Page:Eminent Chinese Of The Ch’ing Period - Hummel - 1943 - Vol. 1.pdf/375

Rh joined the insurgents with his followers. The force quickly rose to about 10,000 men who believed Hung Hsiu-ch'üan had been appointed by Heaven to be their leader. Since they were forbidden by their tenets to cut off their hair, they came to be designated Ch'ang Mao Tsei 長毛賊 or "Long-haired Banditti". As the governor of Kwangsi failed to stem their advance, the Court sent imperial troops, as well as militia and high commanders, to the front (see under ). But as these commanders had no co-ordinated policy, Hung Hsiu-ch'üan was able to expand his activities from Kuei-p'ing to the neighboring districts of Kuei-hsien, Wu-hsüan, P'ing-nan, and Hsiang-chou.

On September 25, 1851 the Taipings took Yung-an and there Hung was unanimously declared T'ien-wang 天王, Celestial King of the T'ai-p'ing T'ien-kuo 太平天國 "Celestial Kingdom of Peace," the year 1851 being the first year of the new dynasty. Hung was said to have offered the highest rank to each of the other five chiefs, and that only after they had declared their full submission to his authority did he accept his own title. The other five chiefs were made wang (王, kings or princes, see under ). Thus Yang Hsiu-ch'ing was made Eastern King, chief Minister of State and generalissimo in control of all territory in the east; Hsiao Ch'ao-kuei, Western King, second Minister of State and assistant generalissimo with control of all regions in the west; Fêng Yün-shan, Southern King and general of the advance guard; Wei Ch'ang-hui, Northern King and general of the rear guard; and Shih Ta-k'ai, Assistant King (翼王) to aid in sustaining the Celestial Court. Other chiefs were designated ministers, commanders, and so on.

At Yung-an the Taipings were besieged by the government forces from the winter of 1851 to April 6, 1852 when they escaped the siege. According to Ch'ing official accounts, there was a rebel leader named Hung Ta-ch'üan 洪大全, a co-sovereign with the Celestial King with the title T'ien Tê Wang 天德王, who was captured at this time and was later executed in Peking (1852, age 30 sui). The Taipings fled from Yung-an to Kuei-lin, capital of Kwangsi, which they attacked in vain for thirty-one days (April 18–May 19, 1852). Finally they abandoned Kuei-lin and proceeded northward to Hsing-an (May 22) and thence to Ch'üan-chou (June 3) where they intended to go northward by boats dong the Hsiang River to Hunan. But their progress was hindered by an engagement with the imperial forces in which Fêng Yin-shan was killed (June 1852).

Thereafter the Taipings altered their plans and proceeded to Hunan overland. They took Yung-chou (June 9), Tao-chou (June 12), and several other cities in south Hunan where thousands of bandits and poor peasants joined the revolt. On August 16 they went to Ch'ên-chou from where Hsiao Ch'ao-kuei led a detachment against Changsha, beginning September 11, 1852. Hsiao was wounded on October 5, and died soon after. Hung Hsiu-ch'üan and his main force at Ch'ên-chou were then assembled at Changsha which they furiously attacked by means of tunnels and mines. But their efforts proved fruitless because both government troops and militia had concentrated for the defense of the city. For the encouragement of his disheartened soldiers, Hung presently declared that he had obtained from Heaven a state seal made of jade, and his followers were ordered to salute him with the words Wan sui 萬歲 "[Lord of] Ten Thousand Years"—a salutation used only for an emperor. On November 30, 1852 the siege was abandoned and the insurgents moved northward to Yochow which they took December 13, 1852. There they are reported to have uncovered a great store of munitions and cannon that had been sequestered by in the 17th century. Before long they occupied Wuchang (January 12–February 9, 1853), after which they were forced to move eastward along the Yangtze with half a million followers, including women and children. Meeting no great resistance, they took Kiukiang (February 18, 1853) and Anking (February 24). Nanking was entirely in their hands by March 19–21. In order to cut off communications of the government troops they also took Chinkiang (March 30) and Yangchow (April 1). About ten days after the fall of Nanking imperial troops under reached that city. This large force, quartered in the East Suburb and known as the Great Camp of Kiangnan (see under ), harassed the Taipings in their capital from 1853 until 1860, with a short set-back in 1856–58 (see under ). Another detachment of imperial cavalry and infantry from North China, quartered on the outskirts of Yangchow, was known as the Great Camp of Kiangpei (see under ). This force combatted the Taipings round Yangchow in the years 1853-58. After establishing Nanking as his Celestial Capital, known as T'ien-ching 天京, Hung Hsiu-ch'üan dispatched 363