#326 - Taiping 3: The Image-Breakers

The History of China

Chris Stewart

History

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2026

⏱️ 35 minutes

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Summary

The God-Worshippers of Thistle Mountain, under the dual leadership of Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan, had gone from being a quirky, backwater oddity... to, by 1847, a real local headache. When they get bold enough to deface a local temple, the law finally takes action to end their machinations. Yet they emerge from this early crucible unbroken... harder, better, faster, stronger... and even weirder than they went in. Time Period Covered:1847–1849 Major Historical Figures:Hong Xiuquan, prophet and Heavenly King [1814–1864]Feng Yunshan, chief evangelist and architect of the God-Worshipping Society [1815–1852]Wang Zuoxin, local licentiate and militia leader [fl. 1847]Lu Liu, God-Worshipper [d. 1848]Yang Xiuqing, Eastern King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856]Xiao Chaogui, Western King, Voice of Jesus Christ [d. 1852]Qiying, Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi [1787–1858] Major Sources Cited:Hamberg, Theodore. The Visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen and the Origin of the Kwang-si InsurrectionKuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly KingdomSpence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:32.5	That's right
0:34.1	Hello Hello Hello and welcome to the history of China.
0:47.4	Episode 326, the image breakers.
0:52.7	When heaven is about to confer a great responsibility on any man, it will exercise his mind
0:59.3	with suffering.
1:01.7	Mencius, from Mencius, book six.
1:06.2	He who fights monsters should see to it that he himself does not become a monster.
1:12.7	Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, 1886.
1:18.1	I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you stranger.
1:25.2	The Joker, The Dark Night, 2008.
1:30.3	It is about a day's march from Thistle Mountain to the most important temple of King Gan.
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