什麼是太平天國之亂

Taiping Rebellion

發生在中國，大規模反抗清朝的叛亂，蹂躪十七個省份，造成兩千萬人因此喪命，平亂之後，清朝政府已無力重新有效掌控國家。1840年代，飽受洪水與饑饉之苦的農民，使得叛亂的時機成熟，就在洪秀全的領導下發動叛亂。洪秀全心中的意像使他深信自己是耶穌的胞弟，並以將中國從滿族統治底下解放出來，視為上天賦予他的責任。他宣揚在神之下，所有人要有如兄弟姊妹般的情誼，財產應該公有。其追隨者富於戰鬥的信念，使他們團結成一支訓練有素的軍隊，並擴充到超過百萬的男男女女。（在太平天國的反叛軍中，男女平等。）他們於1853年奪下南京，改名為天京（意為天國的首都）。太平軍企圖奪取北京，雖然失敗，但一支遠征長江上游河谷的部隊卻取得許多勝利。洪秀全過於偏重個人特色的基督教信仰，使得他疏離於西方傳教士以及中國的學者士紳。由於缺乏士紳階級的支持，太平軍無力統治鄉間，或有效支援他們佔領的城市。太平軍的領導階層偏離最初的樸實，陷於權力鬥爭中，導致洪秀全缺乏有力的支助。1860年，太平軍企圖奪取上海，但遭英人領導的英美軍隊所擊退。1862年，曾國藩率領的中國部隊包圍南京。到1864年，這座城市終於陷落，然而太平天國有近十萬的部眾寧願赴死，也不願被俘。各地方零星的抵抗持續到1868年。估計有超過兩千萬人在這場叛亂中喪生。亦請參閲Li Hongzhang、Nian Rebellion。

1850～1864年

Taiping Rebellion

Large-scale rebellion against the Qing dynasty in China that ravaged 17 provinces, took some 20 million lives, and left the Qing government unable to regain an effective hold over the country. The peasants, having suffered floods and famines in the late 1840s, were ripe for rebellion, which came under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan. Hong's visions convinced him he was the younger brother of Jesus, and he saw it as his duty to free China from Manchu rule. He preached the brotherhood and sisterhood of all people under God; property was to be held in common. His followers' militant faith unified a fiercely disciplined army that swelled to more than a million men and women (women were treated as equals by Taiping rebels). They captured Nanjing in 1853 and renamed it Tianjing (“Heavenly Capital”). Their attempts to capture Beijing failed, but an expedition into the Upper Chang (Yangtze) River valley scored many victories. Hong's idiosyncratic Christianity alienated both Western missionaries and the Chinese scholar-gentry. Without the gentry, the Taiping forces were unable to govern the countryside or supply their cities effectively. The leadership strayed from its original austerity and descended into power struggles that left Hong without competent help. In 1860 an attempt to take Shanghai was repelled by U.S.- and British-led forces, and by 1862 Chinese forces under Zeng Guofan had surrounded Nanjing. The city fell in 1864, but almost 100,000 of the Taiping followers preferred death to capture. Sporadic resistance continued elsewhere until 1868. More than 20 million people may have died in the rebellion. See also Li Hongzhang, Nian Rebellion.