Hong Rengan

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Hong Rengan ( Chinese  洪仁玕 , Pinyin Hóng Réngān , W.-G. Hung Jen-kan ; born February 18, 1822 in Huadu , Guangdong Province , Chinese Empire ; † November 23, 1864 in Nanchang ) was an important leading figure in the Taiping -Rebellion during the Qing Dynasty . As the cousin of the god-king of the Taiping movement Hong Xiuquan , he served as the second man in the state in the rebel capital Nanjing from 1859 . His efforts to win over Western states for the support of the Taiping, who see themselves as Christian , failed. After the rebellion was put down, Hong Rengan was executed by the imperial authorities.

Origin and career

Like his cousin Hong Xiuquan, Hong Rengan came from a village in Huadu District in Guandong Province and belonged to the Hakka ethnic group . Similar to Hong Xiuquan, he made a living as a village school teacher. He was one of the first converts to Hong Xiuquan's movement, which saw itself as genuinely Christian and honored Hong Xiuquan as the new messiah .

Worked for missionaries in southern China

In the early years of the rebellion, Hong Rengan stayed in southern China and sought contact with foreign missionaries. In 1853 he was baptized in Canton in 1853 by the Swedish missionary Theodor Hamberg . On behalf of Hamberg, he tried to travel to the rebel capital Nanjing, but was unsuccessful due to persecution by the Qing authorities and acts of war. From 1855 he settled permanently in Hong Kong , where he worked for the London Missionary Society . He mainly worked for the Scottish missionary James Legge . Without his knowledge, he left Canton for Nanjing in 1858.

Leadership role in Taiping State

Hong Rengan arrived in the rebel capital after traveling for a year. The movement was under economic and military pressure. The capital was threatened by Qing troops. His cousin had withdrawn from public life under the pressure of events. After his arrival, Hong Xiuquan gave Hong Rengan the central leadership position at the court, which was comparable to a prime minister. Hong Rengan stood above the God-King's generals and regulated their access to his cousin on the throne. Hong Rengan became the leading author of Taiping political and religious treatises. In addition to social reforms and the distribution of land, he also called for industrial and technological modernization based on Western models. At court he pushed through the establishment of institutions based on the model of the imperial government and implemented an examination system similar to the official examination , but with Christian instead of Confucian content. He placed his hopes in an alliance with the Christian nations of the West, which he sought to achieve through the mediation of missionaries invited to Nanjing. This hope was dashed when he fell out with the last remaining missionary, Issachar Roberts , who left the city in January 1862.

Even before the fall of the capital, Hong Rengan withdrew to Huzhou in Zhejiang Province . From there, he organized an unsuccessful escape with Hong Xiuquan's successor, Hong Tianguifu . Hong Rengan was captured on the run after the defeat of the last Taiping troops and executed in Nanchang in November 1864 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jonathan D. Spence: God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuqan. New York 1996, pp. 67-70
  2. ↑ Stephen R. Platt: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom - China, the West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War. New York, 2012, p. 8, p. 13, pp. 18-23
  3. ↑ Stephen R. Platt: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom - China, the West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War. New York, 2012, pp. 53, pp. 157-161, pp. 258-260, pp. 338
  4. ↑ Stephen R. Platt: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom - China, the West and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War. New York, 2012, p. 342, p. 353f
personal data
SURNAME Hong, Rengan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Taiping Uprising leader
DATE OF BIRTH February 18, 1822
PLACE OF BIRTH Huadu , Guangdong Province , Chinese Empire
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1864
Place of death Nanchang