The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Chinese: 太平天囯,1 pinyin: Tàipíng Tiānguó; Hakka: Thai-phìn Thiên-koet, lit. "Great Peaceful Kingdom of Heaven" or "Heavenly Kingdom") was an oppositional state in China from 1851 to 1864, established by Hóng Xiùquán (洪秀全), the leader of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). Its capital was at Tianjing (天京, Wade-Giles: Tienching, "Heavenly Capital"), present-day Nanjing.
A convert to Christianity, Hong Xiuquan led an army that controlled some parts of southern China, with about 30 million people. The rebel Kingdom announced social reforms and the replacement of the powers of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion by his form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the younger brother of Jesus and that he met God and his wife in heaven. The Taiping areas were besieged by Qing forces throughout most of the rebellion. The Qing government defeated the rebellion with the eventual aid of French and British forces.
Read more about Taiping Heavenly Kingdom: The Heavenly Kingdom's Policies, See Also, Notes
Famous quotes containing the words heavenly and/or kingdom:
“Religion! what treasure untold
Resides in that heavenly word!”
—William Cowper (1731–1800)
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.”
—Bible: New Testament Jesus, in Matthew, 24:6-7.