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THE LONG HAIRED ROBBERSBY

CHARLES A. STANLEY

I七 is seventy-five years since the inception of the “ G凹的 Peaceful

Heavenly Kingdom," a period qui色e too long for the memory of man ,and to most of us the “ T'ai P'ing Rebels," as they were called by Euro­pean日， stand for little more than a myth. They were 位1e “ Long

Haired Robbers" (長毛賊) to the Chinese and for most of the periodof fifteen ye亂的 when they were carrying their activiti凹 into thirteenof the eighteen provinces it was one long record of pillage and rap旭e.

The genius of the movemen七 seems to have faltered after the 叫“mp七

on Pekin頁， when in 1854 a large force penetrated North as far as ChingHai (靜海) only twenty miles South of Tientsin-and Histo句，血 the

mood of fiαit αccompli， does not permit the raising of the supposititious“益" St山 one canna色 but wonder what might have been the outcomehad there been leadership adequ的e to the 個sk involved. “It is amatter of pathetic interest to know 他的 in the proclamation issuedfrom Nanking in 1860 by the “ Shield King," Hung Seutsuen's wisestand nobles色 adviser and general, foreigners were never to be called op­probrious names, missionaries were 也o travel and live and preach every­where, steamboats were to ply on all 他e waterways, and railroadswere 七o inter潤的 the country. Fire and life-insurance companies andnewspapers were to be freely introduced for the good of China; soldierswere forbidden to seize the goods of the people in the villages; theBible was to be introduced as a text-book in the public service examina­也ions， and, finally, the defini個 elevation in the status of woman wasno色 merely i且也roduced into a proposed programme but was actuallybegun under the T'ai P'ing in Nanking. Some genuine enlightenmentand some true patriotism must have been stirring in the minds of theleaders in the rebellion, though the mass of their rank and file becamea mere rabble with no ambition but that of rapine." (The Eω色 of

Asia, 1906. Vol. V, pp. 1, 3.)Hung Hsiu-恤'\ian (i韓秀全)， the “ Heavenly 阻ng" (天王),

was leader of this movement which proved to be one of the worst human

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scourges known to hi的ory. It is easy to condemn him as a misguided,mentally diseased fanatic b叫“ 1的 us pause before we form harsh con­elusions on the acts of a man of strong religious feelings , who, broodingover the wrongs he and his have su宜ered， takes to the hills with oneor two hundred followers to wage war with an Empire." (Repor也

of Sir Geo. Bonham's trip to Na:此ing 恆 the “ Herm巴西，" Apr且 22,1853). Ample accounts and histories of the man and of the periodhave been writ也en and are available so i七 is no色 necessary to go intodetail here. Su但ce it 色o say 他的 the insurrection lasted from 1850 to1865, when the la的 vestige of the “ rebels" were stamped out in Sze­chuan Province. The best authorities estimate the loss of life during他is period at 鉤，000，00恥-men， women and children.

The reason for bringing back to mind this shuddering fifteen yearsis the appearance about a year ago of a history of the T'ai P'ings inChinese (:i:平天國野史) published by the Chung Hua Shu Chii(中離審局). This is a book of about four hundred pages and it goesinto great detail in describing the organization, rites -and teachings ofthe T'ai P'ings. The manuscrip色 came to light in the following manner.

In 191I Mr. Yao Ying 微觀)， who happened to be 尬的'ang啦，dropped 阻.to a book shop and overhe包，rd a m姐 by 他e name of Wangba.rga詛ing with the proprietor of the shop for a piece of manuscriJ!t.Unable to come to terms, the man lef也 and Mr. Yao asked to see them乳.nuscript which proved to be an account of the T'ai P'ings. Hegladly paid the price which the proprietor asked, and, taking the manu­script 師呵， placed 比咱也h the Chung Hua Shu Chii (中華書局)， whoafterwards published it under the editorship of Mr. Ling Shou-ch'ing組d wi也h the title,“ An Uno益cial Historyof the T'ai P'ings." (太平

天國野史)The following is a translation of Mr. Ling's preface along wi也hp的

of the chapter of 色he history having to do with the religious tene徊，

rites etc. , -of the T'ai P'ings-namely the General IntroCluction andthe section on Worship (禮羿).

In passing, i志 is interesting to call 的tention to the fact that thelate Dr. Sun Y帥-Sen has referred to himself as “ a second Hung Hsiu­Ch'誼an."

AN UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE PEACEFUL HEAVENLY

STATE.

(太平天國野車)

Preface.

The “ Peaceful Dynasty" from its inception to the time of itsdis凶egration covered fou此een years. [Hung's forces (拱軍) havingsiezed Yungan (永安)旭 the Fir的 Year of Hsien Feng (戚豐) of theCh'ing Dynasty (清) the following year was denominated the “ FirstYear of the Peaceful Heavenly State" (太平天國元年)，consequently出e actual duration of the state was thirteen years.]

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E••••山

川.

i汶

The Great Seal of the Ta'j p'jng Army.

THE LONG HAIRED ROBBERS

Active rebellion ag泊的 the government covered a period of sixteenyears [Namely from the thirtieth year of Tao Kuang (道光) to thefourth year of T'ung Chili (岡治) when Prince T'an T'i Yuan (譚體元)W的 d白色的ed and killed in Min (閩 Fukien)]. Victory and defe的 varied

with thc rise and fall of fortune. Historically, this period 仰自lOt com­pare with that of Fu Ch'ien (福建)旭 duration; but in its benefitsto the common people i七 was greater 也包n the period of Wu and Yueh(其越). The ordinary individual canno七 measure the importance toChi且也 of the changing fo的unes of this period; but i七 may be th的 its

influence will prove gre叫er than the suppression of Yuan (元) by HungWu (~武)， or 也e supplanting of the Ch'ings (請) by the Republic(民間).

Intercourse between the West andChin包 had its beginnings in Kuang­tung and Kuangsi and compelled the Chinese of the time, mostlynatives of these 也wo provinces ，也o enlarge their vision to a world horizon.The T'ai P'ing leaders lived a~ 出is time and i七 was when they were的ud拆ng and teachi月七he Western religion and had been stirred by thedisastrous effects of the tra益c 旭 opium that they set up their banners.Though there w品 li的Ie real p的ce during 也hese years i也 must be acknow­ledged that the experiments of this period form the background of thereforms of the Ch'ing Dynasty, such 胡 the doing away with civil ex­aminatio悶，七he teaching of science, the prohibition of opium , the em­phasis upon hygiene, the edic的 agains七 foo七-binding and the emph咖

upon fern乳.Ie education; and the reforms in dress, the revision of thecalendar, the fulfilling of 七reaties， the emphasis upon the new worldspirit, etc. , of the Republic. Furthermore the disuse of the term“ Emperor" in favour of “ King" and 七he copying of the British govern­mental forms would seem to have a deep significance as a preparationfor a popular leader. Had Heaven fur也hered their original plans, thedisturbances of our day might have proved to be a thing of the pa的

and the gre的 Asian continen• -the heritage from our emperors-mighthave been brough色色o a condition of 泌的山七y even greater than 他的

of Japan. St血， who can say. However , the e宜or七 oversho七 the mark.At a time of g凹的 un闊的lemen色， the attempt 七o impose by decree anuntried form of government upon a people who inherently and forthousands of years have been conservative, produced general fear anduncertainty and unr帥soning opposition, to the advantage of others.Thus a beam of light was turned to gloom. The words of Confuciusfind f叫血ment in the T'ai P'ing Princes: “ U

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then one realizes the concealed su宜ering of the people. In what iswri的en 也垣B fact is even more serious 色han 旭 what is spoken, and sothe real tru七h about 他e T'ai P'ings has been 10的.

In the summer of Hsin Yu (1921) :Mr. Ting Fu-Chili showed me amanuscript copy of Hung Yang Chi Shih ct時楊旭事)， which was 詛

the possession of Mr. Yao. The au也or had no色 subscribed his name.The manuscript contained an accour凶 of 也e T'ai P'ings up t山 the Fif他

year of Hsien Feng (成豐). [The four位1 yearof也e T'ai P'ings]. Eachof thirty people had wri泊en abo的 one hundred words and it was allregarding 0益cials and 七he mili個ry organization, all very careful andminu如 This ma也erial was n的 found in 0七her books. For 七his reasonI collected all available material and compiled a history, adding whatwas lacking, altering what was incorrec七， and being more specific inwh的 was too general. This labour consumed a year. Though in copyingthe originals 七here may have crep七扭 mistake日， y的 everything from益rs七七o 130的 should be here. Now that this accoun七 of the T'ai P'詛gs

has been compiled，的her 的udents of the period may be able to m站e

additions. This has been 他e original p盯pose of my labours.The 也welfth Year of 七he Republic.The 他ird Mon的1. Wu Hsing (吳興)

Ling Shan-Ch'ing (凌著清).

CHAPTER FOUR.

Religion.

In the two Kuang and Fukien 他e Catholic Church (天主教) wasthe most in evidence in the early days. In the first year of 'Tao Kuangthelocalo益cials instituted a very serious persecution agains七七hem， where­upon 他e nomenclature was changed from a religious sect (教)也o asociety (會)， such as Supreme Ruler Socie句(上帝會)，Younger Br。他er

Society (海弟會)， Society of the Small Sword (lJ、刀會) and so forth.By the close of the Opium War, with Chinese and foreigners living to­gether up and down the coa的 due to the opening of five treaty po此s，

these clubs and societies had greatly increased. When Hung (i!~) firstorganized his society it was called the Supreme Ruler Society (上帝會).This was changed to the Heavenly Ruler Society(天帝會)， also known 削

他e Younger Brother Society (添弟會). For this reason all who enteredthe organization whether old or young were called “ bro七hers" (弟).

Though the name of the organization was often changed, the purposewas similar to that of the Roman Catholic Church, exce抖出的七here

were some superficial differences. rDuring the Ming Dynasty foreigners,Ricci and others(利碼賣3 湯若草，南燼仁)，came to China propagat­ing Roman Catholicism and making many converts. They excelled 詛

mathematics and astronomy, doing rem

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THE LONG HAIRED ROBBERS

orga凶z的ion must fir飾品的roy his ancestral 個blets and 他e 益ve symbolsof animistic worship, af七er which the one in ch包rge would receive 他e

applicant. They were known by the name of those who “ ate the church"他教)， also “ church citizens" (數民). On 毛heir gateways they pa的eda piece of red paper on which was drawn an oval encircling a cross.(In order to keep continually 旭 rememberance the God whom theyworshipped, named Jesus, who died crucified.). On the first and the飪teenth of every month members, men and women, met in the churchbehind closed doors for worship where they remained 色也 evening. Inillness 他ey mu的 have a member of the church to cauterize. Womenalso were 也o be naked when treated. In case of death the person incharge sent people to shroud the corpse. After the shrouding, thecorpse was wrapped in a sack of white cloth which was sewed up aroundthe neck, and 他en placed 且 the co益n. At first the Chinese lookedupon the church as heterodox, and only by the moderate use of “ benefits"(利) could its preachers gain a few adheren純 Later， when 他e peoplebecame convinced that the organization was prompted by no motivesother 他an comp品sionate goodness, some intelligent people became con­珊的s.] They (T'ai P'ings) taught 他的 Heaven ruled the cosmos, and尬的 the Lord of Heaven ruled Heaven. All altars for the worship ofheaven, ear恤， n的ure， ancient worthies and ancestors should be abolishedand one should worship他e Lord of Heaven alone. Further, had not theLord of Heaven from the beginning of 恤ings kept creation together,heaven long since would have fallen and the earth would have turnedover. In addition they teach他的 Jesus is 也e son of the Ruler of Heaven(天費)，who was born in Judea d叮ing 他e rei伊 of the Emperor Ai (哀帝)of the Han Dynasty. He influenced men by his goodness and performedmany miracles. King Herod hated him, took him by force and crucifiedhim. After seven days, he 間-co::>rdin的ed his bodily functions by a.spiritual energy, broke the tomb and appeared living for three days.Reciting some precep紹， he dep亂的ed up 血色o heaven, where he remainstill this day as the -Lord of Heaven for all eternity. Their books ofsalv的ion teach that you mus七 serve no gods bu也 Heaven. There aremany Heavenly Precepts, such as against murder and wrong-dealing,adultery, robbery, being unfilial, knavery and all evil. Marriage mus七

be performed by 他e proper authority and must no七 be illicit. The ruleswere very commendable. A七 the fir的出e leaders observed them verycarefully: but later wi色h the e前的lishme

WOTsh句.

The T法i P'ing army, when in cities and towns, was bil!eted 旭 the

homes of the people; b叫 when they camped in the open they erected

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~a~ge wooden barracks usable for purposes of religious worship. Thefollowing is a condensed account of these rites. Where 個bles and chairsare not available the people may be seated on the ground in the worshipof the Heavenly Father. - When in cities and towns every effort must b-emade to give them proper setting.

When a city or town was taken, the more pretentious dwellings wereoccupied by the higher 0血cers and the smaller ones by those of lowerrank. Each dwelling accomodated one hundred or a few tens of soldiers,according to circumstances. In the centre of the main room a squaretable was placed which had a table scarf, either plain red or of embroideredmaterial. In each room there were hung CUi切ins， a lantern, scrolls andpictures. Sacrificial vessels, vases and mirrors were in place. Thesemight be appropriated by force as needed. Should there be four glasslanterns one should be kept and the others distributed. Decorative Ian·terns should be treated in the same way. Thus there were no “ pairs"andn的hing could be hung in order. Honourary scrolls with gilt letteringshould also be distributed singly. Appropriate a eli宜erent one to makeup 七he “ pair，" thus there would be no order with these. Thus everything詛 the room, scrolls, pictures, lanterns and vase白， was placed in orderto produce an e宜ect of gorgeousness. But not knowing where thingsshould be placed and with everything旭 disorder， the effect upon one whoreally lmew how things should be was one of secret mirth. Incense andcandles were no七 placed before the table of the Lord of Heaven. Thusthere were no incense burners nor candle·sticks. Near the front edgeof the 個ble were placed two oil lamps. There was nothing specifiedas to what was to be on the table except that there must be a pair ofvases or hat stands, in each of which was stuck a small three·cornered宜ag of authori句入 made of yellow satin. In front of the table there wasan upright of bamboo about three feet long and one inch wide, on whichwas the legend,“ By Heaven's Authority." Behind the table wereplaced three chairs with cushions, etc. These chairs were for也e highestin authority, the second and the secretary. Were there more secretaries,five or seven chairs might be used.

Every seventh day was reserved for worship. On the day previousthe authorities ordered deputies, carrying the “ flag of worship，"的 go

through the streets beating cymbals and crying that “ to·morrow is theday of worship." Everyone should be devout and ther

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THE LONG HAIRED ROBBERS

From the highe的 down， everyone is se的ed. After a hymn of praise 七he

secretary pros仕的ed himself and in silence presented the memorial.This was called the silen七 litany. The assembly lmelt during this cere­many, after which也ey par七oak of their meal. The T'ai P'ings, knowingthe paver句 of 他e country people, used 也a attract them by giving themthree meals. Worship was conducted in the morning and the eveningbut not 的 the 七ime of the noon meal. One could surmise the type of。但cer in charge by 出e attitude of reverence or disrespect evident 叫他e

times of worship.There were 七hose who, when lmeeling and presenting the "silent

litany," would say in low 七ones，“ May 色he Heavenly Father, the SupremeRuler use his great a的hority; 也under upon the Heavely Prince (天王)，and consume w凶h fire the Eastern Prince (東王)." Those who kneltbehind and heard these words dared not to divulge 出em but had tomaintain an attitude of respect just as the brethren from Kuangsi did.(No七e : This must refer to the lack of harmony which developed b的ween

some at the leaders.)If when you were no七也 you did not present yourself at the sound of

the gong, or showed any levity, you were bea七en with several hundredstrokes.

The tables and chairs which were used for worship were also usedfor court when necessary. Whenever 七he “ clapper" sounded, silenceprevailed. If withou七 excuse you were absent from worship three timesyou were reported to 七he general and publicly execu七ed. The foregoingregulations were carried out 扭曲e smaller places.

In the Heavenly City (天京 Nanking) a pI的form w制凹的dwi出out

the main gate of the palace as a place to celebrate birthdays and festivals,and to worship Heaven. Within the palace there was an altar for worship,elaborate almost beyond description. The palaces of Princes Yang, WeiandS岫(攝韋石)was similarly arranged. Before worship at the morningand evening meal，他e cymbals mu的 be sounded sixty-four times andmusic played 他ree times. Concubines and female officials to the numberof abo的 one thousand joined 扭曲e hymns of praise with a volume ofsound 色ha七 swelled the halls. The order of the gongs was as follows:in the presence of Hou (偎) or Hsiang (相)的 strokes; before Chien (檢)

。r Chih (指) 36 strokes; before Tsung Chih (總制) or Chien Chlin (監軍)24 strokes; before Chlin Shuai (軍帥) 20 strokes; before Shih Shuai(師帥) 16 strokes; before Lli Shuai (旅帥) 12 strokes; before Tsu Chang(卒長) 10 strokes; before Liang Szu Ma (兩司馬) 8 strokes. (Note.VarIous army rankings corresponding ro

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but even when there was Ii的Ie in sight an offering mu的 be made. Of themeats 0宜ered， dog meat was considered the best. When 他e ceremonywas over the 0宜ering was distributed. On special occasions such asbirthdays , festivals，他e military occupation of a ci句-any occasion forrejoicing in the army-there was something out of the ordi且ary. Aspecial banqu的 was prepared as an adequ的e offering to the HeavenlyFather.

On occasions of illness or some special happiness, the even也 was

written out in fashion similar to the Heavenly Rules. This was readand then burned as worship of the Heavely Father, or as a petition forhappiness. Special celebrations in the army must be on the Day ofWorship and all inferiors 阻 rank were supposed to present scrolls of con­gratulation. The period of punishment by 也e cangue was also deter­mined by the Day of Worship. One's sentence would be for three daysof Worship (weeks) , or five weeks and so on. All a任airs of the army weresimilarly determined. For inst叩開， the proclamation that if Wuch'angwere not taken in three weeks the one in command would be recalled tothe capitol for punishment. All requisitions for provisions mu的 also

be made on the day of worship.

A CURIOUS CHINESE CANDLESTICKBY

R. P. HOMMEL

By mere accident I saw in a Chinese drygoods shop in L垣kiang，

Kiangsi, which I had entered to buy some trifling article, a number ofold pieces of bronze. The shopkeeper had acquired them from a pawn­shop, where they had been lef也 beyond the period allowed for redeemingthem. After some negotiating I acquired the pieces, among them a pairof candlesticks, representing a kneeling person in foreign, old·fashioneddress and a 仕icorn on the head. As the accompanying pictures show,of the two figures one kneels upon the left knee with the other merelybent, and balances upon the outstretched left hand a turned rod with ahole at the upper end for the candle; while the other figure, an exactcounterpart, kneels upon the right knee and supports a candleholderwith the right hand. The heigh七 of the figure with base is 13 inches.The base is typically Chinese. On the figure itself, however, nothing isChinese excep七 the slanting eyes, which the modeller apparently had notrecognized to be a characteristic of the yellow race only. This is a slipof the ar悅色， who undoubtedly wanted to repr凹ent a foreign person,not merely a person 血 foreign attire. This intention we perceive fromthe unduly high nose, the shape of the head, and 他e way the hair istreated. The forehead is fr阻led with curls and the hair at the back ofthe head ends in what reminds us of a bag-wig, or a 色hick crop of hair,

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