Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/79

Rh wang. It is also a title which would be suitable for an emperor. The use of the character for "celestial" places him at least on an equality with the T'ienwang and possibly ahead. The same is true of the name he assumed, Hung Ta-ch'üan, where the character ta might signify his seniority.

5. But the crowning proof of its authenticity, to my mind, lies in the remarkable understanding he has of the T'ienwang, who, to the followers of lower rank, must have appeared, through the glamour of imperial seclusion, a very able leader. Tet here is one who understood clearly what must have been known only to the inner circle of six, namely, that Hung was utterly incapable of heading a government, but was only able to dwell in his well-filled harem and indulge his religious vagaries, while his generals won victories and ordered the government in his name. Had the rank and file suspected such utter incapacity in their leader it is impossible to conceive of their going forward as willingly as they did. Though the intimate leaders knew of these limitations, they were ready to supply the deficiencies and support their prophet-king.

One must not ignore the fact that there are a number of inaccuracies and glaring mistakes in the confession. Why Hung should make Fêng King of the North instead of the South is a point that might argue ignorance. But most of the mistakes and errors give the appearance of falsifications, and some of the glaring contradictions in the narrative seem to arise from the same cause. He appears to be trying to escape the charge of being a party to the religious tenets of the movement, in order to preserve his reputation for intelligence among his countrymen. It seems clear that while he was not averse to using Hung's religion as a means of getting followers,