THE TAEPING REBELLION.* THE war with China in 1860, the
third Chinese War, had so much depending on its satisfactory conclusion, that people were, and are, apt to overlook the magnitude of the Taeping Rebellion, a rebellion began in 1851, which lasted fifteen years, and overthrew hundreds of cities. The state of mind the Chinese Government were in was not one favourable to the reception of barbarian merchants, whom they reasonably supposed to be but the thin end of the wedge. Every one under such trying circumstances is inclined to hit any stranger. It was as if you were trying to oust some robbers from your land, and some one asked permission to " squat" on it, or you were endeavouring to clear your preserves of poachers, when some one came up and asked permission to pick prim- roses : it is almost certain you would refuse him. It is true that the Chinese were glad, or pretended to be glad, of European assistance ; but they did not go down on their knees to ask for it. They were not as grateful as they might have been, perhaps; but then, the whole thing was distasteful, paying, as they were, a large indemnity, and having to pay for mercenaries of very doubtful character, who sometimes fought on one side, sometimes on the other. " The Ever-Victorious Army " were soldiers of fortune, or, in plain English, a band of freebooters, who were paid at the rate of so many Generals, and lived a life of hardship, it is true, but one compensated by unlimited loot. General Gordon, with his wonderful personality, made the fame of the " Ever-Victorious" and its achievements second to none in the world, led it to countless victories, and saved a vast and immemorial Empire from a terrible struggle, and— disbanded it. What Ward and Burgevine would have led their followers to, had no English officer, no "king of men" like Gordon, appeared, must remain a subject of specula- tion. The " Ever-Victorious " and the " Taepings " might together have "marched through rapine to the dismember- ment of the Empire." The dynasty of " Peace" or " Taeping," proclaimed by the Tien Wang, was a visitation that China has not yet recovered from. Tseng-kwoh-fau, at the close of the rebellion, in a despatch, compared it with two former out- breaks. The first, under the Emperor Kanghi, 1661 A.D., ravaged four provinces and destroyed ten cities ; the second, under the Emperor Kiaking, 1796 A.D., ravaged twelve provinces and destroyed three hundred cities ; and the third, the " Taeping," ravaged sixteen out of the eighteen provinces of China, and destroyed six hundred cities. These are Chinese figares ; but the desolation was immense, with armies on a Chinese scale, and warfare conducted after the desultory fashion of the Middle Ages. In the protracted sieges, the inhabitants of the populous cities became cannibals ; the rice- eaters of a thousand years ate human meat ; the taking of
• Events of the Taping Rebellion. By A. Egmont Hake. With Portrait and Nap. London • W ki Allen and Co.
cities, by either Taepings or Imperialists, was followed by wholesale massacres, and multitudes starved. Vast as is the Empire, and densely populated—the people are numbered by hundreds of millions—the shock to its great industries and wonderful system of road and river communication, and its immemorial civilisation, was fearful.
The Imperialists, it would seem, never despaired of their ultimate triumph ; though to what extent certainty entered into that belief, before the arrival of " Kotong," must ever remain an unknown quantity. They had the best men and the best Generals, and Pekin was safe ; but the great game of war went on very evenly, until Fon-chow was taken, over the fall of which the great rebel Chung Wang wept, and the Taepings were hemmed in at Weiss°, and heavily 'defeated. This crushing blow was due to Gordon's persistent and energetic advance and following up of the rebels. At the same time, be it remembered, he cut in half the district over which the rebels ranged.
In the early years of the rebellion, the Taeping leaders gained great military successes. They had taken Nankin and been besieged, and had made a great sortie and driven back the Imperialists, and Le, the Chung Wang, or " Faith- ful King," fairly outmanoeuvred his Imperialist opponent, and defeated him, thus practically raising the siege of Nankin. Another Imperialist army was also beaten, its leader strangling himself ; this, indeed, provoked the Chung- Wang's opponent to such an extent, that he turned the tables. Dissensions now arose among the rebels, and the Tang-Wang, who had become the head of the rebels, now that the " Heavenly King" secluded himself, was assassinated. Other leaders met the same fate, but the position of the Taepings could scarcely be said to have become weaker. The heads of the rebellion were fewer, so that friction was reduced, and mutual support became a necessity. About this time, 1856, the Taepings held some important towns on the Grand Canal and the Yang-tze-Kiang, and some smaller towns away from the river ; and the E Wang was marching towards Hankow. In 1857, the Imperialists invested Nankin for the second time ; but the Chung-Wang again, with the aid of another of the Kings, the Ying-Wang, outmanoeuvred and defeated his old opponent. Chin-Kiang, on the Grand Canal, however, fell into the hands of the Imperialists. This year also saw the capture of Canton by the Allies, in retaliation for the boarding of the Arrow' " loocha." This was the second war with China.
After various victories and reverses, the Chung-Wang and the Ying-Wang succeeded in completely surrounding another Imperialist General. Against this had to be set, however, the subsequent defeat of the two by Liaou Chiou, the greatest of the Imperialist Generals. These last events took place in the year 1858, when the Takoo Forts were taken and the Treaty of Tientsin ratified. During the next year, the Chung-Wang again defeated the Imperialists, by a skilful manoeuvre ; but Nankin was once more completely invested. This year our fleet was defeated at the Peiho, and another war with China became imminent. In 1860, the surrender of the City of Nankin was deemed certain by the Imperialists ; but the indefatigable Chung Wang, after attacking the country from which his old rival drew supplies, so that some of the beleaguering troops were sent off to relieve the country, made a rapid march back to Nankin, outmarched, in fact, the General sent to check him, and, acting in concert with other rebel leaders, surrounded the Imperial lines and inflicted a crushing defeat on them. He followed this victory up so well, that, having repeatedly beaten the Imperialists, he entered Sou-chow. Both the Generals who confronted him at Nankin were now dead, one drowned, the other falling by his own hand,—defeated Generals being partial to the " Happy Despatch." At this date, Mr. Hake's narrative reminds us that "the Allies were collecting their forces pre- paratory to a march to Pekin to avenge the Takoo repulse?' Ho Kweitsu, the Governor-General of the two Kiangs, actually appealed to the allies to save Sou-chow, but no steps were taken beyond a proclamation to the rebels that we and the French should protect Shanghai. Ho Kweitsn then memorialised the Throne, " commanding " his Government to accede to the requests of the Allies, and use them against the rebels. For this insolence, and the disasters at Nankin, for which he was responsible, that city being in the province of Kiang su, the unfortunate man was degraded, summoned to Pekin, and beheaded. The incomprehensible arrogance of the Chinese, however, vented itself for the last time, the march on Pekin began, the Battle of Chan-chia-win was fought under its walls, and the Summer Palace looted and burnt. It was in this year that certain merchants of Shanghai engaged Ward and Burgevine to enlist Europeans and Manilla men to protect their own district. The first feat, the taking of Sungkiong, not far from Shanghai, at once raised the reputation of Ward, though it was followed by a repulse at Singpoo. Ward, indeed, was arrested by our authorities, now at peace with the Emperor's Government, in view of the difficulties that might arise from his actions. He escaped penalties by pleading " Chinese nationality," and was warned to enlist no more men; nevertheless, in September, 1861, he began drilling Chinese again, at the instigation of the aforesaid merchants, of which one Takn was chief ; these recruits were the " Ever- Victorious Army."
The Taepings were most active this year, as great plans had been made for the capture of Hankow, " the bold conception of Chung Wang, who undertook a march to attain this of no less than five hundred miles." Four armies, under four Wangs, were to concentrate on Hankow. Those commanded by Ying Wang and Chung Wang did so, the Ying Wang marching two hundred miles in eleven days, with over fifty thousand men. Both these armies, being unsupported, had to retreat, the Chung Wang's retreating a distance of eight hundred miles. The great plan. which might have changed the history of China for some years, had failed ; but the Chung Wang invaded Che-Kiang with great success, and the rebel position could hardly be called weaker. Prince Kung having nego- tiated for some ships, the construction of a fleet was put in hand, and officers enlisted for service. Meanwhile, the " Ever- Victorioas " had distinguished themselves, and Shanghai had been attacked by the rebels. Pekin was persuaded to acknowledge the assistance of Ward's troops, and they became known as the Chun Chin, of which the im- posing English title is a translation. Ward having been killed, and Burgevine having quarrelled with Li Hung Chang, and struck a Mandarin, Takee, on the face, about the pay, being dismissed—the " Ever-Victorious " costing £30,000 a month—Captain Gordon was recommended to Li Hung Chang, as joint commander with a Mandarin. Before he took command, the force met with a reverse under the temporary command of Captain Holland, which made his reception by them doubtful. However, we all know, insubordination under Gordon was short-lived. Then began the series of steady successes and the capture of Son-chow, a strategical point on the Grand Canal. The assassination of the Sou-chow Wangs by Ching and the Futai, Li Hung Chang, was a great blow to the Taepings, and an even worse one to Gordon, who was nearly beside himself with rage and disgust. When the com- motion had somewhat subsided, Gordon determined on making a final effort to drive back the rebels and crush them between his own and the Imperial forces. The" rebel " country now was " hour-glass shaped," and Gordon planned to cut the neck in half, roll back the northern portion upon itself, then march rapidly down on Chauchufu. This was carried out, and the rebels having been surrounded at Waisso—where, however, they had the pleasure of seeing disaster overtake the " Ever- Victorious "—were cut to pieces; Chanchufu fell soon after. The end of the rebellion followed; Nankin was taken; and the Tien Wang swallowing gold-leaf, the dynasty of Peace or Taeping ended.
It were ungracious, perhaps, to find fault with Mr. Egmont Hake's Events of the Taeping Rebellion, but we cannot help noticing the absence of a map. True it is that we have a fac-simile of Gordon's own map, but it relates only to his own campaign, and is a very rough one. The operations round Sou-chow would become clearer if we had the plainest of diagrams. Our main contention, however, is that if Events of the Taeping Rebellion is to have any military value whatever —and lacking that, its value would not be much—it should have a map. China, with its waterways, is a magnificent country for the display of military talents. To us, the line on which Chinese strategy runs, is far more interesting than any other matter in the book, Mr. Hake having already told us The Story of Chinese Gordon. He is not a great military historian, though he gives a fairly distinct outline of the general movements of the Taepings and Imperialists. The Chung Wang was distinctly a strategist, and also a General, beloved of the rebels, and one whose personality had to be reckoned with in a battle. One of his last acts while
free, was to give his own fleet horse to the son of the Tien- Wang at the fall of Nankin. The death of a brave man was unfortunately denied to him, and he suffered as a rebel. For the affectionate students of Gordon's life, there are some interesting, though shockingly written, reminiscences by one who served under him in China. They are extremely charac- teristic of the man who took one of the principal parts in restoring true " peace " to China.
The Taepings professed a most hideous travesty of the Christian belief, in which it would be difficult to say whether childishness or blasphemy predominated. One of the Wongs had himself been converted. A code of ethics is perhaps more suited to an unimaginative race. At present, indeed, the hazy but ancient religious tenets of the masses offer a great bar to conversion ; though, once baptised, a Chinaman can suffer martyrdom.
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