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The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of Taiping-controlled Nanjing —which they had renamed Tianjing "heavenly capital ...
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom developed its own regulated system of clothing and fashion, in response to the cultural policy of tifayifu set by the Qing. One of the earliest acts of rebellion was Taiping members letting their hairs grow and forbade the use of queue braids.
The conflict itself took place in the Taiping's capital city Tianjing. A few key leaders of the Taiping Rebellion were killed: the East King Yang Xiuqing, the North King Wei Changhui and the Yan King Qin Rigang. More than 27,000 other opposition rivals including soldiers perished in the conflict as well.
The capture of Ningbo provided the Taiping with access to the sea and the opportunity to demonstrate that Taiping rule would not harm foreign interests. [3] Initially, foreign reaction to the occupation was positive, even from those who were normally critical of the Taiping, such as Harry Parkes and S. Wells Williams. [4]
With the fall of Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the rebellion came to an end. The Hunan Army , an unpaid and barely fed militia commissioned by the Qing Empire, lost all their discipline and committed mass-scale random murder, wartime rape , looting and arson against the civilians of Nanjing , seen as "rebels".
On March 20, Taiping forces reached the Imperial City, the home of the Manchu Garrison and defended by more than 30,000 Manchu bannermen families. Qing forces were unable to contain a Taiping human wave attack and the Inner City fell quickly. The Taiping forces murdered about 30,000 family members of the Manchu soldiers after capturing the city.
The harsh realities of the Opium Wars, the unequal treaties, and the mid-century mass uprisings of the Taiping Rebellion caused Qing officials to recognize the need to strengthen China. The Tongzhi Restoration was named for the Tongzhi Emperor (r. 1861–1875), and was engineered by the young emperor's mother, the Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 ...
The Taiping army reached the Yellow River by June, but the Qing had ordered all boats be removed from the southern shore. However boats were discovered at Fan County in late June. Only 30,000-40,000 Taiping troops were able to cross the river until Qing forces arrived. With his forces divided, Li Kaifang was forced to give up the siege of Huaiqing.