Question

Which one of the following statements is correct about the Taiping Rebellion (1850) in China?
1. The rebellion was against the traditional religion of Christianity practised in China.
2. The movement aimed to forge a kingdom where there was no ownership of private property and no difference between social classes.
3. This massive popular uprising took place in the northern parts of China.
4. The British and the French armed forces operating in China did not help the emperor of Qing dynasty to defeat the rebellion.

Answer 1

Correct Answer - Option 2 : The movement aimed to forge a kingdom where there was no ownership of private property and no difference between social classes.

The Taiping Rebellion 1850-1864

• It was sparked by the leadership of one man, Hong Xiuquan, from the south of China, who in 1847 failed the imperial examinations for the third time and was delirious for 30 days. Hence, statement 3rd is not correct.
• When he recovered, he believed that he and his band of believers had been chosen to conquer China, destroy the demon Manchu rulers, and establish the Taiping Tianguo — the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Harmony.
• The Taiping Rebellion was mostly a revolt by poor rural peasants against their landlords and the rich, inspired by the religious pamphlets of an American missionary.
• Their revolutionary program was very wide-ranging. It introduced notions of common property, land reform, equal position of women, abstinence from opium, tobacco and alcohol, calendar reform, literary reform, and above all, a new political-military organization of society.
• The Taiping rebels created a brave new world - a classless society where private property was abolished.  Hence, statement 2nd is the correct option.
• Their movement was so strong and so popular that it took the central government millions of dollars and fifteen years to defeat them. Not until 1864 was the rebellion brutally put down. It is estimated that the entire rebellion cost more than twenty million lives (twice that of World War I).
• Finally, in 1864, aided by Britain and the other Western Powers with their modern weapons, the Qing were able to re-conquer Nanjing and finally defeat the Taiping Rebellion and reunite China.