#328 - Taiping 5: The Way Ahead

The History of China

Chris Stewart

History

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 May 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom has been proclaimed — but proclamations don't feed armies. As such, its Divine Host will enjoy all of 11 days before sheer arithmetic forces them back onto the road. What follows is eight months of movement through the hills and river valleys of Guangxi: not quite a military campaign, not quite a refugee march. When they finally stop, it will be inside the walls of a city called Yong'an - "Eternal Peace." There, for the first time, the blueprint of the kingdom they have been promising can at last be seen in outline. Kings will be named, & time itself will be reordered... But the walls keep closing in, and ahead - always ahead - is the only path left. Time Period Covered:Jan. 1851 – June 1852 Major Historical Figures:Taiping Heavenly Kingdom:Hong Xiuquan, Heavenly King, Second Son of God [1814–1864]Feng Yunshan, South King, Architect of the God-Worshipping Society [1815–1852]Yang Xiuqing, East King, Voice of God the Father [d. 1856]Xiao Chaogui, West King, Voice of Jesus Christ [d. 1852]Wei Changhui, North King [1823–1856]Shi Dakai, Wing King [1831–1863]Luo Dagang, pirate-turned-general [fl. 1851–1853] Qing Dynasty:Saishangga, Imperial Commissioner [fl. 1851–1852]Xiang Rong, Qing General [d. 1856]Ulantai, Qing General [d. 1852] Major Sources Cited:Hamberg, Theodore. The Visions of Hung-Siu-tshuen and the Origin of the Kwang-si Insurrection.Kuhn, Philip A. "Ch. 6, The Taiping Rebellion" in The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 10.Platt, Stephen R. Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom.Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast.
0:04.6	Right, home from work, walk the dog, kids are back,
0:09.0	up the stairs for something.
0:12.5	Back down, no idea what I went up for.
0:16.6	Mom, what's for dinner?
0:18.2	Chop, sizzle, done.
0:21.6	Hello Fresh can't slow life down,
0:23.6	but it makes bringing everyone together around the table a whole lot easier.
0:27.6	So it's phones down, forks up.
0:29.6	Hello Fresh. Bring back dinner time.
0:32.6	Hello.
0:34.6	Hello.
0:36.6	Hello. Hello and welcome to the history of China.
0:47.1	Episode 328, the way ahead.
0:52.4	Into the same rivers we step and do not step. We are and we are not. Heraclitus
1:00.0	6th century BCE. The Hedgemon King then led his troops across the Zhang River and, on the far side,
1:08.0	ordered them to sink their boats, smash their cauldrons, and burn their tents.
1:13.5	Ahead was now the only path, be that toward victory, or death.
1:19.3	Sima Qian, the annals of Xiang Yu, in the records of the grand historian.
1:24.8	And the Lord said unto him,
1:26.7	This is the land which I swear unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and under Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed.
1:33.3	I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.
	...

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