpret the dream; the old man with the long beard was God, and the elder brother that he had seen was Jesus Christ, and therefore, in one gigantic leap of ‘aww, screw logic’, this led him to believe that he was a Chinese son of God, and that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
Hong wrote this poem in 1837, well before he started his revolution. It will give you an idea of his extreme sense of self worth … a.k.a. meglomania.
———-
Poem on Executing the Evil and Preserving the Righteous
In my hand I wield the Universe and the power to attack and kill,
I slay the evil, preserve the righteous, and relieve the people’s suffering.
My eyes see through beyond the west, the north, the rivers, and the mountains,
My voice shakes the east, the south, the Sun, and the Moon.
The glorious sword of authority was given by the Lord,
Poems and books are evidences that praise Yahweh in front of Him.
Taiping [Perfect Peace] unifies the World of Light,
The domineering air will be joyous for myriads of thousand years.
———-
But, Hong waited until 1844 to act upon the revelation given to him. He started by cleansing his own house of demons — he burned all his Buddhist and Confucian statues and books. Then he talked all his relatives in doing likewise. Then he convinced the villagers to do the same … right in the village temple. This attracted the authorities. Hong was forced to flee to a neighboring province, which had a large Hakka community. Great.
Now he got down to serious business. He developed a social and political blueprint which became ‘The Heavenly Kingdom Of Great Peace’, which it was not. It was a combination of pseudo-Christian beliefs and communism; no private property, society was declared class-less, women were equal to men but married couples had to live apart, and abolished opium smoking, prostitution, and gambling. All followers were strongly encouraged to deposit their pay and assets into a communal treasury. In other words, he was kind of like Jerry Falwell. He also condemned and banned various aspects of Chinese culture; polygamy, footbinding, and the wearing of the traditional Chinese hairstyle. In short, he was trying to remake China according to his own personal heavenly vision.
The federal Chinese (Qing) government , beset by a host of other problems, ignored Hong until it was too late. In 1850, when the movement already had about 30,000 followers, the government sent out a small force to demand Hong’s surrender. They were easily defeated and the general was killed. The government next launched a full-scale attack …. which was again repulsed after heavy casualties on both sides. With nothing left to lose, Hong proclaimed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in 1851. In 1853 he marched on the very important city of Nanjing, and slaughtered its 30,000-strong imperial garrison, along with several thousands of civilians. He renamed the city Tianjing – Heavenly Capital.
After he installed himself in the Heavenly Palace, Hong “retired” from the day-to-day running of his kingdom. This trivial role was left to lesser “kings” and “princes” …. which really didn’t work out to well as it almost immediately led to internal feuding and assassinations amongst the many rivals. Hong preferred the role of Religious Prophet, including 60 or more concubines — issuing a string of religious decrees and moral codes which he received directly from God … like some kind of Chinese Pope.
The Western Powers ignored all this throughout the 1850’s, because it benefited them to do so.. The rebellion diverted the attention and manpower of the Qing government, and that allowed the Westerners a free hand in China. Then Hong, in a moment of Greater Stupidity Than Ever Before, attempted to take the port of Shanghai in 1860. This forced the Western Powers to intervene. The Qing gained the upper hand, and eventually, four years later in 1864, fought their way to Tianjing. It is believed Hong, like many evil cowards before him, committed suicide before the government could capture him.
It took another 10 years to track down and execute the remaining Taiping followers. The Kingdom Of Heavenly Peace was downing in an ocean of blood – its own, and millions of innocents. In the slaughter of Nanjing, Manchus who did not die in the battle — men, women, and children — were rounded up and systematically killed by burning, stabbing, or drowning. It was Hong’s way of showing that the devils would be driven from the face of China. By the end of the Taiping era at least 10 million had died, some say 20 million. Eyewitnesses described the Yangtze valley as littered with rotting corpses.
THE AFTERMATH
LESSON #1: —- Pure Bullshit often wins the day. Hong is but another of many examples throughout history whereby ONE man, by virtue of his charisma, can change the fate of millions. Call him what you want — psychopath, sociopath, narcissist, power hungry, liar, deceiver, pure evil – maybe he’s all of them, or none of them, meaning, he’s something even worse. One thing I have noticed is that all such “leaders” have something in common, and that is; their undying rock-solid belief in their own bullshit. That’s how Hong started out, believing in the “vision” he received, which was most likely itself bullshit. Yes folks, believe totally your own bullshit, and you’ll go far in life. It worked for a guy named Hong, and another named, Barrack.
LESSON #2: —- NONE of the above would be possible without a large dumb-ass flock of sheep. Now, I know back then there were no iPads, and people were not as educated. Nevertheless, the Chinese are not stoopid people. Did no one have a Bible available to read and to counter Hong’s lies? Was there no one available to cry out, “BULLSHIT!!”. Well, I’m guessing there probably were. Just not enough of them. Just like in America there are folks on blogs such as this one yelling at the top of our lungs that unless things change, “AMERICA IS DOOMED!!”. We’re just pissing up a rope. It’s time to realize there just aren’t enough of us. It’s a fact folks, whether in China in 1850, or the USA! USA! USA! in 2014 …. most people love bullshit.
LESSON #3: —- All earthly alliances are concerned only with profit. Hong came very close to overthrowing the Qing dynasty and establishing his own. The Western Powers backed China in 1860 for only one reason; they preferred the weak and corrupt government of the Qing, rather than face the radical Taiping. Profits would have suffered under The Heavenly Kingdom. Western leaders were especially concerned about Hong’s rabid hatred for opium. There will always be many dead people, one way or another, so you might as well pick the side that will generate the most money. The West won. China won. Or, did they? The Qing dynasty limped along for another 58 years …. until it was overthrown in 1912, and along came Mao, and millions more died. Some “victory”, eh? (BTW, Mao loved Hong. Hong showed Mao that a peasant rebellion could work in the modern age.)
LESSON #4: —– The law Of Unintended Consequences can be more horrible than ever imagined. China has been home to many religions, and many cults. Let’s quickly skip to the Falun Gong movement, which was founded in 1992. It has nothing to do with Christianity. Rather, it is based on traditional Buddhist and Taoist ideas. It became so popular that the Chinese Communists banned it in 1999. Why? Because it represents the same mixture of religious beliefs, practices, and subsequent reform agenda which absolutely terrifies the Communist leadership. And that may be Hong’s most terrible legacy. His bullshit beliefs are keeping 1.3 billion people from enjoying the basic human freedom of a Spiritual Life. May he rot in hell. Hong condemned an entire nation to one of Pure Materialism. You can clearly see that principle at work in China today. Let me tell you something that you can take to the bank; humans are Spiritual Beings. The spirit within the people cannot, and will not, be suppressed forever. I’ll tell you one more thing; when the Chinese people reawaken spiritually, the shit will hit the fan, and that won’t be good for the Chinese government …. or, us.
PRIMARY SOURCES:
“Foreigners and Racism in China” —– http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat5/sub29/item1686.html
Hong’s life (excellent) —– http://bhoffert.faculty.noctrl.edu/HST265/07.CrisisWithin.html
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19977188
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandate_of_Heaven
http://cominganarchy.com/2009/10/03/the-hakka-people-chinas-leadership-caste/
