Vignettes of the World
The epicureans of the world know that there are eight great styles in Chinese cuisine. These great styles are categorized according to the geographical regions in China. Each of these eight styles differs in its cooking methods, selection of ingredients, the use of spices, and …
Despite having done some research, I made some critical mistakes on this trip. Although I did learn that the museums of China (all over the nation) close on Mondays, I did not know that it includes the Dr. Sun Yatsen Mausoleum. Furthermore, the staff told …
There were two reasons why I visited Zhan Yuan (Zhan Garden). First and foremost, it was only in Zhan Yuan that one could find an exhibition devoted exclusively to the history of Taiping Rebellion in China. Secondly, Zhan Yuan itself is a site of significance. At more than six hundred years, Zhan Yuan is the best preserved group of curated gardens and architecture in Nanjing that originated in the Ming Dynasty.
The Taiping Rebellion was the most significant resistance against the Qing Dynasty before the 1911 Revolution eventually overthrew China’s dynastic history. Spanning a period of twenty-five years between 1843 and 1868, the Taiping Rebellion had humble beginnings in Canton’s peasantry. The self-proclaimed Heavenly King, Hong Xiuquan, was a son of a peasant. He failed the Qing Civil Servant Examination four times.
When he met Christianity, he radicalized very quickly. Soon enough, he gathered a following by setting up the God Worshipping Society.[1] As he called himself the “brother of Jesus Christ,” he claimed to proclaim God’s will on earth. The Taiping Rebellion, meaning the Heavenly Kingdom of Peace, was considered a cult. A Christian missionary declined to baptize Hong Xiuquan. The Qing Dynasty viewed this combination of foreign religious leaning with the ability to organize to be a substantial threat. The group faced persecution by the Qing officials since its beginning as a religious sect.
However, the Taiping rebels won. Early victories against Qing persecution precipitated the rapid rise of the group as an organized resistance. Its initial success could be attributed to its banner of Han nationalism against the Qing Manchus, the reliance on religious practice to maintain discipline, rank and obedience, and the shared roots of peasantry as its identity. These features of the Taiping Rebellion has enabled the group to emerge as a political and social group. It had the ability to launch military campaigns externally and maintain order and cohesion internally. As such, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, as it so named itself, had semblance of a dynastic kingdom.
The initial success of the Taiping campaigns culminated in the proclamation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in 1851. Hong Xiuquan named himself the Heavenly King. At that time, the generals that won the uprisings against the Qing Dynasty were given territory. Hong Xiuquan named them Lords (or emperors in Chinese). It was all looking like a feudal kingdom seeking to overthrow the Qing Dynasty.
The Taiping Rebellion continued to wage successful campaigns in various strategic locations. The group took Changsha and Wuchang. Most critically, they seized control of Nanjing in 1853. Under the reign of the Taiping Rebellion, Nanjing was the Capital of Heaven (Tianjing). Thus began the Taiping Rebellion’s history in Nanjing.
In Nanjing, the people of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom lived by strict disciplines. They began their days with worship. They abided by a strict moral code as proclaimed by the Heavenly King (including the banning of all alcohol and drugs, and the segregation of the two sexes except for married couples). Staying true to its peasant roots, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had introduced land reform. Finally, it had its own calendar, mint and currency, tax system, civil service examination, government administration and, of course, its own military. Indeed, it was so successful against the Qing Dynasty that even in its early years in Nanjing, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom received foreign convoys.
Furthermore, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom raised enormous funds to build an elaborate palace compound for the Heavenly King in Nanjing in 1854. A model of the palace compound at the exhibition gave viewers a glimpse of the Taiping Rebellion’s former glory. It is a pity that when the Xiang Army led by Qing official Zeng Guofan besieged Nanjing, the peasant soldiers burned this palace compound down to the ground as an act of revenge. As such, many of the artifacts on display were replicas. There was not much left of the Taiping Rebellion after the fire.
The success of the Taiping Rebellion garnered world attention. Both Marx and Engels have taken note of the resistance and its peasant roots. Marx had, at one point, thought it to be a very successful exercise of the proletariat revolution.[2]
As to the final downfall of the Taiping Rebellion, perhaps it was a combination of internal and external factors. The foreign powers at the time agreed to quell the movement with the Qing Dynasty. British and French-assisted campaigns weakened the Taiping Rebellion by reclaiming some of the territories. Also, the group did not win over the inland regions of China partly due to their adherence to a foreign religion. Surely, Hong Xiuquan’s death in 1864 was the harbinger for the Taiping Rebellion’s final demise.
The Taiping Rebellion as a failed resistance movement against the Qing Dynasty is perhaps not something of interest to readers of the 21st century. Yet the Taiping Rebellion has in many ways made Nanjing. Therefore the Zhan Garden was worth a visit. Finally, with view of the effects of the Taiping Rebellion on Chinese history, it has influenced Dr. Sun Yatsen by sowing the sentiments of revolution into the mind of the next great leader.
Let me now conclude this entry on the Taiping Rebellion by Dr. Sun Yatsen’s comment, “there certainly was a nationalism against Qing rule. But the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom knew nationalism without knowing the individual rights of its people. They knew the ruler but did not know democracy.”[3]
After seeing the most extensive exhibition of the Taiping Rebellion in all of China, I sat down to enjoy these following views of the Ming Garden.
My feet were beginning to swell after all that walking.
[1] This Wikipedia entry contains a more comprehensive account of the Taiping Rebellion. The story as presented in this entry is mostly based upon the museum exhibits that I saw in Nanjing.
[2] See Karl Marx in New York Daily Tribune.
[3] This comment in Chinese is wittier than its English translation because of the way that “nationalism, individual rights of the people, ruler and democracy” are said in Chinese. See the Chinese discussion here.
When travelling solo, I am always aware of the ebb and flow of my mood. There is a kind of rhythm, a leap of the heart at the excitement of observing unfamiliar scenes and appreciating similarities at the same time. Unforeseen circumstances, be it bad …
I booked this trip to Nanjing in April 2019 for a brief three-and-a-half days, originally hoping to relax. If not for this blog, I would not have pushed myself over the limit on this trip. I walked so much that my feet swelled. On my …
It was only in the Xuanwuhu Tunnel that I noticed flashlights about once every ten seconds or so. I asked the driver what those were.
“Those are cameras. They capture the cars that pass by, thereby tracing the movement and direction of every car in the city.”
“Only in the tunnels?”
“No, all over Nanjing City. They are on all roads, you didn’t notice?”
Indeed, I did not notice. From the airport to the city, I rode on the airport bus. Under broad daylight, I simply did not notice cameras flashing. The airport bus dropped me off at Nanjing Train Station, I then caught a cab to go to my hotel.
When I asked for a cab ride, the cab drivers pointed me to this driver. I told him that I wanted metered taxi. He said, either meter or by negotiation. He quoted ￥40. When I got into the cab, there was simply no meter. Too late now, I thought to myself, ￥40 and so be it. This was what the Chinese people call “cattle car (huangniuche).”
There was quite a bit of conversation on this 15-minute ride. I asked about the famous Xuanwu Lake, and the driver told me that we would be going around the Lake, via the Xuanwuhu Tunnel, to arrive at the hotel.
“So, in fact, these cameras are for surveillance?”
“Surveillance and control,” he replied in Mandarin.
I noticed that he kept saying “OK, OK” in his mid-sentences. I figured that even though I spoke Mandarin, he thought of me as some sort of a foreigner, and the only English speech that he could do was “OK.” It was quite humorous. Maybe I spoke Mandarin like a foreigner does. It has been almost twenty years since I lived in Beijing.
The first impression of Nanjing was how neat and orderly it was, and I judged it so by the way that the travelers’ baggage were handled at the airport. There was no employee at the pickup carousel. When the baggage came out, someone has laid them orderly for pickup already, with a uniform spacing in between each and the handles on top. I was impressed—the way that Nanjing welcomed its travelers certainly surpassed that of Hong Kong.
I said that it must be so nice to be living in Nanjing city. The driver said, “well, it is a second-tier city.” I asked him what the first-tier cities were. He said, “you know, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen.” I assured him that Shenzhen was in no way comparable to Nanjing.
There are about 8 million Nanjing residents. Adding 2 million people from other provinces (waishengren), the population of Nanjing is about 10 million. When I learned that, I thought Nanjing is a major city. Only when I was visiting the city the following days did I fully appreciate this figure and its consequences on daily life.
The driver showed me some key transportation along the way, pointing me to the metro stations, the bus stops and introducing me to the surrounding areas. I sensed that he thought there was no need to do taxi’s at all in Nanjing.
There was an inkling in my heart that I should tip him some, but for some reason, I ended up not doing so. That turned out to be wise. I learned on the last day of my trip (the only other time that I took a taxi) that a metered taxi on the same journey, and with traffic, would only cost ￥25.
This driver made one of my first impressions of Nanjing. He was a man of the street, knowing the city very well and maneuvering the roads with great ease. He also knew the lone female traveler’s gullibility. It would be fair to call him Old Nanjing (note: not to suggest that the Nanjing people are deceitful, as they certainly are not). I was actually glad that I met him. The conversations were priceless.
It would be too late to visit the Xuanwu Lake that early evening. I opted for a sumptuous dinner at the famous Lion Bridge (Shiziqiao) food street. I will write more about the food of Nanjing in later entries.
What a wonderful first day.
