The Taiping Rebellion: When a Weird Christian Cult Tried to Conquer China

Millions upon millions of deaths, widespread famine, and cities turned to ashes - all because of, believe it or not, a cult started by the self-proclaimed younger brother of Jesus Christ. Today on Warographics we’re going to explore the origins of the Taiping Rebellion, and the absolute chaos that it brought to China for 14 years.
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[@Nonplussed]

Imperial Qing examiners: Man, if we only let that guy in. Some Austrian Art school professor: Ditto

[@agyarhardjasudjana7804]

AFAIK School and Uni exams are not getting harder nowadays. We may have averted some genocide without knowing

[@leehyunsong7001]

Hitler

[@absboodoo]

Didn't the Art school now have a policy of letting everyone in just in case? lol

[@fullmetaltheorist]

​@@agyarhardjasudjana7804Not getting harder but certainly the application process is being rigged. The top universities in America had a scandla where rich peoe wokld bribe their school to admit their kids. This was a few years ago.

[@Brandonhayhew]

schools now lets others in because of certain someone whose responsibility for millions of deaths

[@resileaf9501]

It's really mindboggling just how massively populated China has been throughout its history.

[@julianshepherd2038]

@@samright4661 you brutal

[@ericcloud1023]

With 3 awesome rivers and a huge agricultural basin to grow multiple crops ( wheat in the north and rice in the south) plus solid government structure for millennia they were blessed. Now they've polluted the water, killed the wildlife and murdered their own culture. all for the CCP

[@GoogleUserOne]

MERITOCRACY. that’s why.

[@merafirewing6591]

@@samright4661 same.

[@shakiMiki]

It's worth looking up why India & China have always had such a huge proportion of the world's population.

[@nathanseper8738]

It's horrifying how a civil war in one country killed more people than all of World War I and the Russian Civil War combined. Thank you, Simon for another great video!

[@LowenKM]

Yep, and the idea of a violent 'Christian' cult following a charismatic 'Savior' who promises to 'Drain the Swamp', actually sounds kinda 'familiar'.

[@nathanseper8738]

@@LowenKM Fantacism can poison the mind and drive us to do a lot of bad stuff, yes. But personally, I consider the MAGA fanboys wimps compared to the Taiping God Worshippers.

[@colin3424]

@@LowenKM Donald needs to sell Mara Lago since he can live in your head rent free

[@vic5015]

That just tells you just how many people lived in China at the time. It also was not unusual *at all* in Chinese history to have multiple concurrent rebellions and uprisings.

[@vic5015]

@@nathanseper8738 religious fanatics are some of the worst ones because religious fervor can justify nearly *anything* .

[@gregorystruck679]

Imagine being a random disappointed American missionary sailing back home not realizing they'd accidentally a maniac cultist who would cost 20 million lives in one of the bloodiest conflicts in Human history.

[@CrimsonAlchemist]

yeah wtf right

[@RobBCactive]

If also explains the CCP panic over the Falun Gong cult which took off

[@samain11]

American missionaries actually did very little damage as they concentrated mainly on bringing medicine and education not evangelism to the natives.

[@thanhhoangnguyen4754]

@@samain11 Plus these cultist believed that when the USA ambassador came to them not for tradingnor anything but to give them tribute so that they a barbarians country far in the American continent can also be graced by their Jesus brother. i don't know how to respond to that if i was the ambassador.

[@dkbros1592]

20 millions kill streak assist 🤣

[@leezhieng]

Hong's youngest son actually wrote a very long confession including all the important information about their administrative structure, culture and daily activities, before he was sentenced to thousand-slices-slow-death (he's still a minor at the time, horrendous). His writing is still the most important information for historian to study this part of the history.

[@nathanseper8738]

Can you send me a link? That would be an interesting read.

[@adrianopandolfo]

That's neat, but also horrific. Was he involved in any way whatsoever with his father's revolution, or were the Qing just being dicks to give him such a agonizing fate?

[@nathanseper8738]

@@adrianopandolfo He had zero roles in his father's regime and zero preparation for the job of Heavenly King. A lot of people have described him as a spoiled daddy's boy. But even if he wasn't, the Taiping Kingdom was already pretty much surrounded and beaten. At that point, the Qing were just being dicks after years of brutal warfare.

[@jackiedai7473]

I read an article on Chinese Internet that rumor has it the supposed executed young king was actually a palace servant to take his place. People witness the execution claim the young king was skinny and dark skinned, not very wealthy like. Some believed the young king fled to South America with the remaining gang and the origin of Triad has something to do with this.

[@jackiedai7473]

I actually visited the Taiping museum here at Nanjing yesterday and saw the young king's handwritten confession. He just seemed dumb from the way he wrote and sucked the f up of Qing dynasty and it is just straight up prophany to Taiping. Maybe he was just desperate or is it the real young king...

[@mrm1740]

So basically, if you fail in school, you can always just become a brutal dictator.

[@nont18411]

So inspiring. So progressive.

[@TheTen20]

Just like mustache man in Germany.

[@Weirzy]

That's always been my plan

[@--enyo--]

Or at being a librarian or an artist.

[@eveleung8855]

depends on the situation, if the time is prosper and peaceful, the brutal dictator method wouldn't work, but if it was an unstable society with famine and sickness spread across, that is your chance.

[@Styxswimmer]

Hong fails imperial exams:starts rebellion. Hitler fails art exams: starts WWII.

[@fiendish9474]

Dropping out of the education system leads to some interesting results

[@nont18411]

The real villain is the educational system

[@ravengrey6874]

I had a history professor who explained it thusly: “The most dangerous people to a government are the almost hads. Those who were educated like social elites, but were held back by economic or societal barriers.”

[@SinarBaru-bp4jx]

Joker fails stand comedian: start agent of chaos

[@edanridge3023]

@@ravengrey6874that’s actually a very good way to put it, and describes the Nazi party particularly pretty accurately, the ltte in Sri Lanka to.

[@MrLolx2u]

Why the Taiping initially gained ground was because of one thing, technology. When the smugglers heard that Hong Xiuquan was a Christian at heart, French and American arms dealer started selling small arms and even cannons to Hong bit by bit and when the whole rebellion started, the Qing forces suddenly saw themselves on the backfoot as they're still fighting with lances, swords and bows while Hong's forces were armed with rows and rows of flintlock muskets with actual functioning western cannons of high quality. The Qing couldn't do anything and they had to delay. That's how Hong was able to hold the war for so long as he had the technology which the Qing clearly lacked and that's modern firearms. However, the aftermath of the Second Opium War changed perspectives on firearms. Prior to the conflict with foreign powers, Qing was practicing an isolationist ideology and thus technology was punted into the backyard and never to be seen again and on the onset of the 1st and 2nd Opium Wars, the Qing were also on the backfoot as they had muskets but were matchlocks against the more reliable flintlocks and bronze cannon vs cast iron ones the Brits and French had which can fire at a higher pressure and longer distances due to that. After the defeat, the Qing could finally consolidate their power and forces against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and this time, the Qing wern't stupid anymore. Having witnessed the prowess of the western technology, they adopted it slowly but the 1st thing the Qing did was purchase tons of flintlock muskets from Britain and cannons from France. With this, they started to reequip the Banner Armies, Qing's Imperial Special Service with these and sent them to crush Hong's forces which, it did pretty well as now the technology was either on par or superior to what Hong had. Coupled with the internal strife Hong had created with his stupid policies and unequal treatment of people under his reign, it made the Qing's job even easier once the Second Opium War had ended. Also, it did not help that once the support Hong had at the start of the war with foreign powers had waned due to his craziness. Initially, as mentioned, Hong had the support of the foreigners as he was a self-proclaimed Christian which the westerners were more than happy to agree as long as he could play a part in destabilizing the Qing even further and help accelerate the western power's process of attacking China for their own benefit. However, they didn't count that with someone calling themselves the "Brother of Christ", that person might be severely mentally deranged and that's what Hong did. Instead of granting concessions on the westerners who trade in the port cities which were taken by the Taiping, Hong imposed an even larger levy on any trade with the westerners and his men often cause trouble for the western traders by either beating them or outright robbing them. This caused soo much tension that the west soon slowly switched sides and started to support the proper government of China and that's the Qing. Soon in major trading port cities that had high western influences like Shanghai started to even fund the Qing with western-style army to combat the Taiping. James Pope was one of the lobbyist for the new western-style army as an envoy from Britain, he pleaded with Hong not to attack Shanghai but it fell on deaf ears and thus the British started bankrolling a private Chinese army that co-operated with the Qing and called it the "常勝軍"/Every Victorious Army with two famous mercenaries being its general with Fredrick Townsend Ward and Charles George "Chinese" Gordon. That said force became the 1st Qing detachment to ever smash up the Taiping's stronghold and from there, they steamrolled the entire of the Taiping's positions and soon even pushed their own army structure to the Qing who would quickly implement it to their own armies and soon also started seeing victories themselves against the Taiping and subsequently, Nian rebels during the Nian Rebellion which was at the same god damn time as the Taiping Rebellion. (Talk about useless and corrupt Qing administration, allowing two consecutive rebellions to happen at the same time)

[@dplj4428]

Goodness. So much! It’s no wonder westerners don’t bother to teach world history. Knowing so little, and assuming so much. I recall when i finally read how the English were profiting from opium, and then the Boxer Rebellion as a result.

[@scottmattern482]

ADHDers keeping us informed. Well, done. Not very concise, but lots of information.

[@arielquelme]

Its mostly bullshit non academical wall t next if u examine carefully

[@JohnSmith-ef2rn]

I feel so sorry for Hong's parents. It must have been so painful to have supported him for so long, nurtured his ambitions, only for him to turn into a lunatic.

[@enderreaper1482]

This is what exam stress does to people

[@missourimongoose8858]

This was his way of telling his father that his mom was cheating with a white guy lol

[@LordMalice6d9]

I blame those damn rigged Imperial exams!

[@davidsenra2495]

They were not rigged. Just difficult. Still, nobody should put all their eggs in a single basket.

[@strasbourgeois1]

He turned into a lunatic arguably because they nurtured his ambitions. 😂

[@seanbinkley7363]

This war is one of the deadliest conflicts in human history (usually ranking in the top three in terms of lives lost) and yet it’s hardly ever talked about…

[@seanaugagnon6383]

Good day to you Sean

[@seanhastings4432]

@@seanaugagnon6383 Hey look! It’s a thread made up of three Sean’s. You don’t see that everyday.

[@seanmuir2862]

@@seanhastings4432 Now I have to respond too : )

[@godfreypigott]

@@seanhastings4432 Have you four sheep been sean?

[@nont18411]

Because there was zero American casualty in it.

[@pyromania1018]

This conflict deserves more notoriety.

[@seanbinkley7363]

Absolutely

[@GooseGumlizzard]

im sure it does in China

[@stabbityjoe7588]

We like to ignore China unless it’s to say something bad about them

[@LordMalice6d9]

@@stabbityjoe7588 China has a rich and long history, one of the oldest lasting civilizations in history. But its history is marred with many bloody civil wars, internal strife and rebellions.

[@The_king567]

@@stabbityjoe7588I wouldn’t say this was a good thing dude

[@grant3728]

I just think it’s wild just how many died in this rebellion when compared to other conflicts of the time

[@jamesricker3997]

China was the world's largest economy until the Tiping rebellion and was politically stable. The taiping Rebellion set the stage for the disaster the 20th century was for China

[@InquisitorXarius]

For the Terminally Ill shit stain that is Zhongguo (China), it is disgustingly common.

[@k0ziolRD]

Typical day in China: "Liu Bu takes power. 20 million people died"

[@resileaf9501]

It's really mindboggling just how massively populated China has been throughout its history.

[@k0ziolRD]

@@resileaf9501 its "just" rice. Much more calories dense than wheat and you can grow it more than 1 time a year.

[@jermasus]

Austrian painters when they get refused: *starts world war* Chinese teacher when they get refused: *starts civil war bigger than world war*

[@cooldudecs]

Bigger than ww2?

[@woaddragon]

@@cooldudecs based on numbers killed, yes

[@RedCommunistDragon]

The Austrian painter didn’t start WW2, but he escalated it.

[@jermasus]

@@RedCommunistDragon depends on your definition of when ww2 started, yes japan had already invaded china by 31 or 37, but most still consider the invasion of poland to be the start of ww2 proper.

[@RedCommunistDragon]

@@jermasus It depends on where you live, Most people in Europe and North America say it started when Nazi Germany invaded Poland, but people in Asia will say it started July 7, 1937 when the ll Sino Japanese War started because it wasn’t just China Japan invaded. Yeah Japan invaded and colonized Manchuria in 1931,” however China was still in its Warlord Period.

[@scocon8658]

Nanjing/Nanking - Historically, that place doesn't seem to catch any kind of break!

[@ignitionfrn2223]

0:40 - Chapter 1 - The man who started it all 7:45 - Chapter 2 - Open rebellion 11:10 - Chapter 3 - Trouble in heaven 13:35 - Chapter 4 - Biblical proportions 19:50 - Chapter 5 - The toll of war PS: Moral of the story, "christian" jihad is f--ing scary

[@frankieseward8667]

Just as bad as Islamic jihad. Religious extremism in. General is bad. Agreed?

[@angrydoggy9170]

@@frankieseward8667 Agreed.

[@ozzoldoshadda2993]

Any jihad is fucking scary?

[@arcturionblade1077]

One man's jihad is another man's crusade.

[@El_Presidente_5337]

Let's fugging goooo!!!

[@andyyang3029]

Can always count on Warographics to teach me interesting bits of history. Thanks to Simon, the writer, editor, and Simon's beard.

[@warographics643]

My beard says you're welcome.

[@apokalipsx25]

@@warographics643 I understand i have about zero chance that my comment would be read by you but i try. I know you have much work with making videos for many of your channels because i watch them too ))) On this channel i found a video about german airships in WW I and just two words about french airraids on Germany. Some years ago i have written about french airships in WW I for russian community on a page. Can your team *PLEAAAASE* make a good video about french airships in WW I and possible include "Spiess" Zodiac XII into it ? P.S By the way, about the early time of japanese airships even less people know as about the french.

[@hantiaolang4381]

That, truly, is one impressive beard. (And well done on the Taiping Rebellion, too.) BTW - you are doing better on people and place names in China, but pinyin pronunciations can be hard for anyone not familiar with China. Please let me know if you want any help in your future videos about China. :) But please keep them up!

[@--enyo--]

How old does he have to be before we can start calling them whiskers? Because the alliteration of Whistler's whiskers sounds like something you could slap on products and monetise.

[@mirceazaharia2094]

​@@warographics643 "Mom, can we have Christianity?" "We have Christianity at home." "CHRISTIANITY AT HOME BE LIKE: *enthusiastic Taiping noises*"

[@markangelagirard9944]

Reminds me of a failed artist in Germany about 40 years later.

[@InquisitorXarius]

Hey Simon, can you cover the Thirty Years' war as that conflict's importance can’t be understated. As how the French Monarchy mortally wounded the Old Order and paved the New Order’s rise.

[@georgemetcalf8763]

Not to mention the trauma inflicted on Germany so scarred the population that they decided strong army was absolutely necessary to survival.

[@InquisitorXarius]

@@georgemetcalf8763 They weren't wrong (Well, at least that was true before and during WWI, but they would prove most wrong in the 1920s, 1930s, and WWII beginning in 1937).

[@sharjiljafric-3184]

@@InquisitorXarius and boy do we seem to be returning to the era of Germany giving priority to its military because of Putin.

[@InquisitorXarius]

@@sharjiljafric-3184 About time and thankfully, this Germany is a Germany, one not bound by Genocidal Ideological Extremes.

[@Fractal_blip]

@@InquisitorXarius do you consider the Japanese invasion of China or the annexation of the sudetenland to be the true beginning mark of WWII?

[@CancerArpegius]

I love that it's half way through the video and he hasn't mentioned the fact that the lightest punishment in Taiping heavenly kingdom is death

[@e2rqey]

It's like that Fred Amisen Dictator scene in Parks and Recreation kzbin.info/www/bejne/m5rcl6qQi6atfdk

[@zhouwu]

What's the heaviest punishment, if I may ask?

[@adrianoarne-ritz249]

@@zhouwu Death but slower

[@jmjedi923]

@@zhouwu super death

[@zhouwu]

@@adrianoarne-ritz249 True. Death with maximal suffering. Too bad for them I'm already a Christian and I've already been crucified with Christ, and it took us 6 hours to die, and it was literally excruciating, so I think even they can't beat that, even if they claim to be Christians themselves.

[@jonathantan2469]

Fun fact... there's a town called Taiping in my country, and many of its early settlers were refugees from the Taiping Rebellion. Most were ethnic Hakka, who usually supported the Taiping Kingdom.

[@TheNullie]

What country?

[@cameronhowe1110]

@@TheNullieI think Taiwan

[@harisubakti6534]

​@@cameronhowe1110that's in Malaysia

[@nicolasheung441]

Aside from Mao, another person was inspired by the exploits of the Taiping rebellion, arguably more importantly so. That person was Dr. Sun Yet Sen, who as a child listened to stories about the rebellion recounted by a Taiping veteran hidden in his village, both it's ideals and shortfalls. While not the sole factor why he went on to organize revolution, it probably played quite a role in driving him to form an utopia of his own vision

[@factfiend1000]

He was also inspired by Henry George.

[@richarddesouto2336]

I love history and learning something new, thanks!

[@dominicbarnes712]

Fascinating. Thanks so much. Brilliant job!

[@renaissanceredneck3695]

In Tom Clancy's book "Bear and Dragon" one of the characters says that understanding the Chinese is like trying to understand Klingons. Their whole frame of reference is different, their thought process is completely different. Not inferior or superior just radically different. Such as the value of human life to those in charge, they value those close to them and their family, but the "peasants" might as well be cattle in good times and bullet sponges in war.

[@annoyed707]

Russia is similar in that regard.

[@saint_matthias]

That's inferior.

[@calebbean1384]

@@saint_matthias Inferior in some ways, if you consider reproduction to be a human's purpose they are the most successful people on Earth

[@saint_matthias]

@@calebbean1384 Breeding like rabbits is not success. It's just gross.

[@saint_matthias]

Chinese may be the only people in the world who are completely unable to comprehend the basic human impulses of sympathy or gratitude toward other people. Because the Chinese feel no empathy toward others, they behave in an unbelievably sadistic and cruel fashion toward one another, and they view altruistic foreigners as targets to be mercilessly taken advantage of.

[@anlemeinthegame1637]

I was never taught about the Taipings in high school or college. I had to pick up a book on it at random to learn of it. Thank you for the video.

[@stormstriker2000]

are u from china?

[@arizonatsunami]

I've been waiting for this one.

[@maxwellt91]

Really good episode!

[@pgbrown12084]

Simon! You gotta advertise your other channels more, bro! I found this one by accident after exhausting all of my Casual Criminalist and Brain Blaze options........and it's scratching an itch I didn't even know I had! lol

[@EpicGamerWinXD69]

This really should be taught about more in the education system.

[@markkarasik2211]

😎But then people might learn from the mistakes of the past…

[@Sasquatch_Driver]

Evangelicals never want it taught, it shows they are dangerous nuts.

[@EpicGamerWinXD69]

@@Sasquatch_Driver well yeah probably.

[@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477]

In America we learned of it more as “persecution of the poor Christian minority :((((“

[@EpicGamerWinXD69]

@@bayersbluebayoubioweapon8477 I’m guessing you’re from Texas right? That sounds like something that would be taught in Texas.

[@frankieseward8667]

Not only did this rebellion irrevocably weaken the Qing, it's also a huge reason why religion is so strictly monitired.

[@angrydoggy9170]

Abolishing religion sounds like a good move but it just doesn’t work. Regulating it however is a smart move.

[@ihaveachihuahau]

Well that's also a communist thing. The CCP is state atheist and runs China.

[@0816M3RC]

@@angrydoggy9170 Religion should just be kept out of politics and government completely.

[@snopespeerreview]

@@angrydoggy9170 Regulating religion is already a thing in china today where only state controlled churches can exist

[@angrydoggy9170]

@@snopespeerreview Several countries have some form of control over religion in various forms. My country has a moderate control over religious figures by paying their wages and by actively stopping cults like Scientology in their tracks. Other countries, like the US, leave the gullible people up for grabs, even providing tax exemptions for any nutcase with the ability to convince some people about their ideas.

[@taskdon769]

Dr. Sun Yat-sen was also inspired by Taiping Rebellion, he was also from Canton so he grew up with the tales of Taiping's achievements.

[@randallrona9618]

Austrian Art School: *reject an Austrian Man & then saw the same man became a dictator and launched a war* Imperial Chinese Law School: First time?

[@wolfu597]

If you would like to know more about the Taiping Rebellion, I highly recommend that you read the book: "Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom", by Stephen R. Platt. It covers the Taiping rebellion from start to finish, including the 2nd Opium war.

[@dustinleonard2160]

I just found out there was a 2nd Opium war. Learning something new every day lol

[@redfallsblack4002]

God's Chinese Son by Jonathan D. Spence is a good read. The Chinese History Podcast by Laszlo Montgomery did a multiple episode series on the Taiping Rebellion with this book as source material among others.

[@wolfu597]

@@dustinleonard2160 Wanna hear something ironic. This war didn't have anything to do with Opium.

[@davidsenra2495]

Of course it had to do with opium. Obviously, social and economical issues on the background played a large role in it (as always), but the struggle for the opium trade definitely was involved.

[@wolfu597]

@@davidsenra2495 Ironically, opium had nothing to do with how this war got started. This war was caused by what is called "the Arrow" incident. This Chinese ship had been involved in smuggling before, and thus the Qing authorities thought that it was still active in the smuggling trade. Since it flew the British flag upon its seizure, it was taken as an insult to the British crown. And thus, lord Elgin was sent to demand reparations and a new treaty at all cost. Which would require him negotiationg directly with the Emperor, which of course never happened.

[@jokuvaan5175]

Chinese history summarized: "Great civilizations...then millions of people died"

[@rustomkanishka]

In India we have a legacy of the British Raj which is now called the United Public Services Commision. Back in the day it was called imperial services exam. Very difficult to get through, only a thousand people get jobs out of millions of applicants. It's an exam that gives you power. I've always wondered about something like this civil war happening here.

[@tanjianforever]

India was always too fractured to provide an effective defensive front to European powers unfortunately. It was in the middle of many different groups fighting among each other when Britain and France started partitioning it up. And also unfortunately many of those smaller states that had been brutalized joined the British, not knowing what they were unleashing on their own people.

[@colin3424]

@@tanjianforever they weren't unleashing anything they weren't already doing to their own people, if anything the British were more civilized...

[@idlehands1864]

That was basically what happened with the Sepoy rebellion, the Chinese have always had very bloody civil wars, that's because of tactics and the open plains. India was unlikely to have such a brutal war with all of the choke points, and points of control. One side or the other would win before things got that bad.

[@srikrishna7188]

@@colin3424 yes letting millions die in famines when they could be saved is "civilized" Treating indians as dogs racially is "civilized" Defaming a 1000+ year culture with all the tech available at their hand .So "civilized"

[@srikrishna7188]

Yes. As an Indian I find UPSC to be overwhelming on the students . It takes great time and practice for one to pursue it. But then again, nothing related to administration should be so simple in a country with thousands of ethnicities,castes,cultures.

[@javiermoya2801]

Referencing a commenter that got to it before me, but as far as Chinese conflicts go, the Boxer Rebellion would be a great take to dissect given the complex alliance cobbled together to put it down amd the follow on effects that contributed to the Russo Japanese war

[@flyboyjin]

Some information that might be interesting for you; 1) The 小刀會 that took Shanghai's 南城 actually initially declared themselves as 大明, later they pledged allegiance to the Taiping by sending a letter. But it was not accepted by them or some other type of complication arose. Through agreements with the Shanghai concessions, the Daotai of Shanghai managed to retake the walled city from the 小刀會. 2) Zeng guofan's strategy was to move downstream towards 江南, with his disciple Li Hongzhang anchored at the eastern part at the river's mouth. However, they had supply difficulties and had trouble until there was the Anglo-Chinese force, and Franco-Chinese force was raised in Shanghai (actually places like 松江). The former assisted in the battle of 蘇州 and the latter in 杭州. Once Zeng's flank was secured then he launched the third battle of 江南. And the massacre that Nanjing endured afterwards was probably the worst ever. 3) I can go into some of the acts of cruelty of the war. - Takes about a day to behead 8000 surrendered P.O.W.s - 太湖 and other irrigation channels were so filled with corpses you could walk over them as if it was dry land. - All women of marriageable age taken in Nanjing, after seeing her family butchered in front of her. One left a suicide note on route to 湖北, the home of the Chu army. 4) The population of Shanghai swelled to over 1 million and Hangzhou to over 2.5 million in 1850 after the first fall of Nanjing. Unfortunately, Hangzhou was taken by the Taiping in the war. For Shanghai, the outskirts of the concessions were reached and coincidentally that was the coldest winter on record. Parts of Pootung point were actually occupied by the Taiping (they flanked around), and one of the Daotais died fighting there. He was given a shrine in Shanghai but was later destroyed in the Cultural Revolution (the temple is near the current 關公 temple I think).

[@kknives36]

Do one on the Yellow Turban Rebellion too!

[@Stoic-Waziri]

So I just had a joint and I was about to sleep 😴 off ( cause work tmro😮‍💨) then I saw his video and obviously the sleep can wait.

[@itsmatt2105]

If you're a stoner, you're always asleep.

[@lovewhenshe]

​@@itsmatt2105didn't say he was a stoner fuck off

[@Vicarious_Heart]

What the hell is with this place called Nanjing that keeps getting involved in horrifying bloodbaths?

[@mrconfusion87]

Location! Geography is destiny...

[@gorilladisco9108]

It the capital of southern China. You take Nanjing, and you can claim you have conquer of China. In was made the capital of China proper in the early Ming dynasty and during the Republic of China.

[@Weeping-Angel]

Jing(京) means capital so it all makes sense to me

[@brandongonzalez8597]

As a side note the American civil war was going on around the same-ish time & only killed about 800k at most

[@derwolf3006]

And theyr still crying about it till this day...

[@hkchan1339]

China when they learn about American Civil war: Huh ! Such Amateurs !

[@mrconfusion87]

@@hkchan1339 Chinese also be like: The American Civil War's total death toll is just the death toll of one battle in our Civil Wars!

[@hkchan1339]

@@mrconfusion87 imagine the highest death toll of a civil war (20M-100M) is about someone who decided he is the brother of Jesus Christ.

[@Southlander1000]

ACW: 630,000 lost -- mostly to camp diseases.

[@_Sami_H]

So the biggest wars in the world started because: 1. Some dude failing a school exam 2. Some dude failing art school 3.A driving taking the wrong turn in a driveway Let that sink...

[@raipe125]

the key...more that the start. the ll was declared for the allies after poland even if they toleratr other invations. power have too many weapons and thinks war was good for the character

[@fannymcflanagan2732]

Fascinating topic Simon and Team, definitely doesn’t get enough coverage in the west

[@jimtalbott9535]

Failed the Imperial exams…. Reminds me of this story of a failed art student who went on to…..also do some bad stuff.

[@Sasquatch_Driver]

Or a school drop out from the nation of Georgia

[@liamguabello8750]

Hey can we get a warogrpahics of Ghengis Khans invasion of the Khwarazmian empire ? I've always found this particular act of revenge of the khan interesting and would love to hear you do a video on it. Love the videos and your many channels 🙂

[@WallyBDO]

The Taiping rebellion, when run of the mill decade long civil wars are just NOT SPICY ENOUGH

[@Dank-gb6jn]

So this kind of led to the Boxer Rebellion I guess? That’d be interesting to see covered here.

[@scottabc72]

Not really the Boxer Rebellion was all about reasserting traditional Chinese culture against European culture as European powers (and Japan and the US) had taken over large parts of Eastern China by then. The Qing government was basically in the middle. First allowing the Boxer rebellion to spread as leverage against foreign powers, then openly cooperating with the rebels when the rebellion got out of control but later cooperating with the foreign armies after they successfully counter attacked.

[@Dank-gb6jn]

@@scottabc72 but Christianity wasn’t part of traditional Chinese culture, so wouldn’t this *technically* have lead to the overall reassertion that you’re referring to? Given that US and European missionaries were traveling the world and spreading the Word of course.

[@scottabc72]

@@Dank-gb6jn Im sorry I dont understand your point. The Boxer Rebellion was anti-Christian (unlike the Taiping), so Western missionaries along with Chinese converts were early and frequent targets of violence from the rebels. When Western powers mobilized their militarys to put down the rebellion, defending Christians was a major justification to their respective publics. Of course the main concern was Western economic holdings in China.

[@Dank-gb6jn]

@@scottabc72 I know, I’m trying to make the point that the Rebellion was caused by anti-Christian sentiment, brought about by events such as this.

[@scottabc72]

@@Dank-gb6jn Ok I do see your point and that makes some sense but I also believe the Boxer Rebellion was mainly about resisting foreign domination. I dont think most Chinese people made much of a connection between the Taiping, which were very much homegrown and didnt get any real support from the West, and Western economic and cultural imperialism several decades later.

[@samain11]

And a British Officer waving a stick took up command of a mercenary force raised by an American dreamer and ended a genocidal nightmare. Thank God for the Anglosphere.

[@anthonybird546]

An unforeseen fallout of this rebellion? General Tso's Chicken is named in honor of one of the victorious generals against the Taiping.

[@rs-dp6pr]

Lol.. nope. The general is the one that kicked Turks out of Xinjiang..

[@Mrgunsngear]

Thanks

[@michaelstone5298]

I know being War graphics this focus is more on the military tactics but I think Simon's documentary on the Taiping in biographics about their leader, was actually more insightful, the captured more of the nuances that the armies that finally defeated the Taiping, (Han Chinese regional armies). We're only kind of nominally loyal to the Manchus. And operated largely independently. (Much of southern and western China would continue to be autonomous afterward, ruled by regional military generals.

[@alexanderexton5001]

Remember this man the next time you think you didn't do well on a test. :)

[@punksoab]

"Hi mom... I failed my math test..." "Well this is third time sweety..." "But moooooom! I hate war crimes!"

[@mikemaricle9941]

History may not repeat itself, but often rhymes.

[@IdeasForSuccess]

Wonderful video, but please show these cities on a map when introducing them. Thanks.

[@dalemoss4684]

I started reading up on this after the Mr. Chang character in Hell On Wheels piqued my interest. One witness describes seeing a man in Anging carrying a human leg on his shoulder. Cuts of human meat were hung in the marketplace in the manner of fish or fowls. Strips of the wind-dried flesh of street children were sold by hawkers. Truly awful.

[@1_Fish.2_Fish.Red_Fish.]

Can you imagine how much crazier this thing coulda gotten if he said he was the older brother of Jesus Christ?

[@andyyang3029]

Maybe he would've conquered Japan 🤔

[@gabbar51ngh]

Based. Imagine if he won and tookover China.

[@jemkey6930]

As a fair student I'm curious what was so difficult about those exams...Simon's closing statement peaked my curiosity. Great video guys.

[@stephenwonghongweng4298]

Pretty damn tough. A paper can take weeks and one question probably takes around 6-8 hours of continuous writing just to answer

[@jlee5730]

That's a fair question! When they weren't riddled with corruption, the exams were tough because the examiners - themselves the elite 1% - were filtering for exceptional talent who could demonstrate, at minimum: encyclopaedic knowledge of the Confucian classics (considered easy), excellent grasp of Chinese characters (over 40,000 by the 18th century, most of which have multiple meanings depending on context), in-depth analysis of statecraft (including laws and military strategy), important treatises, history, poetry etc. Then to actually be competitive, you also had to write in a sufficiently literary style, offer creative interpretations of the texts that showed critical thinking and logical reasoning, be able to orally debate and defend your ideas... Tl;dr they wanted you to write a multi-disciplinary PhD thesis cum policy paper in less than a month, in elegant prose on par with Tolstoy or J.R.R Tolkien 😂

[@outisnemo555]

It’s the demand of how the essays were written. They had to be written in Classical Chinese (equivalent to Latin), in the style of the Analects and Mencius (two books), and basically every word and sentence had to be a quote/reference to something in the Confucian classics (Four Books and Five Classics). It’s like asking modern Americans to write Latin verse that rhymes in accordance to certain schemes while quoting abundantly and appropriately from Virgil and Cicero.

[@Ben-zr4ho]

Also this wasn't a "test." It was a lengthy series of written exams that you took over the course of a month or longer. Like you moved in to take the exam.

[@thelodgebeaver]

Wrote a research paper on this subject in college. I'd previously had no idea about it, and was completely stunned the more I read about it.

[@Seraphus87]

When a young painter wants to study art, just let him into the art school. Oh wait, that was the other guy...

[@TheAmishEngineer]

“All of this death and destruction because Hong failed those damn imperial exams” is comparable to saying WW2/Holocaust were because Hitler didn’t get into art school. 😂

[@user-jj2zy2jz9h]

exactly，its a meme in China now，hong and hitler，also huangchao in tang dynasty China

[@user-jj2zy2jz9h]

yuanshikai ended Qing dynasty ，he also failed exams，exams are the nightmares to Chinese students until today（its better than before but still cruel）i have failed twice，passed 3rd time😂 and fun fact，hong started taiping rebellion in my hometown Guangxi province，my father always told me about this history in my childhood，and i always dreamed Jesus for that reason😂when i grown up，learned it from book or watched a lot of movies,i found that taiping rebellion was so cruel and alot of people died for it,the more i leaned,the more i love peace

[@joemagnus5085]

What a brutal conflict! Only the second person I've ever heard of having their cremains shot out of a canon...

[@djquinn11]

Was the other one Hunter S. Thompson?

[@theawesomeman9821]

who was the first?

[@joemagnus5085]

@@theawesomeman9821 Hunter S. Thompson. Although that was in his will I think lol

[@sunlight9056]

Damn Simon, that beard is lookin dank.

[@xaivang9106]

I was wondering if you could do a video on the Miao Rebellion of 1795?

[@mikemonroy1]

Excellent content. "The more I learn from Simon, the more I learn how little I know". Thank you.

[@CelestialSwann]

“Wow, It sure sucks being a foreign Chinese dynasty suffering from a surging instability crisis & population while chipping away at foreign influence, I sure hope some guy doesn’t see things in his dreams from failing absurdly rigged exams & annihilating a huge chunk of the population & economy like it’s nothing…”

[@johnspecter9907]

Oh my God... Damnit Simon... I love you but damnit man .. how many channels do you have? You have become all I watch. I'm not complaining but still damn it man 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@michaelstone5298]

Hey there me again, just a quick afterthought one of the things he didn't mention was that during the final assault on Taiking (Heavenly Capital). Which they had renamed Nanking to, (the actual official pronunciation, (different dialect), would not be changed until the late 1970s from King to Jing). But at any rate many Taipings, actually committed suicide during the final assault, drowning themselves in the river or self-imalation.

[@pyromania1018]

Hmm, an arrogant narcissist gets his ego damaged by failing an exam, convinces himself that he is divinely inspired, becomes the leader of a cult-like movement, starts an incredibly bloody war in which he regards his enemies as less than human, becomes more withdrawn as the war continues, and kills himself in the heart of his capital as his enemies are banging on his door.

[@me0101001000]

Still remember the Hong Xiuquan Biographics video. One of my favourites!

[@theawesomeman9821]

I thought he covered it too but wasn't sure until your comment.

[@memofromessex]

Please can you do either the Scottish Wars of Independence or just the Battle of the Flodden and the aftermath

[@FiddlerForest]

You should do the Three Kingdoms era soon!

[@rashkavar]

"For three days, violence on an unprecedented scale filled Nanjing as the pure carnage of war was unleashed in every house." Gods, what is with brutal conquest and Nanjing specifically? Fast forward another 80 years or so and the surviving civilians' grandkids would face the Japanese in the Rape of Nanjing...which means there are probably some kids who survived the end of the Taiping Rebellion who lived to suffer as old timers in in WWII. For those not familiar, it's considered among the worst atrocities in the various wars that made up WWII, which, uhh....got some real stiff competition for title of "worst atrocity" in that war, so that should give you an idea of just how bad this was. (And yes, you can argue semantics about an atrocity committed in 1937 and 1938 during the Second Sino-Japanese war counts as being part of WWII, though that war would later be rolled into WWII once Japan made its big move in December 1941 at the latest. But the comparison to other major atrocities in WWII stands.)

[@frankieseward8667]

Bataam death march Korean comfort women And Don't get me started on the experiments. Japan was worse than Germany in skne aspects.

[@jlee5730]

As a young child, I was taught by my grandparents (who were born to lucky survivors soon after the Rape of Nanjing) to fold my blanket in a very particular way. I recently learned that it's a kind of soldier's roll, where the folds create large, tight pockets for storing necessities and won't come apart even if you walk for hours with it strapped to your back. Even though I no longer live in Nanjing or even China, I still make the bed like this and seem to have inadvertently taught my kids step one of how to flee a besieged city.

[@truien777]

Damn Simon, looks like that beard is getting away from you. 😆

[@firdabd_2170]

That one eye at his back is something.

[@WastdTrashPanda]

You know you're crazy when even Karl Marx thinks you're crazy 🤣

[@raipe125]

if he was not persecuted could have being a professor...he have his phd but cant work in institucions...

[@EmilyJelassi]

Fascinating video! It’s absolutely mind-boggling how massive China’s population has been throughout its history. That the sheer number of deaths is more than WWI is incredible! Excellent job, as always, Simon and team 😊👏🏻💯🙌🏻

[@bobfaam5215]

Majority of people died by famines caused by disruption because of the civil war than the actual fighting .

[@ArrBee6]

Cheers.

[@BlueBirdsProductions]

Do a video on the Spanish armada

[@kevinduperret1910]

Thanks for covering this, Chinese history never seems to get covered since they have so many people the death tolls are just shrugged off

[@steventhompson399]

I've heard that the an lushan rebellion killed many millions, and that was back in the mid tang dynasty, the population of China has always been ridiculously huge

[@YourTypicalMental]

I will probably never get tired of Simon Whistler.

[@Jayjay-qe6um]

Make a video about the Shimabara Rebellion in Japan.

[@DavePryor302]

17:56 what a BOSS !!!!!!

[@patriayvida6850]

History is fascinating. If only humans could learn from it.

[@cynicaloptimist970]

Hong Xiuquan - failed the imperial examination Adolf Hitler - failed art school ... Moral of the story...?

[@mrconfusion87]

Study hard kids! 🤣🤣🤣

[@jonathanmichaelsmith9012]

Failure leads to great things.

[@LordMarcus]

1:17 - _[GTA "Wasted" sound effect]_

[@cossacktwofive4974]

Other than failing to get into art school, failing exams could lead to one to do crazy things.

[@jokuvaan5175]

Hirler: "I feel your pain brother from different mother"

[@karlwikman3874]

The mass of people described in the battle and losses makes every chinese was sound like a warhammer 40k novel

[@Ben-zr4ho]

Do a Biographics on Charles Gordon. Super interesting life...

[@thericeisboilingover]

Ya know in hindsight, I can understand why the Keju were made to be soo difficult: I shudder in fear to think what Hong would have been capable of if he recieved government financing. Same could also be said for how much he could have raised the living quality for people if he never had that breakdown and did get accepted. A veritable humanitarian crisis, and in the space of 100 odd years the country is now a leading actor on the world stage. Awe inspiring.

[@raipe125]

neh...probably just a mediocre burocrat

[@hannahp1108]

That dream he had sounds a lot like a ketamine trip, including the being in a better mood afterwards! I wish I had dreams like that without chemicals, dang

[@codidevlugt2153]

"Teaching his version of Christianity." Anybody teaching their own version of a religion is not a good sign.

[@godfreypigott]

Anyone teaching ANY version of a religion is not a good sign.

[@raipe125]

soo...just the version teach it directly for god??? is not that a bigger red flag???

[@raipe125]

​@@godfreypigotttoo easy...religion is between us for millenia...even fandom. psychoanalysis. socialism, feminism,transhumanism. science discipline. hygine and ethics of any kind are in operational efects even if they are secular or señf proclaims atheism....religion.

[@godfreypigott]

@@raipe125 Could I have the English version please. Taking English words and putting them together randomly is not English.

[@Slayer12349]

Didn't you already did a video like this, or was is the guy who started it?

[@imdeaded]

This was totally informative . Esp chinese history.

[@sinakeyhani929]

The story is kind of familiar. A man is trying to achieve his dreams via academics then he fails, adopts some crazy ideologies, launches a deadly war causing a huge number of deaths and then he fails and kills himself. Where did I hear this story??🤔

[@AKAZA-kq8jd]

Talk about the 3 kingdoms war Were multiple dynasties fought over dominion of China between 184Ad to 280Ad and were 36 to 40 million of their own people perished within that conflict and Earth's population decreased by 10%.

[@Iknowtoomuchable]

One death is a tragedy. One million deaths is a Chinese tragedy.

[@godfreypigott]

According to US conservatives, one million covid deaths was nothing out of the ordinary.

[@xxDruwP13xx]

In early again!

[@steveclapper5424]

It's the response to the separation of people's into the groups of have and have nots. This separation see's the beginning of divergent interests one from the other making us enemies instead of partners.

[@TheRedjack77]

Damn, I want a golden beard :(