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The "ever-Victorious Army,"; A History of the Chinese Campaign Under Lt.-Col. C.g. Gordon and of the Suppression of the Tai-Ping Rebellion
The ever-Victorious Army A History of the Chinese Campaign Under Lt-Col Cg Gordon and of the Suppression of the Tai-Ping Rebellion Author:Andrew Wilson General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1868 Original Publisher: W. Blackwood Subjects: China History Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864 China Great Britain Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edit... more »ion of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. THE TIEN WANG AND HIS HISTORY UP TO i860. Hung Sew-tsuen's Origin -- His Position As A Hakka -- His Trances And Superstitions -- The Terrible Character Of His Career -- His Personal Appearance -- The Tai-ping Wangs -- Murder Of The Eastern King Hung's Jealousy Of His Chiefs -- The Rebel Capital Constantly Besieged. It was in this troubled fermenting state of China that there appeared one of those extraordinary men who in- j carnate in themselves the tendencies of a revolutionary period, and who, more frequently in the East than elsewhere, gather myriads round them, and pass over their country like a destroying but purifying tempest. So many writers on this subject have availed themselves of the Rev. Mr Hamberg's pamphlet, which really contains all that is known of the early life of the Tai- ping leader, that the facts of Hung Sew-tsuen's early history must be quite familiar, and these have been further substantiated by the autobiography which the Kan Wang or Shield King wrote, prior to execution, when in the hands of the Imperialists in 1864. But it may be well, very briefly, to show the bearing of these facts, to point out how far the chiefs career potentially originated in the ordinary circle of Chinese ideas, andhow far it was affected by his peculiar descent and- by his contact with Foreigners; in brief, to give the rationale of his history. No special notice seems to have been taken of the fact, that though born within thirty miles of Canton, he was of the Hakka, a r...« less