HUMAN NATURE, SUFFERING AND HOPE: SINO-CHRISTIAN ELEMENTS IN THE APOCALYPTIC VISION OF HONG XIUQUAN AND THE TAIPING TIANGUO REBELLION OF THE 19TH CENTURY CHINA
HUMAN NATURE, SUFFERING AND HOPE: SINO-CHRISTIAN ELEMENTS IN THE APOCALYPTIC VISION OF HONG XIUQUAN AND THE TAIPING TIANGUO REBELLION OF THE 19TH CENTURY CHINA

Summary/Abstract: The scope of this paper is to review the interplay between apocalyptic narratives emerging from Christianity, Confucianism and Chinese folk religion in the vision of Hong Xiuquan (a charismatic rebel leader during the 19th century China), and the eruption of the bloody Taiping Tianguo rebellion. While offering a short historical and theological synopsis, I argue that Hong Xiuquan’s apocalyptic rhetoric and the Taiping Tianguo rebellion were ignited by the actual suffering of the Han peasants at the hand of Qing government, and was ideologically informed by the Chinese and Christian doctrines of suffering and hope for a free, fair and flourishing world of grand peace; a world which can only be sustained by God Himself.

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