Taiping Rebellion

Japanese: 太平天国 - たいへいてんごく

It was a Han Chinese anti-Qing "revolutionary" state that arose in the spring of 1851 in Guangxi Province, China, and was destroyed in Nanjing in 1864. The Qing dynasty called the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army the Long-haired Bandits, the Yue Bandits, etc.

[Shinji Kojima]

origin

It began in 1843 when Hong Xiuquan, an independent scholar of Hakka peasant origin from Hua County, Guangdong Province, founded the Shangdi sect. He equated Shangdi, the supreme deity and ruler of heaven in ancient China, with the Christian Yahweh (Jehovah), and transformed it into the one and only God. At first, he simply preached, as written in the commentary book "Guanshi Liangyan" written by the Chinese Protestant missionary Liang Fa, that if people do not worship any idols, believe only in Shangdi, and follow the ascetic precepts, a world of "great harmony" will be realized in which all people will help and live in harmony as children and brothers and sisters of Shangdi, the "father of our souls." He did not necessarily intend a revolution on earth. Shangdi Church was mainly accepted by Hakka farmers in southeastern Guangxi, who were new immigrants and had been excluded from the indigenous communities that had been united around the worship of their clan gods and the land gods. In the process, it transformed into a vernacular monotheism that was different from Christianity. In other words, it was combined with the realization of worldly benefits such as the guarantee of food and clothing, and freedom from illness and disasters, and also accepted the belief in the transference of God to humans, which was particularly prevalent in this area, called "Kōdō." In 1848, the ambitious local poor farmers Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui, who tried to calm the unrest caused by the iconoclasm movement by transferring God and Christ to humans ("lower peasants"), announced, as the words of Shangdi and Christ, that Hong Xiuquan was the second son of Shangdi after Christ, and had been sent to earth as the true monarch and savior of all the world. Xiuquan believed this, and based on his own visionary dream that had been the catalyst for the founding of the Shangdi sect, he created a myth to justify the founding of a paradise on earth and Xiuquan's becoming the "true monarch." As the conflict between the Shangdi Society, which was centered around poor Hakka peasants, and the tuanren (armed vigilante groups) controlled by the gentry intensified through iconoclasm, the former began preparing to rise up in arms from the spring of 1850. From the summer to the fall of that year, about 10,000 believers from various regions, including women, the elderly, and children, disposed of their land and property to form armed groups, and while fighting against the Qing army, they gathered in villages around Jintian Village, Guiping County in southeastern Guangxi, and from the fall to the winter, full-scale fighting with the Qing army began. Around the spring of the following year, Xiuquan proclaimed himself Heavenly King and established a new nation called the "Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

[Shinji Kojima]

Progress

They initially tried to establish a new state in Guangxi and Guangdong, but after a tough battle with the Qing army in Guangxi, they entered southern Hunan in May 1852 with a force that had been reduced to a few thousand. There, they absorbed Tianji members, poor farmers, miners, and unemployed vagabonds, expanding their force to tens of thousands, and advanced toward the Yangtze River basin. The Taiping Army gained strong support and cooperation from the people through strict military discipline, strong appeals to overthrow the Qing and restore the Han, and attacks on bureaucrats, large landowners, and wealthy merchants under slogans such as "exemption from land tax for three years" and "reducing taxes and equalizing the rich and the poor." In March 1853, they occupied Nanjing with an army of 200,000 to 250,000, and began the construction of a new government there, making it the capital, Tianjing. The new government promulgated the "Tencho Denpo System" as an ideal society of the future, which mainly included nationalization of land, equal allocation of cultivated land, and nationalization of all surplus produce other than that consumed by the home, but in the end no effort was made to realize it. In the end, faced with the need to support a swollen military and bureaucracy, the old land system (landlord system) was recognized and a policy of collecting land tax based on this was adopted. The power of the landlords was weakened by the fierce attacks and plundering by the Taiping Army at the beginning of the occupation, and by the anti-landlord struggles of peasants, such as refusal to pay rent, which erupted after the collapse of the old ruling system. However, they survived thanks to the new government's policy of accepting the landlord system, and many of the local officials (town officials) of the new government were occupied by landlords and former Shori. The new government implemented innovative measures such as the first ever civil service examination for women (only once), prohibiting prostitution and foot binding, and strictly separating men and women. On the other hand, the Heavenly King and other kings had many wives and concubines from early on, and preached the "three obediences" to women. In addition, the government established a hierarchical relationship between officials and the people, and stipulated hereditary succession of official positions for meritorious officials and complicated status ceremonies. The kings built magnificent palaces, reproducing the dynastic system. In the process, conflicts between the kings deepened, and in 1856, King Wei Changhui of the North, with the support of King Changhui, murdered King Yang Xiuqing of the East, who then executed King Changhui of the North. Unable to withstand the oppression of King Changhui, King Shi Dakai led a large army and split off, during which tens of thousands of people were killed. Following the annihilation of the Northern Expeditionary Army that had aimed to capture Beijing in 1854, the Xiang army led by Zeng Guofan took advantage of the weakening caused by internal strife to launch a counterattack, and by 1858 had recaptured the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's territories of Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, and other areas. From 1860 onwards, the large army of Li Xiucheng, King of Zhong, advanced into Jiangsu and Zhejiang, which had been the Qing dynasty's cash cow, to launch a counterattack, but after the Treaty of Beijing was concluded in 1860, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was gradually cornered by armed intervention from the great powers such as Britain, which had begun to shift from a policy of neutrality and non-interference to a policy of supporting the Qing dynasty, and in particular by the combined attacks of the Ever-Victorious Army, the Xiang army, and Li Hongzhang's Huai army, and in 1864 the Xiang army occupied Tianjing, marking the demise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

[Shinji Kojima]

Historical Significance

Although the Taiping Rebellion was an old-style peasant war or popular uprising, it created unprecedentedly advanced organization and discipline, dealing a major blow to the Qing dynasty and the bureaucrats, landlords, wealthy merchants, and usurers who supported it, and in its final stages, it showed the seeds of nationalism by breaking away from the early Sinocentric worldview and emphasizing mutual respect for territorial sovereignty, and throughout its history, it presented the task of the modern Chinese revolution, that is, anti-imperialist and anti-feudalist. Directly, it was a major factor in giving birth to the Westernization Movement, the first attempt at industrialization, and it also provided certain lessons and influence for British policy toward Japan, and indirectly played a role in supporting Japan's Meiji Restoration.

[Shinji Kojima]

"Nishi Junzo (ed.), "Original History of Modern Chinese Thought I: From the Opium Wars to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom" (1976, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Kojima Shinji, "History and Thought of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Revolution" (1978, Kenbun Publishing)"

[Reference item] | Hong Xiuquan | Tiancho Tianyu system

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

1851年春ごろ中国の広西省に興り、64年に南京(ナンキン)で滅亡した漢族の反清(しん)「革命」国家。清朝側は太平天国軍を長髪賊、粤匪(えっぴ)などとよんだ。

［小島晋治］

起源

1843年、広東(カントン)省花(か)県の客家(ハッカ)の農民出身の在野読書人洪秀全(こうしゅうぜん)が拝上帝教（上帝教）を創立したことに始まる。彼は、中国古代の至上神で天の主宰者たる上帝を、キリスト教のヤーウェ（エホバ）と等置し、これを唯一神に変えた。初めは、中国人プロテスタント宣教師梁発(りょうはつ)が書いた解説書『勧世良言』そのままに、いっさいの偶像を拝まず、上帝だけを信じ、禁欲的戒律を守れば、すべての人が「魂の父」である上帝の子女、兄弟姉妹として助け合い、睦(むつ)み合う「大同」の世が実現すると説いただけで、かならずしも地上の革命を意図したものではなかった。上帝教は主として、広西南東部の新来の移住民として、一族の神々や土地神の祀(まつ)りを中心に結集していた先住民の共同体から排除されていた客家の農民に受容され、その過程で、キリスト教とは異質の土俗的一神教に変質した。すなわち、衣食の保証、病気や災害から免れるという現世利益の実現と結合し、またとくにこの地で盛んであった「降僮(こうどう)」という神の人間へののりうつりの信仰を受け入れた。1848年、偶像破壊運動がもたらした信徒の動揺を、それぞれ上帝およびキリストののりうつり（「下凡」）によって鎮めようとした当地の野心的な貧農楊秀清と蕭朝貴(しょうちょうき)は、上帝とキリストのことばとして、洪秀全がキリストに次ぐ上帝の次男であり、天下万国の真の君主、救世主として地上に遣わされたものであることを告げた。秀全はこれを信じ、かつて上帝教創立の契機となった己の幻夢をもとに、地上天国の創立と、秀全が「真の君主」となることを正当化する神話を創造した。偶像破壊を通じて、客家の貧農を中心とする上帝会と、郷紳が支配する団練（武装自警団）との抗争が激化するなかで、前者は1850年春以降、挙兵準備を進めた。同年夏から秋にかけて、婦人、老人、子供を含む約1万の各地の信徒は、土地・財産を処分して武装集団を結成し、清軍と抗戦しつつ、広西南東部の桂平(けいへい)県金田(きんでん)村一帯の村々に集結し、秋から冬にかけて、清軍との全面的な戦闘が始まった。翌年春ごろ、秀全は天王と称し、「太平天国」という新国家を樹立した。

［小島晋治］

経過

彼らは初め、広西と広東に新国家を建設しようとしたらしいが、清軍との広西での苦闘を経て、1852年5月、数千に減少した兵力で湖南南部に入った。この地で天地会員や貧農、坑夫、失業遊民層などを吸収して数万の兵力に拡大し、揚子江(ようすこう)流域を目ざして進撃した。太平軍は民衆に対する厳正な軍規と、強烈な滅清興漢のアピール、また「3年間土地税を免除する」「税を少なくして貧富を均(ひと)しくする」などのスローガンの下に、官僚、大地主、富商を攻撃し、農民や貧民に戦利品を分配したことなどによって、民衆の強い支持と協力を得、1853年3月、20万～25万の大軍となって南京を占領、ここを首都天京として新政権の建設を開始した。新政府は土地国有と耕地の均等割当て、自家消費分以外の全余剰生産物の国有などをおもな内容とする「天朝田畝(でんぽ)制度」を、未来の理想社会として発布したが、実現への努力もなされないままに終わった。結局、膨れ上がった軍隊と官僚を養う必要に迫られて、旧来の土地制度（地主制）を承認し、これを基礎に土地税を徴収する政策を採用した。地主勢力は、占領当初に行われた太平軍の激しい攻撃と収奪、また旧支配機構の崩壊を契機に爆発した地代支払い拒否などの農民の反地主闘争によって弱められた。しかし、新政府の地主制容認政策によって生き延び、新政府の地方官＝郷官(きょうかん)の多くは地主や旧胥吏(しょり)によって占められた。新政府は史上初めて婦人の科挙（女科）を行い（1回のみ）、売春と纏足(てんそく)を禁止するなどの革新的な措置をとり、また厳格な男女隔離を行った反面、天王はじめ諸王は早くから多数の妻妾(さいしょう)を擁し、婦人に「三従の教え」を説いたりした。また官と民は身分的上下関係とされて、功臣の官職世襲や繁雑な身分儀礼が規定され、諸王は壮麗な宮殿を造営するなど、王朝体制が再生産された。この過程で、諸王間の対立が深まり、1856年北王韋昌輝(いしょうき)が天王の支持の下に東王楊秀清を殺害し、ついで天王が北王を処刑し、翼王石達開が天王の圧迫に耐えかねて大軍を率いて分裂し、この間、数万人が殺害されるという悲劇が起こった。北京(ペキン)攻略を目ざした北伐軍が1854年に全滅したことに続く、この内部抗争による弱体化に乗じて、曽国藩(そうこくはん)らの湘(しょう)軍が反撃に転じ、58年までに湖南、湖北、江西などの太平天国の領域が奪回された。60年以降、忠王李秀成(りしゅうせい)の大軍が清朝のドル箱だった江浙に進出して反撃したが、1860年の北京条約締結以後、中立・不干渉政策から清朝援助政策に転換し始めたイギリスなど列強の武力干渉、とくに常勝軍と、湘軍および李鴻章(りこうしょう)の淮(わい)軍の連合攻撃によってしだいに追い詰められ、1864年、湘軍が天京を占領して、太平天国は滅亡した。

［小島晋治］

歴史的意義

太平天国運動は古い型の農民戦争ないし民衆反乱ではあったが、かつてない高度な組織、規律をつくりあげて、清朝と、これを支持する官僚、大地主、富商、高利貸に大打撃を与え、また末期には初期の中華思想的世界観から脱却して、相互の領土主権の尊重を強調するなど、民族主義の萌芽(ほうが)を示し、その全歴史を通じて、近代の中国革命の課題＝反帝国主義・反封建主義の課題を提示した。直接には最初の工業化の試みである洋務運動を生み出す大きな要因となり、またイギリスの対日政策に一定の教訓、影響を与え、間接的とはいえ日本の明治維新を援助する役割を果たした。

［小島晋治］

『西順蔵編『原典中国近代思想史I　アヘン戦争から太平天国まで』（1976・岩波書店）』▽『小島晋治著『太平天国革命の歴史と思想』（1978・研文出版）』

[参照項目] | 洪秀全 | 天朝田畝制度

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