The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1900-09-20
TAPPING REBELLION.
Efforts to Overthrow the Manchu Dynasty
Cost z0,0N, 600 Lives.

sm1 shed and are now trying TO tinker up
again is not popular in China, and never
has been since its vault into power 23O
years ago; but the Chinese, being Chinese
| love the established, order, whatever il
may be; obey the traditiomwhich bids rev
| .renCe for the occupant OF the Dragon
! Throne, whoever he may be: and, finally
wouldn't expect any better Government il
4 change We're made. All of which con,
sidcred il is not so wonderful that a Gaticr
Of iU0,U00,O0o people submits 10 the sway
| of comparatively few Tartars. More
over. autocratic as the Government IS il
matters of lifeand-death. in regard &c
really important matters, like business
| its powers are limited. 1t has never been
| trusted to coin money of greater value
than coppcr-''cash'' to a cent, be
cause of the fear that it might Bryanize
| the issue
1t is the Manchu Government which
breads and dctests the foreigners, being
that way itself. and not SO much the true
| Chinese. AS the MandIrms shIcmuI!
said during one period of trouble: IF
! these English foreign devils aren't hunt
| ing for prctczt to turn us out of power,
| why all this bother about pulling down a
| flag aud behcading Il few sailors!" Which
| from their point of view was logical
enough.
Once in while the Chinese do raise
| trouble for the Tartars, though, and The
the ''Tai-ping' revolt, which lasted ~
years and cost about 2O,000,00O lives. The
| name literally interpreted means Great
Peace" which hardly seems felicitous,
and is n contraction of "Tai-ping Chlo,
or Great Peace Dynasty" 1t was chosen
by the rebels to distinguish themselves
from the present ''Tai-tsing Chao," or
Great Pure Dynasty" The Govern
Dent, however. called them Chang mao
Tseh." or ''long-haircd rebels" because
they had amputated their pig tails in tokes,
OF being emancipated from Tartar rule.
And the nominal root Of the whole trcu
bic WAS Christianity, of a peculiarly Chi
nese variety.
Down hear Canton there was mar
named Sitsuen, a country school teachc.
and farmer; sickly, ambitious, pure
FLOODED Chinaman, who dreamed dream.
like Mahomet. Also, he was studio,,a
in degree utterly disproportionate to hi.
mental powers. First and last, he toCk
Eve civil service examinations and failcf
in all. After one Of these-in 1S3I-Ls
was taken i'll and had catalertic fit, ~
the course OF which he was carried int
a far country by n lion, a tiger, a dragon
and n few miscellaneous specimens from
the heavenly 700. On his arrival an clt
woman seized him and gave him much
needed bath. and then 4 venerable Oh.
gentleman opened his side and remove"
his heart and other works. Si-tauen We
incined 70 regard both proceedings as IL
the nature of liberties. but WIS placateG
when the missing organs were replaced b.
Aew ones Of bright red color Then s;
younger man instructed him in variou.
matters. After which he woke m.
year or so later he took another OK
uinatiOn and failed with his usual regH
.arity. As he left the civil seryi,r'
booths he was handed a number of tract
ny II native evangelist. Liang h-fah. Thcs'
contained a number Of Bible stories, tran
lated, rewritten and made to fit the CHI
.lcse understanding Si-tsuen read then
ard pored over them BY light Of his u.
ieged intellect for months. Suddenly
light broke upon him. There is Il CHI
Hesc word 'tsuen," represented in writ
ing by an eccentric combination Of a pc
CODA and an umbrella, and meanin
whole" or altogether" which was useG
used throughout to designate the Al
mighty. This being part of his own nam,
Tsuen concluded that he himself wa
meant and that the .Tien-kwoh." o,
heavenly Kingdom in which he was rep
resented as rcigning, must be China. Al
guing on this basis HIS vision was per
fectly clear; the elderly man" was Goo
the Father" and the younger one Iii.
Heavenly Younger Brother" or Jesu,
There was nothing modest or retirins
about Mr. Tsuen.
The more he thought over the matte
the more he became convinced that it Wa,
his mission to save China from every
thing in Sight-and particularly the Man
"hu Dynasty-and mount the throne Ia
rule in the manner described by the tract.
He began to teach his rev gospel, which
Was n strange combination of the Bib.
stories and his own dreaminEs, and he
made converts, first of his own family
and later OF his ncighbOrs. He and thso
Kept Sunday strictly, discOuntenanced TIKI
ase of opium and alcohol, and lived hight
moral lives generally. All this was aiUn,
at first; later Si-tsuen lapsed. Their eX
ample was impressive, although thei.
iconoclastic notions frequently got then.
into trouble. Tsuen himself was once III.
rested but was afterwards released.
In 1916 he met an American missionary,
Mr.. Roberts, in Canton, and studied with
him awhile, but naturally found that
straight Christianity did not agree partic
ularly well with his own ideas. 1t is not
known that he ever came into contact
with missionaries at any time afterwarda.
Leaving Canton i'll some distress and pow
erty, he Unexpectedly met an apostle OF
his own with 1000 converts, whereupcn h,
definitely abandoned teaching school and
went into proselytizing as a business.
BY 1919 he had become power and
was having numerous minor fights with tn
Government, in which honors We're about
easy. But the new religion was growing
casting cut devils and doing whatever els
was appropriate for new prophet with
Il new brand of religion. He was very
popular; none the less SO because he was
a Chinaman-or Chinagod-and professed
an intention of consiSning all Manchu-
TO Il hotter cline.
He and his followers were beginning
to attract the attention of the foreigners.
although he had no foreign teachers and
wanted none. His self-madc religion was
running along all by itself and needed no
eXtraneous motive force.
In 1850 he captured Il city, Yung-ngan.
repeatedly defeated the Imperial troops
and Tai-ping-ism began TO spread like
coEtagiOn. Si-tsucn took himself more Sc
riously than ever. In 1852 he marched
northwards, taking one town after an
other, until he finally captured Nankin
early in 1888. BY this time he had his
relations with the Heavenly Father
and the Heavenly Younger Brother
firmly fixed in his mind and he dropped
what small pretense Of Christianity he
formerly had. He secluded himself from
the common gaze; had revelations occa
siOnally when they were convenient; pub
lished book of PEDESTAL Decrccs,'
and formally proclaimed himself Emperor
Of China, appointing FIVE subordinate
kings, or 'Wangs."1 His state of mind
may be illustrated by the question he asked
Of a foreigner who happened along
whether the Virgin Mary had a pretty
younger sister whom he, as King of