ABSTRACT
For some inexplicable reason, the man who was the very essence of vitality had now suddenly fallen into a state of dementia. No, it was worse than dementia; there were actually two men in Jintian village who had gone crazy, always wandering around grumbling incomprehensibly. Both Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan were in hiding in the village of Shanren in Pingnan county, at the home of the local leader of the Society of God Worshippers, Hu Yihuang. Pingnan county was just to the east of Guiping county. Thistle Mountain ran East–West between Wuxuan and Pingnan counties. As the adherents of the Society of God Worshippers gradually converged upon Jintian village, the government was informed for convenience's sake: "They're sending the idol-smashers somewhere en masse. Once the Society of God Worshippers divided its leadership, secret instructions went out to believers in all localities: "Assemble at Jintian village!" Since we have no extant documents, it is unknown just when these instructions were issued.
