Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864)

The Taiping Rebellion, perhaps the most bloody and genocidal religious insurrection in world history, traces its origins to disturbances from 1851 to 1864. The causes of the rebellion date to the late 1840s and were not fully quelled until the late 1860s. The rebellion centered in Kwangtung (Guangdong) province. Some books state that the name of the rebellion derives from the Taiping people who lived in Kwangtung, but most others claim that it gets its name from their Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace – Taiping meaning “Heavenly Kingdom.” Coming so soon after the defeat of China in the First Opium War, with a resulting decline in the prestige of the Ching (Manchu) dynasty, the Taiping revolt began as a small dispute with local causes, and went on to cover much of central China; 600 cities and towns changed hands during the conflict, which involved up to 10 million soldiers. It also resulted in the deaths of millions of people; some scholars put the death toll at between 20 and 50 million. This makes the Taiping Rebellion the second bloodiest war in history, behind only World War II.