Historically, as dynasties have changed, place names have also changed. Luoyang, the ancient capital of the Thirteen Dynasties, has many names in history, such as Luoyi, Luoyi, Luojing, etc. During the Daoguang period, the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion triggered a nationwide war, and the rebel army not only controlled many regions, but also changed the names of the provinces.
Nearly 20,000 people gathered in Jintian, Guangdong, who did not shave their hair and wore braids, which was in stark contrast to the requirements of the Qing Dynasty. These people were the first rebels of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
After the Qing soldiers entered the customs, in order to suppress the resistance of the Han people, they implemented ethnic assimilation and forced the Han people to change their hairstyle and use the Manchu "money rat tail" hairstyle. Despite the low level of education of the rebels, their actions all showed their determination and courage to resist.
Han Chinese, who were educated by the "Parents of Hair and Skin", were forced to accept a change in their hairstyle, and their hearts were full of humiliation. The pressure of this national habit provided nourishment for the Taiping Rebellion.
The rebel army led by Hong Xiuquan rebelled in Jintian, and the country was called Tian. The following year, the rebel army set out from Jintian and headed north to Hunan. In just four years, the rebel army fought from Jintian to Wuchang, and the number of people surged from the initial 20,000 to 500,000, and in March 1853, the capital was officially established in Jinling and renamed Tianjing.
With the gradual rise of the rebel army, they already had the strength to stand up to the Qing Dynasty. After the establishment of the capital, the generals of the rebel army began to discuss the change of the name of the area under their jurisdiction.
At the suggestion of Hong Xiuquan, who was the king of heaven, they decided to name Jinling according to the character "Tian" in the name of the king, and the word "Jing" was the capital in history, so they finally chose "Tianjing" as the name of the capital.
Most of these generals were born peasants and had a limited level of education, such as Yang Xiuqing, who was named the king of the East, but could not read a word.
Despite their low level of culture, they quickly developed naming conventions under the influence of the feudal system and ** doctrine. In this way, they wanted to distinguish themselves from the Qing Dynasty by stipulating that the words "dragon" or "king" could not appear in the place names, nor could they conflict with the names of the high-ranking people of the heavenly kingdom.
For example, the original Shandong, Yunnan, and Shanxi, because of the conflict with the words cloud and mountain in the southern king Feng Yunshan, after their discussion, Shandong and Shanxi became Shandong and Shanxi, and Yunnan became Yunan.
In order to avoid overlapping text, we added a side to the original font. In addition, the word "Gui" in Guizhou clashes with the name of the Western King Xiao Chaogui, so in order to avoid confusion, we chose to replace the word "Gui", making Guizhou "Guizhou".
There are also some names that cannot be changed, and we usually use fonts with similar sounds to distinguish them, such as Heilongjiang Province, because the character "dragon" is not allowed to be used in the name change rules, so we changed it to "Wu" and "Long", and finally changed the name of Heilongjiang Province to Wulongjiang.
What is puzzling is that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom renamed Zhili Province, which is now Hebei Province, as Sinli Province. This unusual name change was not due to the similarity of sound or formality, but to the fact that Hong Xiuquan's slogan in the early days of the uprising was to overthrow the rule of the Qing Dynasty and restore equality to all.
For the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zhili Province, the center of power in the Qing Dynasty, was the birthplace of evil. And the Manchus who lived in these so-called sinful places were regarded as historical sinners.
Therefore, the top leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom unanimously agreed to change the name of Zhili Province to Sinli Province.
This fever for changing names actually reflects a kind of ideological cleanliness. They hope to distance themselves from the past by changing their names, but in reality, the desire for possessiveness and privilege is everywhere in their bones.
Despite the name change, the peasant uprising eventually disappeared into history. The continued expansion of the Taiping Rebellion led by Hong Xiuquan attracted the attention of the Qing Dynasty, who sent elite troops to suppress it.
While the victory of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a cause for joy, an internal struggle for power also arose. The struggle not only undermined the unity of the internal forces, but also laid a hidden danger for the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
In 1856, Hong Xiuquan retreated into the background, and Yang Xiuqing seized the opportunity to covet the power of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He used a trick to force Hong Xiuquan to change his name of "9,000 years old" to "long live", which exposed his ambition to seize power.
After that, Hong Xiuquan united with several other core figures and secretly killed nearly 20,000 people in Yang Xiuqing's mansion, which was the famous Tianjing Incident.
Wing King Shi Dakai was originally an important figure in charge of cleaning up Yang Xiuqing, but he was very indignant at the indiscriminate killing of innocents by others, and accused Wei Changhui, the king of the North, in person.
Shi Dakai, who foresaw the danger, immediately left Tianjing. However, under the secret order of the Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, Shi Dakai's family was brutally killed, which led to ** within the rebel army.
Although Shi Dakai has repeatedly stated that he has no ambition to usurp power and has forgiven his previous revenge for killing his relatives, Hong Xiuquan is still terrified of Shi Dakai's prestige and talent, and does not dare to give him more power.
In 1861, Shi Dakai led the Taiping army into Sichuan, but was blocked by the river news and was forced to accept the persuasion of the Qing soldiers to surrender. In desperation, he dismissed more than 4,000 people, and he himself was escorted to Chengdu, while the remaining 2,000 Taiping troops accompanied him.
However, the Qing soldiers repented halfway, brutally executed Shi Dakai, and ** more than 2,000 Taiping troops accompanying him. Shi Dakai's death became a turning point in the decline of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.
Although the remnants of Shi Dakai were still fighting against the Qing soldiers, and Li Yucheng and Li Xiucheng even broke the two major barracks of the Qing soldiers in Jiangbei and Jiangnan in the following battles, their previous gains were constantly eroded under the counterattack of the Qing soldiers.
In 1863, many territories of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had been breached, and the Heavenly Emperor Hong Xiuquan was trapped in Tianjing, and the food and grass were in short supply, and finally starved to death in the city. Shi Dakai's remnant, Li Wencai, was completely wiped out by the Qing army in April 1872, thus ending the 21-year Taiping Rebellion.
To sum up, the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was closely related to the social background of the time. The defeat of the Qing Dynasty in the Opium War, as well as the huge indemnity, made the Qing Dynasty difficult both internally and externally, unable to stabilize the social order, which led to the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion.
Under the empty and incompetent rule of the Qing Dynasty's treasury, the working people at the bottom were ruthlessly exploited and corrupted, and drought and locust plagues were exacerbated. In this state, the empty spiritual world of the low-level laborers was filled with foreign teachings, coupled with physical suffering and doctrinal incitement, which eventually led to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement.
Some have questioned whether the teachings of this religious uprising may have been used as a tool of incitement. The rebel armies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were mostly uneducated, and although the movement grew rapidly, they were not able to sustain their gains for long.
Judging from the names they gave to the provincial capitals, this is not only a manifestation of a lack of culture, but also a deeper reflection of the original feudal ruling ideology deeply rooted in their hearts.