Soulèvement de Jintian

The Jintian Uprising was an armed revolt formally declared by Hong Xiuquan, founder and leader of the Emperor Worshippers, on 11 January 1851 during the late Qing dynasty of China. The uprising was named after the rebel base in Jintian, a town in Guangxi within present-day Guiping. It marked the beginning of the Taiping Rebellion. In 1843 Hong Xiuquan, Feng Yunshan and Hong Rengan founded the Emperor Worshipping Society (拜上帝教), a syncretic Shenic-Christian sect, in Hua County (花縣; present-day Huadu District, Guangdong). The following year they traveled to Guangxi to spread their teachings to the peasant population. After that, Hong Xiuquan returned to Guangdong to write about his beliefs, while Feng Yunshan remained in the Mount Zijing (紫荊山) area to rally people like Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui to join their sect. Around 1849, a famine broke out in Guangxi and the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) rose in rebellion against the ruling Qing dynasty. In February 1850, a local corps passed through a number of Emperor Worshipping villages and threatened to kill the converts. In response, Feng Yunshan began to call for open revolt by the God Worshippers. In July 1850, the Emperor Worshippers' leaders directed their followers to converge in Jintian and quickly amassed a force of 10,000–30,000 people. In preparation for an uprising, Hong organized these men into military formations, each led by commanders with military ranks: a marshal (軍帥) commanded five divisional marshals (師帥); each divisional marshal commanded five brigade marshals (旅帥); each brigade marshal commanded five infantry chiefs (卒長); each infantry chief commanded four majors (兩司馬); each major commanded five company leaders (伍長); each company leader had four soldiers under him. The total number of officers and enlisted personnel reached 13,155 by the end of that month, and civilian ranks were also created to govern the remaining civilian population. The Qing imperial army in Guangxi was not particularly strong, with only about 30,000 troops, and was occupied with suppressing the Tiandihui's rebellion.