Description
Book SynopsisOccupying much of imperial China's Yangzi River heartland and costing more than twenty million lives, the Taiping Rebellion was no ordinary peasant revolt. What most distinguished this dramatic upheaval from earlier rebellions were the spiritual beliefs of the rebels. This book deals with this topic.
Trade Review"Reilly..is able to develop a strikingly original thesis. He argues that Protestant sources using Shangdi as the term for God in the translations of the Bible and especially the so-called Old Testament profoundly influenced Hong to connect his Christian faith to Chinese classical sources."
* Canadian Journal of History *
"All in all, the book presents an interesting thesis and is worth reading and using."
* Journal of Chinese Religions *
"Overall this is an important book that should not be overlooked by anyone working on Chinese religious history."
* International Bulletin of Missionary Research *
"A significant contribution to the understanding of the Taiping cause, the problems of indigenization of Christianity in any culture, and the difficulties attendant upon any and all cross-cultural exchanges."
* The Journal of Asian Studies *
"A well-written and researched volume with a new angle on understanding a Chinese civil war, but also of understanding Chinese religious sensibilities, the reading of sacred texts, and the ongoing Chinese issues of corruption and ethnic cleansing. This is a thought-provoking volume that sinologists and Asian historians should not overlook."
* Church History *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Early Catholic Search for the Name of God
2. The Protestant Bible and the Birth of the Taiping Christian Movement
3. The Taiping Challenge to Empire
4. Worship and Witness in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom
5. The Taiping Legacy and Missionary Christianity
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
