ABSTRACT
Hung Hsiu-ch'üan's Taiping Rebellion posed the most serious threat to the Manchu Qing dynasty during the nineteenth century, increasing the influence of the West on Chinese society and hastening the decline of the Chinese imperial government. Hung Hsiu-ch'üan's began to preach openly against Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. The group Hung Hsiu-ch'üan's formed was both Christian and anti-Manchu, and it quickly developed into a military organization. Hung Hsiu-ch'üan and his cohorts unleashed over a century of turmoil in China. Chinese humiliation and increased Western intrusion in Chinese affairs ignited what has become known as the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. Hung Hsiu-ch'üan's egalitarian principles inspired political thinkers, including the founders of the Nationalist and Chinese Communist Parties. A republic was proclaimed, but China faced internal turmoil until 1949, when Mao Tse-tung's Chinese Communist Party triumphed over the nationalists.
