God Worshipping Society

The God Worshipping Society (拜上帝教) was a religious movement led by Hong Xiuquan, which drew on his own unique interpretation of Christianity.

In 1843, Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka school teacher and failed imperial examinee, became convinced that he was the son of God the Father and the younger brother of Jesus Christ. The next year, Hong and Feng Yunshan, Hong's distant cousin and one of the earliest converts to Hong's faith, traveled to Sigu, Guiping county, Guangxi to preach their version of Christianity. In November 1844, Hong returned home without Feng, who remained in the area and continued to preach. After Hong'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-worshiping 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.

While the God Worshipping Society shared some similar characteristics with traditional Chinese secret societies, it differed in that the participants adopted a new religious faith that firmly rejected Chinese tradition. The Society was militant from its inception, due to the prevalence of both intervillage fighting and conflicts between Hakka and non-Hakka villagers. Generally, individuals did not convert alone, but rather entire families, clans, occupational groups, or even villages would convert en masse. On August 27, 1847, when Hong Xiuquan returned to Thistle Mountain, the God Worshipers numbered over 2,000. At this time, the most of the God Worshipers were peasants and miners.

With Hong's return, the God Worshipping Society took on a more rebellious character. Hong began to describe himself as a king and explicitly identified the ruling Manchus and their supporters as demons which must be destroyed. The God Worshipers treated their entire community as a family, leading to establishment of a common treasury and a requirement of chastity.

In January 1848, Feng Yunshan was arrested and banished to Guangdong. Hong Xiuquan left for Guangdong shortly thereafter to reunite with Feng. In the absence of both Feng and Hong, two new leaders emerged to fill the void:Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui. Both claimed to enter trances which allowed them to speak as a member of the Trinity; God the Father in the case of Yang and Jesus Christ in the case of Xiao. While speaking as Jesus or God the Father, Xiao and Yang would necessarily have more authority than even Hong Xiuquan. Upon Hong and Feng's return in the summer of 1849, they investigated Yang and Xiao's claims and declared them to be genuine.

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