ABSTRACT
The Taiping “Rebellion” (1851-64), or “Revolution,” was a religious-based domestic uprising with ethnic-Han versus Manchu-overtones. Fought mainly with traditional Chinese weapons and tactics, it corresponded and overlapped with the Arrow War (1856-60), or second Opium War, which was China’s second anti-foreign trade war. The Manchus lost the Arrow War, but in the interim created China’s first modernized armies-the “Ever-Victorious Army” and the Xiang Army-in order to defeat the Taipings.
