SHIH TA-K'AI

born 1831, Kuei-hsien, Kwangsi province, China died June 1863, Ch'eng-tu, Szechwan province Pinyin Shi Dakai one of the leaders of the Taiping Rebellion, the widespread uprising that gripped South China between 1850 and 1864. The most literate of the Taipings, Shih was an avowed enemy of the alien Ch'ing (Manchu) rulers of China. In the early part of the 20th century, he came to be revered as a hero of the Chinese nationalist rebellion against foreign domination. As one of the original five Taiping rebel leaders, Shih assumed the title of i-wang (assistant king). In 1856, when the eastern king Yang Hsiu-ch'ing attempted to usurp the throne of the supreme Taiping leader, Hung Hsiu-ch'an (181464), Shih plotted with the northern king Wei Ch'ang-hui to kill Yang. The northern king killed not only Yang but thousands of his adherents and relatives as well. When Shih objected to the slaughter, the northern king plotted to kill him, but Shih discovered the plot and escaped. Hung finally had the northern king executed and recalled Shih to the capital, but Shih's immense popularity with the Taiping troops aroused Hung's suspicion. Disgruntled, Shih split from the Taiping movement at the end of 1856, taking with him a large personal following and some of the most able Taiping commanders. Although the Ch'ing government offered him huge rewards and high rank, he refused to surrender, chiding the Ch'ing officials for their cooperation with foreign barbarians. Shih, who had hoped to establish an independent kingdom in the western province of Szechwan, was unable to win a popular base and was eventually caught and executed by government forces.