Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/119

Rh as the account of God's descents in 1848 records, possibly an earlier encounter with Hung Ta-ch'üan, or unrecorded struggles with the authorities. If it is tantalizing at this point, the passage nevertheless does throw light on the relation which Hung Siu-ch'üan thought he sustained to God. He gives honor to Jesus as the first-born son of God, but likewise claims an equality as God's second son. Against this complete identification of himself as a full member of God's family there are certain passages where he refuses certain imperial titles, such as Ti, which to him can mean nothing but "God" and cannot rightfully be applied to any mortal, and in the same manner will not permit the application to him of the term sheng, or holy, on the ground that this title can rightfully be applied only to God, and to the celestial elder brother, Saviour of the World.

In an earlier chapter we have seen that in the year 1848, owing to struggles between the leaders, two men received special signs of divine favor, when in the third and ninth moons of that year God the Father descended into the world and spoke to the multitudes through Yang, later the king of the East, and Jesus through Hsiao, king of the West. These possessions came several times during the next two years, but Hsiao was killed before Changsha, and Yang alone shared with Hung the honor of speaking for God. As the movement progressed and Hung retired more and more into the depths of the palace, Yang gained the control of the government, which he exercised practically alone until he was killed in the dissensions of 1856. Yang gradually appropriated to himself the titles of Comforter, Holy Ghost, Ho-nai teacher, and