Early Life and Education
Hong Xiuquan's name at birth was "Hong Huoxiu", the third son of a poor Hakka family. He was born in Fuyuanshui Village, Hua County (now part of Huadu District Guangzhou), Guangdong to Hong Jingyang and Madam Wang. His grandfather was Hong Guoyou, who was, like his ancestors, a farmer. He later moved to Guanlubu Village. His wife was Lai Xiying.
Hong showed an interest in scholarship at an early age, so his family made financial sacrifices to provide a formal education to him, in the hope that he could one day complete the civil service examinations. Hong started studying at a school called Book Chamber House at the age of seven. He was able to recite the Four Books after five or six years. At around the age of 15 his parents were no longer able to afford his education, so he became a tutor to children in his village and continued to study privately. He took the local preliminary civil service examinations and came first; so, at the age of 22, in 1836, he took the provincial examinations in Guangzhou. Unsurprisingly, he failed the imperial examinations, which had a pass rate of less than 1%. He retook the test four times, but never succeeded, partly due to the fierce competition, but also due to being unable to secure a bribe to the examination officials of the corrupt and decaying Qing dynasty.
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