NOTES ON FRIENDS AND RELATIVES
OF TAIPING LEADERS
Carl T. Smith*
The Christian element in the Taiping rebellion has been of special interest to interpreters of the movement. It was this non-Chinese factor which made this rebellion different from all previous Chinese rebel movements. Through its Christian elements the rebels were expressing one aspect of the effect of increasing western influence on Chinese national life.
The precise relation of Christianity to the origin and development of the movement has been a matter of debate. One aspect of the problem is the relationship established between family members and friends of the originators of the movement and the missionaries.
On the one hand, there was a tendency for these relations and friends to seek out the missionary in the course of the disruption to their lives caused by their connection with the rebel leaders. They especially looked to the missionaries for financial assistance in their efforts to join the movement once it had been successfully established at Nanking.
On the other hand, the missionary vision and hope had been stimulated by the early, but confusing, reports of the Christian nature of the rebel movement. They welcomed the opportunity to learn more particulars about the movement from first-hand accounts. It was the small book written by the Rev. Theodore Hamberg in Hong Kong on The Visions of Hung Siu-Tschuen which first gave the outside world detailed knowledge of the Christian influence upon the rebels. Most of the subsequent accounts of the origins of the movement draw heavily upon the material recorded by Hamberg, who received it through Hung Hsiu-ch'uan's cousin Hung Jen-kan.
The missionaries were eager to use the refugees, who were physically cut off from the movement by the troops of the Imperial
* Carl Smith, at present Research Associate in the Theology Division, Chung Chi College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, is well known for his researches into the early Chinese community of Hong Kong and the Protestant church in China. He is currently Vice-president of the Hong Kong Branch, R.A.S.