Yang Xiuqing
| Yang Xiuqing | |
|---|---|
| East King of the Heavenly Kingdom | |
| Reign | 1851 - 1856 |
| Born | 1821 |
| Died | 1856 (aged 34) |
Yang Xiuqing (simplified Chinese: 杨秀清; traditional Chinese: 楊秀清; pinyin: Yáng Xiùqīng; Wade–Giles: Yang Hsiu-Ch'ing) (died September 2/3, 1856), was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion.
Yang was a firewood and charcoal seller in Guangxi before he joined the rebellion. In 1848 he converted to Christianity after reporting that he had experienced visions of God. In 1850, perhaps in service of his political ambitions, he began to claim that he could miraculously heal true believers. He was an early participant in the rebellion and rose quickly to prominence; in 1851, when Hong Xiuquan took the title of Heavenly King for himself, he made Yang, in spite of having no military knowledge or experience, commander-in-chief of the army. Yang was further named "East King", in keeping with three other leaders of the rebellion who were given titles as "kings" of the four-quarters of the Heavenly Kingdom. In 1851, Yang announced a vision in which it was revealed that there were traitors in the highest levels of the movement, and two years later that words of the Eastern King, that is, Yang himself, were divine. He devised an extensive network of spies to root out the intrigues of loyalists in the kingdom. By the 1850s Yang became the most powerful leader of the Taiping Rebellion.
With this presumed divine guidance, Taiping troops captured the city of Nanjing (Nanking), which became the capital of the Heavenly Kingdom in 1853. Yang took control of the city. He disciplined the troops after an initial period of violence and slaughter by declaring that he would execute any officer who entered a private home. City residents were ordered to return to work. Men and women were required to live separately, and were prohibited from walking together or even speaking to each other (there continued to be male and female military units). As Hong, the Heavenly King, became less interested in politics and more interested in his harem, he named Yang as prime minister of the Heavenly Kingdom. Many of the basic laws and regulations were issued during this period of Yang's control.
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