The Taiping Rebellion

721 Pages·2000·69.119 MB·English

by  Chin Shunshin, Joshua A. Fogel (translator)

THE
TAIPING
REBELLIO N
Cliin Slivinsliin
Translated ky Joskua A. Fogfel
An East Gate Book
First published 2001 by M. E. Sharpe Inc.
Published 2017 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an iriforma business
Copyright© 2001 by CHIN Shunshin
Original Japanese edition copyright © 1982 by CHIN Shunshin. All rights reserved.
Original Japanese edition published by Kodansha, Japan, 1982. English translation rights
reserved by Taylor & Francis, under the license granted by CHIN Shunshin through
Seikyusha U.S.A.
No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including
photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Notices
No responsibility is assumed by the publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or
property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use of
operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein.
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge in
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Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Cover calligraphy by Harrison X. Tu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Chin, Shunshin, 1924-
(Taihei tengoku. English]
The Taiping rebellion / by Chin Shunshin ; translated by Joshua A. Fogel.
p. cm.
"An East gate book"
ISBN 0-7656-0099-04 (alk. paper)
I. China--History-Taiping Rebellion, 1850-1864-Fiction. I. Fogel, Joshua A., I 950-
11. Title.
PL847.15 T27 2000
895.6'35--dc21 99-049758
CIP
ISBN 13: 978-0-7656-0099-8 (hbk)
Contents
1. An Evening in Nagasaki 3
2. Men of Many Dreams 25
3. A Hero in the Setting Sun 46
4. Season of Thieves 67
5. Assemble at Jintian Village! 88
6. Objective: Penghua Mountain 108
7. The Men with Long Hair 124
8. Hoist the Flag! 139
9. Advances and Retreats 160
10. Correspondence from the Ryükyüs 181
11. Escape from the Jaws of Death 202
12. Attack the Rivers and the Mountains 225
13. Escape from Yongan 246
14. The Battle at Guilin 268
15. Aftermath of a Massacre 290
16. Movement North and South 311
17. Changsha Summer 329
18. Departure on a Rainswept Night 351
19. Birth of a Navy 374
20. Razing the Yellow Crane Tower 397
21. Hillock of the Nine Women 417
22. Jingkou Communiqué 441
23. Early Spring in Jinling 465
iii
/V
24. The Yangzi River Flows to the East 489
25. Traffic on the Yangzi 511
26. Love and Hate in the City of Shanghai 533
27. East and West of the Heavenly Capital 556
28. Red Spots on the Yellow Earth 580
29. Secret Messenger of the Heavenly King 603
30. The Arrow Is in the Bow 625
31. The Collapse of the Finest Pagoda in the Realm 646
32. Victory and Defeat 667
33. Elegy for the Heavenly Capital 690
Translator’s Note
What follows is an English translation of the entire text of Chin Shunshin’s
long historical novel, Taihei tengoku. I have added an occasional word here
or there to make the text clearer, but otherwise altered nothing. In addition, I
have included the birth and death dates, where known, of a number of major
historical personages who populate the pages of this work. I have not done
this for the principal historical figures on the Taiping side. Their stories are
told below, and I did not want to give away too much of the drama in ad­
vance. The connecting fiber tying together the various scenes and battles of
the Taiping Rebellion—the Lian family—is entirely fictional.
JAF
February 2000
V

T H E
TAIPING
REBELLIO N

1
An
Evening in
Nagasaki
Waves were breaking in the shadows cast on the water by the circular moon.
Undulating, flickering ... it was as if light and water were at play with one
another.
“So, this is good-bye. Take care,” urged the voice of a young man.
“How can I ever thank you?” Lian Liwen said slowly in a faltering, un­
steady Japanese. The paper lantern held by the young man beside him illu­
minated a small boat by the shore.
“I really didn’t do anything worthy of thanks,” said the young man as he
lowered his head.
“Masasuke, you’re so young and already so busy. That’s remarkable.”
“Well, Mr. Lian, your Japanese certainly has improved, but so has your
ability at flattery.” Lian laughed. “Not even a year has passed, has it?”
“Perhaps we shall meet again,” said Lian Liwen as he stepped on board
the boat. The black shadow of a Chinese vessel floated over the open sea.
The boatman silently rowed, and soon the small craft was far from shore.
The young man looking on from the shore held the lantern high. He had a
long, thin face, that of someone still in his youth. Okubo Masasuke was in
fact only twenty years old, by Japanese reckoning.
As the boat carrying Lian Liwen approached the Chinese ship, he re­
moved the hood covering his head. The pigtail stuffed into the hood came
dangling loosely down his back. Now he could see before him a rope ladder
hanging from the ship’s deck. There, in the open sea before Bonotsu in the
3