Feng Yunshan (; 1815 – June 10, 1852) was the South King of the

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel kingdom in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Q ...

, a distant cousin and early accomplice of

Hong Xiuquan Hong Xiuquan (1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864), born Hong Huoxiu and with the courtesy name Renkun, was a Chinese revolutionary who was the leader of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty. He established the Taiping Heavenly Kingdo ...

, and an important leader during the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It laste ...

against the Qing government. He was one of the first Taipings to be baptized and established the first group of God Worshippers during the 1840s. He was killed during the initial stages of the rebellion, prior to the establishment of the Taiping's capital of Tianjing at

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Early life

Feng Yunshan worked as a village teacher in Heluo Village, Hua county,

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. Although educated, he was unable to pass the imperial examinations. Like Hong Xiuquan, he was a

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

, and he was among the first of Hong's converts to Hong's interpretation of Christianity, backlash to which cost him his teaching position. Feng, Hong, and two other relatives of Hong left Hua county in April 1844. They first traveled to Guangzhou and preached in the outlying areas before heading northwest to White Tiger Village.ibid. 71 (1996) There, Feng and Hong split off and traveled some 250 miles to the southwest to the village of Sigu, Guiping county, Guangxi, where distant relatives of Hong's resided, including two early converts who had returned home. In November 1844, Hong returned home without Feng, who remained in the area and continued to preach.

God-worshiping Society

After Hong Xiuquan's departure, Feng traveled deeper and deeper into the heart of the Thistle Mountain region, preaching and baptizing new converts. Feng christened this group of believers the "

God Worshipping Society The God Worshipping Society, in its literal translation Emperor Worshipping Society (), was a religious movement founded and led by Hong Xiuquan which drew on his own unique interpretation of Protestant Christianity and combined it with Chinese ...

." Hakkas from this area, generally poor and beset by both bandits and local Chinese families angry at the presence of the Hakka in their ancestral lands, found refuge in the group with its promise of solidarity. On August 27, 1847, Feng and the Society were joined by the returning Hong Xiuquan. In the months following Hong Xiuquan's return, Feng was twice captured by a competing local corps. On the first occasion in December 1847, the God Worshipers freed him by force.Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 34 (1966) When Feng was captured a second time in January 1848, he was sent to a local magistrate who, after receiving a bribe from the God Worshippers, released him on the condition that he return to Guangdong.Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 35 (1966) Feng was unable to return to the God Worshippers until the summer of the following year.Franz H. Michael, The Taiping Rebellion: History 37 (1966) Upon his return, he discovered that

Yang Xiuqing Yang Xiuqing () (died September 2/3, 1856), was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion. Early life Yang Xiuqing's family were farmers from Xincun near Jintian, Guangxi, but he lost his parents at a young age. According ...

and

Xiao Chaogui Xiao Chaogui (; 1820 – September 1852) was an important leader during the early years of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty of China. He was a sworn brother to Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taipings, and claimed to serve as a mout ...

had taken leadership roles within God Worshipping Society. Both claimed to enter trances which allowed them to speak as a member of the

Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...

; God the Father in the case of Yang and Jesus Christ in the case of Xiao. When Feng returned in the summer of 1849, he and Hong Xiuquan investigated Yang and Xiao's claims and declared them to be genuine. In early 1850, Feng became the first leader of the God Worshipper Society to call for open revolt.

Taiping Rebellion

Feng was later announced as the "South King" of the

. He is credited with being the strategist of the rebellion and the administrator of the kingdom during its early days. On May 24, 1852 as the Taiping marched by Quanzhou, Guangxi with no intention of invading, a Qing gunner fatally wounded Feng as he sat in his sedan chair. Rallied by the news, the Taiping surrounded Quanzhou and, in the space of two days, breached the walls and killed every citizen who had not fled. Feng finally succumbed to his wounds in June that year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Feng, Yushan 1815 births 1852 deaths Chinese religious leaders Hakka generals Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion People from Huadu District People from Longchuan Politicians from Guangzhou