The Chinese Revolution

During the 19th century, there were far more Chinese men abroad than women. Mui Tsai women were bonded to affluent Chinese families as maidservants or concubines. Amahs worked as paid domestic servants overseas. Some lived in collective sisterhoods and refused to couple with men. China Mary was a pioneer woman in Sitka, Alaska. Oei Hui-lan was the daughter of a Javanese sugar merchant and married the future Chinese Ambassador to Great Britain and the United States. Chinese women overseas had influence and made their mark on their new communities, including in Malaya and Singapore.

Image: "Portrait of a smiling, elderly Chinese woman" by simpleinsomnia is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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Increased shipping in the Chinese treaty ports leads to Chinese migration abroad. Workers flock to Old Gold Mountain near San Francisco and Gold Mountain near Melbourne, Australia. The Chinese do better when they can work freely rather than as indentured coolies. Abuses and racism greet them worldwide. The Chinese learn non-violent resistance with Gandhi and self-advocacy in English speaking democracies. A national re-awakening accompanies remittances from abroad.

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The Taiping take some steps towards modernizing China. More provincial armies are formed and a Taiping warlord faces off against Qing allied warlords and the Ever Victorious Army. Nanjing falls and the Heavenly Kingdom with it. The Young Monarch is hunted and killed. The remaining Taiping ally with the Nian rebels, but are also exterminated. Some lessons for the future can be learned from this unsuccessful rebellion.

Image: "Monument to American Soldier of Fortune Fredrick Townsend Ward, Organizer of 'Ever Victorious Army'" by Gary Lee Todd, Ph.D. is marked with CC0.1.0.

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The Taiping defeat a besieging army. Assassinations rock the Heavenly Capital. First, Yang Xiuqing, the East King, is assassinated and then the North King. The Taiping lose central strategic leadership and Taiping commanders begin to operate autonomously. The Hunan Provincial Army advances along the Yangtze River. The British are not amused with the Taiping Rebellion.

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Yang Xiuqing consolidates his position among the Taiping and organizes a Northern Expedition and a Western Expedition. The gentry organize to oppose the Taiping and Zeng Guofan founds a provincial army to counterattack. The Taiping reach their high-water mark as they control central China and the Yangtze River.

Map of the Northern Expedition.

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The newly proclaimed Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace marches north towards the Yangtze River. This Taiping movement grows among the poor and discontented, but has trouble sieging cities. A local corps gives the Taiping its first defeat. The Taiping then gain strength after reaching the Yangtze and is able to sail downstream and capture cities along the way to Nanjing. The Taiping rename the city Tianjing: the Heavenly Capital. The West King and other original followers die and are replaced by many new adherents.

Find the map of the Taiping's march to Nanjing here .

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In this episode, the background to the Taiping Rebellion is described, as well as its founders, leaders and religious inspiration. Hong Xiuquan considered himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ. Influenced by Christian missionaries in Guangzhou, he and his followers found the God Worshippers Society. It grows, especially among Hakka Villages, into the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace.

Image: "Hakka Tulou, Chuxi" by Hayden Opie is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

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In this episode, the Treaty of Nanjing and the other Unequal Treaties are discussed, as well as the growth of foreign concessions in China. During the Second Opium War, also known as the Anglo-French Expedition to China, the Imperial Summer Palace is looted and burned. China losses vast territories to Russia. These events were humiliating to China but the treaties freed its resources to battle the many rebellions growing in Qing Dynasty China.

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In this episode, Henry Pottinger takes over as British Superintendent of Trade. The British retake Zhoushan Island, which had been abandoned by Charles Elliott and advances up the Yangtze River. Negotiations conclude the Opium War with the Treaty of Nanjing. It is now remembered as the first unequal treaty and the beginning of a century of humiliations for China.

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The British capture Chinese forts and take Guangzhou. British trade returns to southern China. Rural peasants self-organize against the British invaders. Charles Elliott is replaced by British authorities in London.

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