For more than one hundred years, especially for more than half a century, Hong Xiuquan has been a myth in China. It was not until June 2000, after the publication of Mr. Pan's Miscellanies of Taiping, that this myth began to burst. In fact, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War was really a great tragedy. Its duration, scale, loss and influence are unprecedented in the history of China. The loss of population and the cruelty and destructiveness of both sides are unique in the history of the world.
Even World War II, with modern equipment including atomic bombs and battlefields all over the world, is hard to match. The hurricane set off by Taiping Army swept through, and Lushe was a market with rubble everywhere. After years of hurricanes, it is still devastated, dilapidated and desolate. The densely populated middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, because it is located in the center of the storm, is the burning and killing area of Taiping Army and Qing Army, and it is also the place of robbery.
Dr. Sun Yat-sen was born in 1866, only two years after the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the aftermath is still there. His hometown (Xiangshan, Guangdong) is not far from Hong Xiuquan's hometown (Huaxian, Guangdong). It is not surprising that he heard the story of Hong Xiuquan when he was young and planted the seeds of anti-Qing in his young heart.
Ten years after Hong Xiuquan's death (1874), Huang Xing, who was born in Hunan, also talked about his influence by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: "The motive force of my revolution was to read the miscellaneous history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom when I was young. However, after jintian uprising saw the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, at first, his brothers knew a lot about the economy, so they were able to sweep Huguang and arise in Jinling. Unfortunately, later, because their brothers were selfish, they fought for power and profit and killed each other, which led to failure. I have studied history so far, and I am not angry and sighing about it. "
These two founders of the Republic of China left the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom when they were young, and the story of Hong Xiuquan resolutely raising the flag against the Qing Dynasty undoubtedly provided them with a ready-made example. However, Hong Xiuquan's influence on them was limited to the anti-Qing dynasty. After more than a century, the truth of history finally surfaced. After decades of thinking, Mr. Pan finally returned to the scene and real history through the aura of the past. He let us discover the ugly, dissolute, shameless, barbaric, cruel and superstitious scenes that have been shrouded in the sacred veil.
Hong Xiuquan tried again and again, and there was a long preparation stage before plotting rebellion. 1In May, 844, he and his only companion, Feng Yunshan, went to the mountainous area of Guangxi to publicize his "Worship to God". Because of the slow progress and hard life, he was impatient and left after only a few months. Three years later, when Feng Yunshan gained a firm foothold in Bauhinia Mountain after hardships, he went to run amok in a big way, which quickly put worship in danger. At this time, he hid. After learning the news that Feng Yunshan and others were arrested, the leader He fled Guangxi hastily on the pretext of seeking the help of the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Feng returned to the mountain on 1849 after being rescued by other believers. This is Hong Xiuquan 185 1 years ago. If Feng Yunshan, who is good at physiognomy, didn't deliberately make gods, he would have turned him into a human god as the banner of rebellion, and everything might not happen in the future.
185 1 year, Hong Xiuquan started his army in Jintian Village only a few days ago, and even a county town had not been occupied. When he was unstable, he couldn't wait to call himself the "King of Heaven". Just entered the Yong 'an town, sealed the kings when the strong enemy besieged, and wrote to the whole army, vowing to seal the official. All the young and middle-aged people killed all the way from Guangxi, who captured a place and had no time to escape, were forced to join the army, otherwise they would be beheaded. The punishment is also extremely severe. In addition to beheading, five horses were dismembered, and the most horrible thing was "Tongtian". So before entering Nanjing, his team suddenly changed from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands. They were overjoyed when they entered Nanjing, the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties. On the one hand, they built many buildings and built a comfortable home for a few people. On the other hand, they turned Nanjing into a big military camp, where men and women were divided into men and women, and couples could not live together (the system of segregation between men and women was implemented for two years). Soldiers and civilians are not allowed to own private property, normal commerce is abolished and supply system is implemented. Saying "heaven" is actually a "grave" and saying "paradise on earth" is just a hell on earth.
Before Hong Xiuquan publicly rebelled, there were more than a dozen concubines. When Yong 'an broke through, it increased to 36 people. Nanjing is even more beautiful after its capital is established. There are many beautiful women in the luxurious Tianwangfu. According to his son's confession, he has 88 wives and concubines (there are also 108) and 1000 maids for his enjoyment. So he can only use numbers, such as the thirtieth wife, the eighty-first wife and so on. Since then, Hong Xiuquan, who is only 40 years old, has never stayed at home (and has gradually been marginalized). Until 1864 committed suicide, he had only been to Tianwang Palace several times. Its dissolute and shameless degree is even worse than that of emperors in previous dynasties. Mr. Pan said that today's nouveau riche can get a glimpse of the thoughts of Hong and Yang, which is good. The purpose of small farmers sitting in the fields, ah q will understand, is nothing more than "oh mom" and spring bed, that is, women, money and wealth. Whose "heaven" is this? Isn't it obvious?
1856 The bloody massacre was said to be "Yang Wei infighting", but it was actually "Hongyang infighting". This cannibalism incident, which deeply influenced the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, was caused by the desire of the East King Yang for "artifacts" and forced Hong Xiuquan to call his father and son "Long live". Hongmi ordered Wei Changhui, the king of the North, to lead the troops back to Beijing from the front overnight, bloodbath East Wang Fu, kill more than 20,000 soldiers in East Wang Fu, and the Qinhuai River was dyed red. Shi Dakai, the wing king, is one of the most farsighted and capable kings, and is considered as the most powerful opponent by Zeng Guofan. After he returned to Beijing, he accused Wei Changhui of killing and abusing people too much. Wei "received orders or signals from Hong Mi" and tried to kill the stone again. The stone escaped from the city overnight, killing all the children. Shi Dakai singling out, hong and ordered the killing of wei and his cronies two hundred people. From then on, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom began to decline from prosperity to death.
1863 65438+ In February, when facing the downfall, Hong Xiuquan flatly rejected Li Xiucheng's pleading to "let the city go", refused to leave his "Little Paradise" and comfortable nest, and denounced and cursed Li Xiucheng: "I am an iron bucket, I don't help it, someone helps it." You said there were no soldiers, and we had more heavenly soldiers than water. "Nanjing is besieged, and the food in the city is about to run out. He called on the military and civilians to feed on "manna" (hundred herbs). Before breaking the city, he committed suicide by taking poison in despair, and no one was spared from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After the city was broken, there were only 10,000 people left in a metropolis with a population of 200,000 to 300,000, which was almost an empty city.
There is a book called Seventy Years of the Late Qing Dynasty, in which the opening paragraph of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is very eye-catching and painful. The book said: "By the end of the Qing Dynasty, the cycle of changing dynasties had expired, the government's ruling machine was completely rusty, and society was riddled with diseases. Hong Xiuquan of Guangdong, a typical teacher of three villages, was frustrated in the examination room and turned to rally in Guangxi in the name of "worshipping God" in an attempt to build a dream "Little Paradise". A group of fanatics were caught up with Liangshan and turned religious beliefs into political forces, which eventually led to countless tragedies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. " The book uses "countless people died" to describe this huge tragedy, but it doesn't say how many people died.
Southern Jiangsu often has no residents for twenty or thirty miles, and some places have only one-fifth of the population.
Zhejiang Province, a family that robbed ashes and walked in opposite directions, once had no worries about food and clothing, and most of them became hungry people.
Anhui province, southern Anhui, "there is no farming in the wild, no smoke in the village, and people in the city eat each other"; In northern Anhui, "but there are yellow stems and white bones, no residents' towns, and no one is seen every day."
Hundreds of miles in Fiona Fang, Jiangxi Province, "I didn't smell the sound of chickens and dogs, but I saw the hungry people freeze to death."
How many people died in this great tragedy is still a mystery. 1883, an American missionary claimed that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War caused China to lose 50 million people. At that time, William W. Rockhill, the American ambassador to China, estimated that the death toll caused by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War was 20 million. This is an estimate made by foreigners in China at that time, and there is not much factual basis. On the basis of solid historical data, contemporary population historians in China have re-estimated this and formed two opinions: the first opinion is that the population of China has dropped by 40% from 185 1 to 1864, with an absolute loss of1600,000; The second opinion compares the pre-war population data with the Xuan Tong census data of 19 1 1, and holds that the excessive death toll directly caused by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War only reached at least 54 million in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Jiangxi and Hubei provinces. If we count the population losses in Hunan, Guangxi, Fujian, Sichuan and other battlefields, then the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War brought China.
No matter which of the above estimates holds, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom War is not only an unprecedented catastrophe in the history of China, but also the most cruel war in the history of all mankind, because the Second World War only caused 50 million people to die excessively.
If historical facts are respected and not fabricated out of thin air, what Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom represent is definitely not advanced civilization, but synonymous with ignorance, barbarism and superstition, and has nothing to do with "seeking truth from the West". He just borrowed some Christian terms to play tricks, inciting, deceiving and fooling the poor to rebel with him. According to historians, the so-called "farmland system in China" has never been implemented. The slogans of "one family under the sun, sharing peace" and "everywhere is uneven, and no one is not warm enough" are just beautiful lies that deceive people. To put it bluntly, religion in Hong Xiuquan's mind is just a tool to rebel and control his subjects. He has no religious belief at all. The so-called "day" is just his own "day". Hong Renxian, who came to Nanjing in the later period (1April 22, 859), did know something about western civilization, but how could a superstitious, narrow-minded, selfish, fatuous and dissolute Hong Xiuquan implement his new chapter as senior minister? Besides, it is not far from the collapse of 1864.