CHAPTER II.
Hung-sui-tshuen.—Clanship in China.—Hung-sui-tshuen's Genealogy: his Education.—Extraordinary Visions: Description of them.—Description of Hung-sui-tshuen: his Early Days: his Visions Explained: his Conversion: how Effected.—Hung-sui-tshuen's Preaching: his Religious Essays.—The God-worshippers.—Destruction of Idols.—Progress of God-worshippers.—Numbers increase.—Hostilities commence.—God-worshippers Victorious.—"Imperialist" Cruelty.—Bishop of Victoria.—Chinese Dynasty proclaimed.
Hung-sui-tshuen is a name now familiar in most parts of Europe as that of the chief—or King, as his followers term him—of the great Ti-ping revolution in China. Unfortunately much misapprehension exists as to him and his cause. Such information as I may give my readers, that has not come under my personal observation, has been derived from the actors themselves, especially all relating to the origin of the Ti-pings, their progress until I met them, and the description of their great leader—in fact, my knowledge of Hung-sui-tshuen has been obtained principally from his Prime Minister and cousin (Hung-jin), his chamberlain, and many of his chiefs and own clan. Since my return to England, I have had the pleasure to peruse, for the first time, the admirable little work of the late Rev. Theodore Hamberg, missionary of the Basle Evangelical Society to China—"The Visions of Hung-sui-tshuen, and Origin of the Kwang-si Insurrection." This, and the pamphlet entitled "Recent Events in China," by the Bishop of Victoria (published some nine or ten years ago), coincide in most particulars with the information I have gathered from direct sources; and, as all my journals, notes, and memoranda fell into the hands of the Imperialists during my service with the Ti-pings, I have found them very useful in recalling facts I might otherwise have forgotten.
Hung-sui-tshuen was born in the year 1813, at a small village in the Hwa district,[2] some little distance from the city of Canton. His ancestors, originally from the north-east boundary of the Kwang-tung province, soon after the complete subjugation of the Chinese by the Manchoo Tartars, A.D. 1685, with many other families loyal to the Ming, through the persecution and exactions of the invader, abandoned their homes and sought refuge in the southern parts of Kwang-tung and Kwang-se, the two most southerly provinces of China. Here, to the present day, their descendants are known by the name of Hakkas (settlers) by the Punti people (natives of the soil).
The genealogy of Hung-sui-tshuen's family is one of the most ancient in China. During ten centuries, until the era of the present dynasty, they trace members of their house occupying the most exalted stations in the empire. So far back as the Sung dynasty, A.D. 1000, many of the Hungs were prominent literati; from that time till the Manchoo invasion, numbers of them have been members of the Han-lin College—the highest literary rank in China. For many generations the dignity of Minister of State was attained, and this was particularly the case throughout the sovereignty of Sung. During the Ming dynasty (the last Chinese one) likewise, the Hungs invariably numbered men of renown and literary attainments among them. They became allied to the Imperial family by marriage; and it was one of the Hungs who, as generalissimo of the Chinese forces, fought the last battle in defence of Nankin and the Ming prince. The prince was treacherously killed by some of his own followers, while the general perished with the greater number of his troops, being totally defeated by the Tartars, who thus destroyed the last attempt to keep them north of the river Yang-tze-kiang.
Like most countries, China has had her feudal period, the earliest and last authentic records of which refer to the ninth and tenth centuries. In this, as in many important events, the Chinese have been before western nations, their feudal system having terminated anterior to the meridian of that of Europe. A system of clanship, however, prevails in many parts of China; all persons of the same surname, though frequently numbering tens of thousands, being considered near kindred; and, singularly enough, not being allowed to marry amongst themselves. I am inclined to believe this is much lessened at the present day, for I have generally found that members of a clan or kindred do not reverence any one head of the entire name, but one much more nearly related to themselves, and who is seldom elder, or chief, of more than some hundreds. Previous to the incursion of the Manchoos, Hung-sui-tshuen's kindred formed a vast and powerful body; their stanch support of the last struggles for the Ming dynasty, and the sanguinary persecutions they, in common with other obnoxious families, suffered from the invader, greatly reduced their number. Upon the outbreak of the Ti-ping revolution, the Hung clan was supposed to number upwards of 20,000 persons; subsequent to that event the greater part were massacred by the Imperialists, simply because they were the connections of a rebel! Of Hung's immediate relatives, who, to the number of five or six hundred, peopled his native village under the authority of his father, not one remains; men, women, and children, all who were unable to join him, were mercilessly slaughtered by the ruthless Manchoo, and their very dwellings swept from the face of the earth.
Now, although the honourable and ancient lineage of Hung-sui-tshuen has never been disputed, some persons, with a mendacity truly astonishing, have amused themselves by designating him the "Coolie King." Not only was Hung of good family—a secondary consideration in China, where personal rank is everything[3]—but his own position, as a member of the literati, was one of the most honourable. These are qualifications, it is probable, the persons who styled him "Coolie King" do not possess.
For many generations Hung's progenitors had been the chiefs or elders of their clan. His father fulfilled this capacity, and governed the affairs of his own and many surrounding villages. In spite of Hung's line of ancestry and his father's eldership, they were far from being well supplied with the good things of this life; in fact, their freehold was barely sufficient to support them. The family mansion was by no means suitable to the former dignity of the name. An ordinary Chinese farmer's cottage, containing nothing but the simplest articles of use, was the birthplace of one of the greatest men the empire has ever produced. At the earliest age, Hung exhibited a remarkable aptitude for study, became an inmate of the village school at seven years of age, and in less than twice that time had become proficient in the usual course of Chinese education; besides which, he studied by himself the history of China, and the higher branches of Chinese literature. Even at this early period, he was universally distinguished for his extraordinary talents, which were so highly appreciated by his teachers and relatives, that they united in defraying the expense of his further education. At sixteen years of age the want of means put an end to his studies; within a year, however, a young fellow-student took him as a companion. After this, when eighteen years of age, he was appointed schoolmaster of his native village, by the unanimous wish of the people.