God's Chinese Son

by Jonathan Spence

  49. Taylor, Five Years, 341-42, on Zhenjiang in June 1853; TR, 578-79, on stakes; Zhang Dejian, Zeqing, 134-36, has vivid illustrations of the spikes and palisades.

  50. TR, 436, from Xingjun zongyao.

  51. Yuzhi qianzi zhao, in Yinshu, 1-2; TR, 409.

  52. TR, 415, modified following Yuzhi qianzi zhao, in Yinshu, 13b—14.

  Chapter 14: Three Ships

  1. Wong, Calendar, 225, item 4; BPP/ IUP, 12, 13, on the three ships; Mercier, Cassini, 228, on Bonham's and Hermes's arrival on March 21; ibid., 229, on Susquehanna's presence there; ibid., 222, on Cassini's anchoring in Shanghai on March 15; ibid., 224, on Chinese requests that Cassini go to Nanjing, for March 17 and 19; p. 231 for April 5.

  2. Mercier, Cassini, 229.

  3. Ibid., 231, 233.

  4. Ibid., 237.

  5. NCH, April 2, 1853; Mercier, Cassini, 245; BPP / IUP, 24.

  6. NCH, April 9, 1853.

  7. Mercier, Cassini, 251, 254.

  8. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 3—35, has a sampling of these sources.

  9. Ibid., 19-20, and Wylie, Memorials, 95, both citing the Chinese and General Missionary Gleaner.

  10. BPP /IUP, 23.

  11. Ibid., 11, March 28, 1853.

  12. Ibid., 12-13; Gregory, Great Britain, 15-24, for a summary of the mission; Mercier, Cassini, 221, on Portuguese.

  13. BPP/IUP, 15.

  14. Ibid., 26.

  15. Ibid., 26,28.

  16. Ibid., 40.

  17. Ibid., 34, 38.

  18. Ibid., 38.

  19. Ibid., 37.

  20. Ibid.

  21. Fishbourne, Impressions, 141-44, 152, 154-55.

  22. See Meadows in BPP / IUP, 45-54.

  23. BPP / IUP, 41-42; also cited in TR, 515-17.

  24. BPP /IUP, 42-43.

  25. Ibid., 32, 35.

  26. Ibid., 32, 54.

  27. NCH, May 14, 1853.

  28. Wong, Calendar, 228-29, items 23 and 26.

  29. Mercier, Cassini, 17, 18.

  30. Ibid., 23-24, 29-30, 42-44, 52-53.

  31. Ibid., 229-31.

  32. BPP / IUP, 19-25, on defenses.

  33. Mercier, Cassini, 320.

  34. Ibid., 318, 326, 328. That this continued to be a problem for the French is shown by the 1854 letter of Consul Edan to Alcock, March 19, 1854, stored in PRO/FO 671/2.

  35. Mercier, Cassini, 222, 325, 366.

  36. Ibid., 258, 338-39.

  37. Ibid., 340-43.

  38. Clavelin, cited in Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 94.

  39. Ibid., 96.

  40. Ibid., 94-96.

  41. Ibid., 106-9.

  42. Ibid., 97. 43.Ibid.

  44. Ibid., 100; Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 273-74.

  45. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 101.

  46. Mercier, Cassini, 356.

  47. Cited from French Foreign Ministry archives by Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 90.

  48. Translated by the author from Mercier, Cassini, 363-65.

  49. Ibid., 372-73.

  50. Ibid., 229.

  51. Tong, Diplomacy, 122 n. 8, 126; Mercier, Cassini, 246, 251.

  52. Mercier, Cassini, 257, 294, 370; on Marshall and Perry see R. E. Johnson, China Station, 63-66; Tong, Diplomacy, 121-25.

  53. TR, 125.

  54. Teng Yuan Chung, "Roberts" 60; Wylie, Memorials, 95.

  55. Teng Yuan Chung, "Roberts," 60.

  56. Ibid., 61.

  57. NA-DD, Microcopy 92, roll 10, Macao, April 8, 1854; and Shanghai, June 14, 1854; Teng Yuan Chung, "Roberts," 61; Tong, Diplomacy, 148-49.

  58. NA-DD, 92:10, Capt. Buchanan letter of May 26, 1854, enclosed with McLane of June 14 and marked "Exhibit A"; also cited in TR, 521-22.

  59. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 109; TR, 525.

  60. TR, 526.

  61. As recalled by Lewin Bowring, in Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 168.

  62. TR, 528-29.

  63. TR, 529-30, citing NA-DD, 92:10, enclosed with McLane of June 14, but reworking it in light of the Chinese original.

  64. TR, 527.

  65. NA-DD, memorandum of June 1, 1854, enclosed with McLane of June 14 as Exhibit C, Dispatch no. 6, by Charles F. Forbes, Assistant Surgeon.

  66. See the Irish mercenary quoted in Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 199.

  67. NA-DD, June 1, 1854, Exhibit C.

  68. TR, 531.

  69. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 131.

  70. McLane June 14, cited ibid., 133.

  71. Ibid., 135.

  72. Ibid., 136-37.

  Chapter 15: The Split

  1. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 171, 175.

  2. Ibid., 185-88.

  3. Ibid., 182-83.

  4. Ibid., 193-94; Guo Yisheng, Ditu, 67-68.

  5. Wright, Last Stand, chap. 9; Kuhn, Rebellion, chap. 4.

  6. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 237—38. Chen was the nephew of Chen Chengyong.

  7. Ibid, 202-3, 210-12; Guo Yisheng, Ditu, 73-74, 77.

  8. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 196-98, 254-56; Wakeman, Strangers, chaps. 14 and 15; Guo Yisheng, Ditu, 97.

  9. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 131-32; Withers, "Heavenly Capital," 178-80.

  10. Guo Tingyi, Shishi, appendix, 41-44.

  11. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 206-7, on communications, and 209.

  12. TR, 199-200, 203.

  13. TR, 200, 204, 213.

  14. TR, 205, 215, 217. An early warning of Hong's violence to his wife was given by Jesus through Xiao Chaogui in 1849; see Tianxiong shengzhi, 1:13b.

  15. TR, 205-7, one change.

  16. TR, 214-15.

  17. TR, 217; Tianfu xiafan zhaoshu, no. 2, in Yinshu, 19.

  18. See reprises in Tianxiong shengzhi, 1:5, Daoguang 28 (1848) middle of 11th month.

  19. Ibid, 1:13, Daoguang 29/1/18.

  20. Ibid, 2:14b, Daoguang 30/8/1.

  21. TR, 217; Tianfu xiafan zhaoshu, no. 2, in Yinshu, 19.

  22. Tianxiong shengzhi, 1:3b—4, Daoguang 28/10/24.

  23. W. H. Medhurst, the original author of this Chinese text, translated it back into English with meticulous notations on the additions and deletions, the whole Hong version appearing in NCH, Sept. 22, Sept. 29, Oct. 6, 1855. See also TR, 344-64.

  24. TR, 201-3, 219; Tianfu xiafan zhaoshu, no. 2, in Yinshu, 20b; 1 John 5:7; TR, 234, for Hong's familiarity with the verse; and Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 159-60.

  25. TR, 204; Tianfu xiafan zhaoshu, no. 2, in Yinshu, 7, where Qin (the "Ting-t'ien-hou") has tofu(a), or "carry on the back," the East King, while Wei fu(b), "escorts," Hong to his palace.

  26. TR, 218, modified following Tianfu xiafan zhaoshu, no. 2, in Yinshu, 20.

  27. TR, 214, Tianfu xiafan zhaoshu, no. 2, Yinshu, 17.

  28. Fishbourne, Impressions, 239 n, for Tiangui as the third brother; TR, 202 n, citing Xie Jiehe, a Nanjing resident under the Taiping, for Feng.

  29. TR, 377-78.

  30. TR, 379, 391; Xia, Zongjiao, 93.

  31. Tianfu shengzhi, 5-9, dated Taiping 4/1/27. Manacled were Chen Chengyong, Meng De'en, and Shi Dakai's father-in-law, Huang Yukun; accused and pardoned, Lu Xianba; see Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 161, for Lu's Ten Commandments work; executed was Chen Zongyang.

  32. In Tianfu shengzhi, 7, God /Yang specifically reminds the audience of the earlier Huang Yizhen and Zhou Xineng cases. For Zhou, see also TR, 89-97; for Huang, TR, 102, 443.

  33. Tianfu shengzhi, 3-4; see also Wagner, "Operating," 133-34, for a somewhat different translation and analysis.

  34. Tianxiong shengzhi, 1:5b—6; Wang, Tianfu, 7; Wagner, "Operating," 131.

  35. TR, 200-16, identifies four different passages quoted by Yang from the Analects and one from the Great Learning.

  36. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 230-31, original translation by Jen Yu-wen, slightly modified following Chinese text in Jen's Quanshi, 2:1084.

  37. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 266-67, and Quanshi, 2:1271-76.

  38. Gregory, Great Britain, 173; most of this report by Lew
in Bowring and W. H. Med- hurst Jr. is included in Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 157-71. Their entire longhand draft, with deletions and corrections, is preserved in PRO/FO 671/2.

  39. PRO / FO 17/214, folio pp. 198v-99, also cited in full in Gregory, Great Britain, 180— 86, quotations on 181; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 170, on the envelope.

  40. PRO/FO 17/214, folio pp. 203r and v; Gregory, Great Britain, 186. Two key discus­sions of this passage are Wagner, Heavenly Vision, 44-46, 65, and Xia, Zongjiao, 103-8.

  41. Gregory, Great Britain, 187-88.

  42. Ibid., 190-91.

  43. PRO / FO 17/214, folio p. 207v; Gregory, Great Britain, 189-90; Lewin Bowring in Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 171, on the "synod."

  44. Gregory, Great Britain, 193.

  45. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 165, 168.

  46. Tianfu shengzhi, 12b-13, dated Taiping 4/6/1; Xia, Zongjiao, 98-100; Wagner, "Operating," 136—37.

  47. Tianfu shengzhi, 12b—13b, dated Taiping 4/6/1.

  Chapter 16: The Killing

  1. Tianfu shengzhi, 15, dated Taiping 5/3/19; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 187.

  2. TR, 442, modified following Xiang, Ziliao, 3:191; Tianfu shengzhi, 16, dated 5/6/17.

  3. See seven examples in Tianfu shengzhi, dated 4/8/24, 4/12/13, 5/2/13, 5/6/7, 5/6/17, 5/8/ 17, and 5/11/2.

  4. All these procedures can be seen in Tianfu shengzhi, 20-24b, dated 5/7/19, and 32b- 33, dated 6/3/5.

  5. I.e., Tianfu shengzhi, 25b-27b, dated 5/8/26; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 196, shows a case of Hong going to Yang's palace.

  6. Tianfu shengzhi, 26b, dated 5/8/26.

  7. Ibid., 31b, dated 5/9/5.

  8. Ibid., 29b, dated 5/8/27, calling God "Tian Agong."

  9. See Guo Tingyi, Shishi, appendix, 21, for their 1854 kingships as Yanwang and Yuwang; Tianfu shengzhi, 14, dated 4/12/13; Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 292, for cancella­tion.

  10. Tianfu shengzhi, 14b-15, dated 5/2/13.

  11. TR, 385-86, case of Li Yusong; for this punishment, see Zhang Runan, Jinling, 716.

  12. TR, 393-94, case of Li Fengxian.

  13. Tianfu shengzhi, 16b—19b, dated 5/6/28, for four such cases.

  14. Ibid., 19b—20, dated 5/6/30.

  15. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 278-86; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 181-85.

  16. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 290-91; Curwen, Deposition, 86.

  17. Curwen, Deposition, 198; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 180; Dr. J. MacGowan, in an article for NCH, April 25, 1857, nicknames the man "Canny," but does not query the accuracy of his account. E. C. Bridgman, in an earlier letter to NCH, Jan. 2, 1857, also sees "no reason to question the accuracy" of the Irishman's story. The entire account is printed in three consecutive issues of the Overland Friend of China, 1857: Jan. 15, issue 1, p. 2; Jan. 21, issue 2, p. 10; Jan. 30, issue 3, supplement. These will be cited as #1, #2, and #3. My special thanks to Nicholas Spence for procuring the copies of this text for me.

  18. Wong, Calendar, 228-29, item 26.

  19. Gregory, Great Britain, 208, citing Captain Mellersh, June 24, 1854; another "negro" who joined the Taiping in 1853 is mentioned in Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 182.

  20. Gregory, Great Britain, 34.

  21. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 82, quoting Mr. Williams, June 30, 1853.

  22. Gregory, Great Britain, 35; Wakeman, Strangers, 147.

  23. Bowring to Clarendon, Jan. 25, 1855, cited in Gregory, Great Britain, 215 n. 12.

  24. Mercier, Cassini, 225, 284.

  25. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 181, 186.

  26. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 182.

  27. Overland Friend, #1; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 181.

  28. Overland Friend, #1; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 182.

  29. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 183, 185, 198.

  30. Ibid, 184-85.

  31. Ibid, 186-87.

  32. Overland Friend, #2; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 187.

  33. Overland Friend, #3; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 196.

  34. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 187-88, 199.

  35. Ibid, 195, 199.

  36. Ibid, 196; Overland Friend, #3.

  37. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 193.

  38. Tianfu shengzhi, 34, dated 6/7/9.

  39. Overland Friend, #2; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 188.

  40. len, Revolutionary Movement, 294-95; Curwen, Deposition, 86, 196-98. I follow Jen Yuwen and Li Xiucheng in placing Qin at the scene, rather than the version in Guo Tingyi; see Curwen, Deposition, 89, 209 n. 19.

  41. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 189.

  42. Overland Friend, #2; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 190-91.

  43. Overland Friend, #2 and #3, records that 500 of Yang's former palace women were beheaded, and gives a dramatic but unlikely figure of 40,000 for the total of Yang's follow­ers killed; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 190-92, 196.

  44. Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 299-300; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 191; Curwen, Deposition, 86-87, 198.

  45. Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 193, describes his departure from the Yangzi force.

  46. Overland Friend, #2; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 195.

  47. Overland Friend, #3; Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 195.

  Chapter 17: Family Circles

  TR, 931 n. 1.

  TR, 989-91; Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 158 n. 52.

  Guo Tingyi, Shishi, 755, and appendix, 20; TR, 931.

  Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 301-2; Guo Tingyi, Shishi, appendix, 20 and 22.

  Clarke and Gregory, Reports, 194.

  Curwen, Deposition, 87, 91; TR, 1401, follows the NCH version of 1865.

  TR, 697, modified following Xiang, Ziliao, 2:694.

  Curwen, Deposition, 92.

  Kuhn, Rebellion, pt. 4; Wright, Last Stand, 73-77.

  Qingdai dangan, 1:2, 7, 10, 14, 20, 29.

  Ibid., 57-58, Xianfeng 7/3/23 and 7/8/5; ibid., 62-63, 8/6/24, shows that in 1858 the annual Manchu winter hunts were canceled as a further economy measure.

  As argued by Li Xiucheng, cited in Curwen, Deposition, 92.

  Guo Tingyi, Shishi, appendix, 19 and 23; TR, 981-82.

  Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 352-53; Guo Tingyi, Shishi, appendix, 23, 24, 38, for the "guozong" and the 1856 and 1857 dates. The "guozong" category also contained rela­tives of the other kings.

  BPP/IUP, 153; also cited in TR, 985.

  See his confession, in TR, 1530. Other contemporaries suggested a total of 148 con­sorts or more—see TR, 585, and Zhang Dejian, Zeqing, 310. All of these consorts were entitled to the honorable term of niangniang, or Senior Queen, and were not divided into a hierarchy of concubines by rank, as in the imperial model prevalent in Peking. See Jen, Revolutionary Movement, 138.

  Confession, in TR, 1531.

  TR, 898-900, Youzhu zhaoshu; memorization, TR, 1531.

  Tianfu shi, in Yinshu, vol. 14, dated 1857, TR, 585-666, cited by stanza numbers, which are identical in the English and the Chinese versions.

  Stanzas 139, 157, 358.

  Stanzas 134-37, 243-45.

  Stanzas 218, 304, 151,230.

  Stanzas 148, 394, 470, 212; 189 for organ Jengqin.

  Stanzas 170, 260,416.

  Trash, stanza 129; leprosy, 446, 490; spittoons, 152, 154, 296; insects, 158, 159, 241; fans, 177, 263.

  Stanzas 192,303.

  Stanzas 179-80, 188, 297, 224, 281.

  Body, stanza, 283; face, 485, 200, 393; feet, 174; navel, 485.

  Stanzas 216, 197, 237.

  Stanzas 267, 337, 338,310.