Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/123

Rh From the evidence of the Chungwang he was not shaken in this view until immediately before the capture of Nanking. "Relying sincerely on Heaven, he was unwilling to trust men. Everything whatsoever was from Heaven." The Chungwang begged him several times to leave the spot on which the imperialists were steadily closing in, but the T'ienwang was unwilling to depart. An anecdote is preserved in one of the imperialistic sources, showing the confidence of the T'ienwang in divine protection. The Chungwang had been reciting the difficulties which encompassed them and the great desirability of leaving for some other place, such as Kiangsi. The T'ienwang then said to him: "I received God's holy mandate, the command of the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Elder Brother that I should descend to earth to become the true lord of the nine provinces and ten thousand lands. Wherefore should I fear whether you leave or remain in your office? With iron bands I encircle the rivers and hills. If you do not aid, there are those who will. My celestial soldiers number a million, yea ten million. How will the impish soldiers be able to come [literally, fly] into our midst?"

Another recorded incident is said to have taken place in 1858 when a cannon ball pierced the roof and fell at the feet of the T'ienwang during a feast. While the rest of the party blanched with fear he laughed and said to the generals: "I have received Heaven's command and mounted the throne as T'ienwang. What to me are a million demon soldiers or the falling of cannon balls like rain, or even their generals?"

These particular articles in his faith prevented the