The History of China

The Taiping's greatest summer curdles into its bloodiest autumn. Two months after the East King demands to be crowned Hong Xiuquan's equal, three of his brother-kings converge on Nanjing with an army he never sees coming.By dawn, the man who once spoke with the voice of God is a head on a pole in the street. Yet the purge doesn't end there: it swallows thousands, devours the men who ordered it, and costs the Heavenly Kingdom its foothold on the Yangtze before the year is out – all without a single Qing soldier's help.Time Period Covered:Dec. 1853–Sep. 1856 CE

Major Historical Figures:Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King [1814–1864]Yang Xiuqing, East King [c. 1821–1856]Wei Changhui, North King [d. 1856]Qin Rigang, Yan King [1821–1856]Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863]Xiao Chaogui, West King [d. 1852]Feng Yunshan, South King [d. 1852]Hu Yihuang, Yu King (deposed)

Qing Dynasty:Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang/Hunan Army [1811–1872]Xiang Rong, Nanjing S. siege camp commander Nanjing [d. 1856]Tuoming'a, Yangzhou commander

Major Sources Cited:Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.
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The Taiping Army is riding high. Having finally broken two massive, three-year-long sieges over the course of a single summer, ultimate victory seems within their grasp. Yet, that taste of triumph acts like blood in the water. The lifting of the sieges removes the one thing that had been holding this fractured movement together: sheer external pressure.

For three years, the East King has been rehearsing one demand: the same title as the Heavenly King. Absolute recognition, absolute parity - the promotion he believes he's duly owed. Now with the pressure off, he's willing to do anything to get it, even summon the voice of God Himself.Time Period Covered:Dec. 1853–Sep. 1856 CE

Major Historical Figures:Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]Yang Xiuqing, the East King [c. 1821–1856]Wei Changhui, the North King [d. 1856]Qin Rigang, the Yan King [1821–1856]Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863]Xiao Chaogui, the West King [d. 1852]Feng Yunshan, the South King [d. 1852]Hu Yihuang, the deposed Yu King

Qing Dynasty:Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872]Xiang Rong, Qing commander of the southern siege camp at Nanjing [d. 1856]Tuoming'a, Manchu commander at Yangzhou

Major Sources Cited:Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.
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Three months after the biggest win of his life, Zeng Guofan tries to drown himself.Again.His fleet gets ambushed, split in half, & set ablaze by a 23-year-old nobody bothered to worry about – right up until he became the guy everybody worried about. The reward for surviving all that? A "promotion" in-name only... with no province, no funds, no friends, and a bureaucracy that somehow finds the – time mid-civil-war – to mock him personally. He loses his flagship, his files, his seal of command, and even a friend. And all the while, a much bigger disaster is assembling itself in Nanjing, completely without his input...Time Period Covered:Dec. 1854–Apr. 1856 CE

Major Historical Figures:Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Yang Xiuqing, the East King [c. 1821–1856]Qin Rigang, the Yan King [1821–1856]Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863]Lin Qirong, Taiping commander of JiujiangLuo Dagang, Taiping commander of Meijiazhou and Hukou

Qing Dynasty:The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yizhu) [r. 1850–1861]Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872]Taqibu, Manchu commander of the Xiang Army's land forces [d. 1855]Peng Yulin, co-founder of the Xiang Army's naval forces [1816–1890]Hu Linyi, Xiang Army commander, later Governor of HubeiChen Qimai, Governor of JiangxiTao Enpei, Governor of Hubei [d. 1855]Zuo Zongtang [1812–1885]

Major Sources Cited:Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.

Audio Backing Courtesy of:TabletopAudioCLS Productions
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Zeng Guofan goes to war to defend a fixed universe – and nearly drowns proving how unfixed his own place in it actually is. Across a single year, Hunan's most unlikely general brutally finds out that he is indeed no warrior, and consequentially must rebuild a river fleet from nothing... all while the Taiping's own capital is spared only my a mix-up with the date. By December, the Yangtze has changed hands – and a nervous throne has just learned exactly how dangerous a loyal army, and the man who built it, can become... and exactly how briefly gratitude lasts.

Time Period Covered:

Feb. – Dec. 1854 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:

Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]

Yang Xiuqing, the East King [c. 1821–1856]

Wei Changhui, the North King [1823–1856]

Qin Rigang, the Yan King [1821–1856]

Shi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863]

Qing Dynasty:

The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yinzhu) [r. 1850–1861]

Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872]

Taqibu, Manchu commander of the Xiang Army's land forces [d. 1855]

Peng Yulin, co-founder of the Xiang Army's naval forces [1816–1890]

Zhang Shoulin, aide who pulled Zeng Guofan from the Xiang River at Jinggang

Major Sources Cited:

Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I.

Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.

Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.

Kuhn, Philip A. "The Taiping Rebellion." The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.
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While the Northern Expedition dies in the freezing mud of Shandong, the Taiping's second strike — the Western Expedition — turns its sights on the provinces they've already ridden through on the Yangtze, a kingdom to go with their new Heavenly Capital. But waiting for them in Hunan is a man unable to ride a horse, or command an army... who will nevertheless set about constructing their ultimate doom.Time Period Covered:May 1853 – February 1854 CE

Major Historical Figures:Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King [1814–1864]Hu Yiguang, commander of the Anhui column, Western ExpeditionLai Hanying, commander of the Jiangxi column, Western ExpeditionShi Dakai, the Wing King [1831–1863]Li Xiucheng, future Loyal King [c. 1823–1864]Qing Dynasty:The Xianfeng Emperor (Aisin-Gioro Yinzhu) [r. 1850–1861]Jiang Zhongyuan, governor of Anhui [1812–1854]Zeng Guofan, founder of the Xiang Army [1811–1872]Tang Jian, Neo-Confucian scholar and Zeng Guofan's mentor [1778–1861]

Major Sources Cited:Michael, Franz, and Chang Chung-li. The Taiping Rebellion: History and Documents, Vol. I.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan.
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