Nanjing pt. 2 Taiping Rebellion

The Taiping Rebellion

I am currently finishing up God's Chinese Son by Jonathan Spense. It is a fascinating book about the largest uprising in History. This book chronicles the rise of the Heavenly Kingdom where Hong Xiuquan started a following saying he was the younger brother of Jesus. The tale is fascinating and unbelievable. While the US had its own internal struggle between the North and the South. China's last dynasty was struggling to keep power against Hong and his "heavenly forces." Hong's armies were so successful that they captured the former Capital city Nanjing (South Capital) which he renamed Tianjing (Heavenly capital). I was curious what this looked like in the historic city of Nanjing so Ant and I went explored

This included two sites. The first site was the actual museum of the rebellion. This included lots of maps, weapons, drawings, coins and various documents from the movement. It was a little run down and hard but still very fascinating. I was left wanting more but it still was a very interesting museum.

The next stop was the Presidential Palace. This was the former capitol of the KMT and the Ming Dynasty. The Presidential Palace was the house of so many different ruling parties of China.

What fascinated me more was how both museums showed the Taiping Rebellion in a favorable light. It was the beginning of the movement that changed China from dynastic rule to a republic. Yet as more wise people than I also noted, it gave China proof of why they should be careful of religious influence on their citizens. It is not that the original intention of the religious teachings was revolutionary, but that the revolutionaries could use those teachings as a revolutionary tool.

History is still alive today. Sometimes it hinders...yet, other times hopefully we can learn from it and be enabled.

Nanjing

Museums. History. Culture.

Nanjing

I have been to 4 museums in the last 2 days. 3 today.

Yesterday was the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Museum. It was packed with information and pain of past atrocities. I read the Rape of Nanking a few years ago and was reminded of all the pain. I was especially interested in the angle and message of the museum.

The theme seemed to be: The more injustices are exposed and brought to light can bring a sense of justice from an unjust incident. The story that seemed to come full circle was the two Japanese leaders who had a "Kill Contest." These exploits were highlighted earlier in the museum and the trail and execution of these two leaders were presented towards the end as a kind of finale.

The next museum was the John Rabe house. It is in the midst of skyscrapers and busy metropolitan life. A small courtyard surrounds the early 19th century house. As you enter the courtyard you are no longer on a crowded Chinese street but instead you are whisked back to a different time and world. The house is wonderfully preserved and tells the story of the "International Safety Committee of Nanjing." A group of brave and selfless expats who risked their lives to save Chinese lives and dignity during one of the middle kingdom's darkest hours.

The message of this museum seemed to be one of the goodness of the people involved and as you walked up to the higher floors of Rabe's former resident turned into something of a memorial to the good relationship China has formed with Germany.

Although I was a little put off by the top floors, I felt honored to be at the spot where such brave individuals took a stand against such evil and injustice happening around them. To put life in perspective of what really matters...

May their braveness inspire numerous others in generations to come.

May we remember John Rabe, Minnie Vautrin and the all the others who stayed behind to stand up against injustice during those awful times.

For those who are interested more in this topic please read:
Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang
The Good Man of Nanking
There is also a documentary that is well done which reads many of the diaries of those involved in the Nanjing Safety Committee simply called "Nanking" released in 2007.