or Hung Hsiu-ch'üan
born Jan. 1, 1814, Fuyuanshui, Guangdong, China
died June 1, 1864, Nanjing
Chinese religious prophet, leader of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64).
Born into a poor Hakka family, Hong showed signs of great intelligence but failed three times to obtain even the lowest degree on the civil-service exams. Suffering an emotional collapse, he had a vision in which he was instructed to rid the world of evil demons. He became the leader of his own brand of Christianity, demanded the abolition of opium smoking and prostitution, and promised an ultimate reward to his followers. In 1850 he began plotting a rebellion; the next year he declared himself Heavenly King of the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace (Taiping Tianguo). His army of more than a million men and women soldiers captured Nanjing, which became Hong's new capital. Power struggles culminated in his leaving affairs of state to his incompetent older brothers; he withdrew and committed suicide in 1864 after a lingering illness.