Feng Yunshan (; 1815 – June 10, 1852) was the South King of the
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, a distant cousin
[Jen Yu-wen, The Taiping Revolutionary Movement 22–23 (1973)] and early accomplice of
Hong Xiuquan
Hong Xiuquan (1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864), born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun, was a Chinese revolutionary and religious leader who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He established the Taiping Heavenly K ...
, and an important leader during the
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...
against the
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
government. He was one of the first Taipings to be baptized and established the first group of
God Worshippers during the 1840s. He was killed during the initial stages of the rebellion, prior to the establishment of the Taiping's capital of
Tianjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yan ...
at
Nanjing
Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400.
Situated in the Yang ...
.
Early life
Feng Yunshan worked as a village teacher in Heluo Village,
Hua county,
Guangdong
) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...
. Although educated, he was unable to pass the imperial examinations. Like Hong Xiuquan, he was a
Hakka
The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...
, and he was among the first of Hong's converts to Hong's new religion, backlash to which cost him his teaching position. Feng, Hong, and two other relatives of Hong left Hua county in April 1844. They first traveled to Guangzhou and preached in the outlying areas before heading northwest to White Tiger Village. There, Feng and Hong split off and traveled some 250 miles to the southwest to the village of Sigu,
Guiping county,
Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
, where distant relatives of Hong's resided, including two early converts who had returned home. In November 1844, Hong returned home without Feng, who remained in the area and continued to preach.
God-worshiping Society
After Hong Xiuquan's departure, Feng traveled deeper and deeper into the heart of the
Thistle Mountain region, preaching and baptizing new converts. Feng christened this group of believers the "
God Worshipping Society." Hakkas from this area, generally poor and beset by both bandits and local Chinese families angry at the presence of the Hakka in their ancestral lands, found refuge in the group with its promise of solidarity. On August 27, 1847, Feng and the Society were joined by the returning Hong Xiuquan.
In the months following Hong Xiuquan's return, Feng was twice captured by a competing local corps. On the first occasion in December 1847, the God Worshipers freed him by force. When Feng was captured a second time in January 1848, he was sent to a local magistrate who, after receiving a bribe from the God Worshippers, released him on the condition that he return to Guangdong. Feng was unable to return to the God Worshippers until the summer of the following year. Upon his return, he discovered that
Yang Xiuqing
Yang Xiuqing () (died September 2/3, 1856), was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion.
Early life
Yang Xiuqing's family were farmers from Xincun near Jintian, Guangxi, but he lost his parents at a young age. According ...
and
Xiao Chaogui had taken leadership roles within God Worshipping Society. Both claimed to enter trances which allowed them to speak as a member of the
Trinity
The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...
; God the Father (
Shangdi
Shangdi (), also called simply Di (), is the name of the Chinese Highest Deity or "Lord Above" in the Chinese theology, theology of the classical texts, especially deriving from Shang dynasty, Shang theology and finding an equivalent in the lat ...
) in the case of Yang and Jesus Christ in the case of Xiao. When Feng returned in the summer of 1849, he and Hong Xiuquan investigated Yang and Xiao's claims and declared them to be genuine. In early 1850, Feng became the first leader of the God Worshipper Society to call for open revolt.
Taiping Rebellion
Feng was later announced as the "South King" of the
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...
. He is credited with being the strategist of the rebellion and the administrator of the kingdom during its early days.
On May 24, 1852, as the Taiping marched by
Quanzhou
Quanzhou is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China, People's Republic of China. It is Fujian's largest most populous metropolitan region, wi ...
,
Guangxi
Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
with no intention of invading, a Qing gunner fatally wounded Feng as he sat in his sedan chair. Rallied by the news, the Taiping surrounded Quanzhou and, in the space of two days, breached the walls and killed every citizen who had not fled. Feng finally succumbed to his wounds in June that year.
References
Bibliography
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Feng, Yushan
1815 births
1852 deaths
Chinese religious leaders
Hakka generals
19th-century Chinese generals
Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion
People from Huadu District
People from Longchuan
Politicians from Guangzhou