The Tai-ping suffer no one to preach against their creed, because that would be to diminish the authority of their chief, and damp the ardour of their hopes. In their various proclamations it is expressly declared that Hung-sin-Tsuen is the brother of the Saviour, the Son of God, without any other distinction than such as must exist between an elder and a younger brother. They maintain that there is a celestial mother as well as Father, a heavenly sister as well as a heavenly Brother, and that the recently defunct King of the West, Fung-yun-san, one of Hung's oldest adherents, is now married to the heavenly sister. They hold to the opinion that not one of such of their revelations as clash with the Old and New Testaments, can be decided by such ancient books of religion. Their revelations being the newest, are on that account the most entitled to belief.
In a letter of greeting addressed by Hung to Roberts[185] the
missionary, on the occasion of the arrival of the latter at Nankin, in October, 1860, Hung narrates his heavenly
journey in 1837, the repeated miraculous interference of the Father and the Son in his favour, as also the revelations made to the Eastern King. He professes to have seen the Father and Christ, the heavenly mother and the heavenly sister. He is himself "the Way, the Truth, and the Life," just as Christ is. He warns Roberts repeatedly, that implicit belief in this is of the highest importance, as otherwise he can neither be useful in this world nor blest in the next. After such an exposition, Christian missionaries will scarcely be suffered in the insurgent's camp if they dare to preach against such errors, not to say blasphemies.
There are but few religious ceremonies. The Tai-ping,
indeed, call one day of the week the day of prayer, and it happens more through oversight than intention to be fixed upon the Saturday, but so far as external sanctity goes there seems to be no special attention paid to it. They buy, and sell, and delve just as on other days. On the previous night about ten o'clock two or three cannon-shot are fired to announce the approach of the hour of prayer, and that the day of worship is at hand. Every family is engaged for an hour in devotion and praise. All strangers who have been in communication with the Tai-ping in Nankin state that, even in the capital where he has been resident for seven years past, that dignitary does not observe the Sabbath in any way, either by preaching, prayer, or expounding of the Scripture; there are no exhortations or pious admonitions; they have neither church nor temple; their sole divine service consists in each one reciting in his own house English hymns, and repeating a few prayers, while divers offerings are made, such as tea, rice, and the flesh of slain animals. They offer their prayers kneeling, after which they close the proceedings by singing a hymn standing. An English missionary, who arrived at Nankin with the conviction that the insurgents were genuine sincere Christians, made, after a short stay, the following severe but just remark concerning them: "I found to my regret no trace of Christianity, but a system of the grossest idolatry substituted for it, and arrogating its name. Their notion of God is so distorted,
that it is, if possible, still more erroneous than that entertained of the Supreme Being by other idol-worshipping Chinese. Their conception of the Redeemer, to whom they pay equal honours, is crude, and thoroughly material. Their prayers, far from giving the impression of a true reverence of God, have much more the appearance of an idolatrous mockery of sacred things!"
An English merchant, who accompanied Sir Hope Grant on his reconnoitring excursion up the Yang-tse-Kiang, and spent a week in what used to be called Nankin, now the celestial capital of the Tai-ping, gives the following characteristic sketch of them: "The insurgents take no interest in and do not encourage trade, except in muskets and ammunition. To our representations how unwise it was to lay waste towns and villages, and shut out commerce, they promised, after peace was concluded, to erect schools and other similar institutions, and professed their willingness to promote trade, but 'for the present,' they went on, 'we must, before anything else, make the hills and the rivers subject to our power.' On the whole I found the condition of the rebels far better than I had expected. They are comfortably clothed and well fed. The population of Nankin consists exclusively of officials. No one not connected with the administration of the army is admitted within the gates of the city. The majority of the inhabitants, who number about 20,000, are prisoners and slaves from every part of the empire. Although employed
in most arduous work, they get no pay, but are simply clothed and fed. I remarked an extraordinary number of beautiful young women in elegant silken stuffs from Sutschan. There were also prisoners of war from Sutschan and other places, who, however, were by no means inclined to lead a very Christian and moral life in the celestial capital. The city of Nankin, as well as its suburb, the beautiful ancient cemetery of the Ning dynasty, and the far-famed porcelain Pagoda, are all utterly destroyed; instead of the broad well-paved streets of former times the stranger has now to pick his steps through heaps of bricks and rubbish. The palaces of the kings of the Tai-ping dynasty are glaringly conspicuous among all these ruins. They must have been entirely rebuilt, for the old Yamuns and temples, like the whole of the Táu-Tái City, have been demolished utterly.
"The rebel chief inhabits a large palace. His household consists of 300 female attendants. He also, in virtue of his rank, has 68 wives supported for him. No one but the kings (of whom there are 11 or 12, but only two are resident in Nankin) is permitted to approach his sacred person. Probably Hung is little more than a mere puppet in the hands of his ministers. It is he who mainly keeps the rebellion on foot. Discipline is far better maintained among the long-haired insurgents than the imperial troops, and many of the younger soldiers have pleasing manners.