#the inquiries

[kiarou]

太平天國運動 Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864)

"Each year the Manchus transform tens of millions of China’s gold and silver into opium and extract several millions from the fat and marrow of the Chinese people and turn it into rouge and powder. . . . How could the rich not become poor? How can the poor abide by the law?" -Hong XiuQuan 1837

As the Second Opium War came to a close, British and French forces unleashed barbarity on the imperial capital of the Qing Empire, Beijing. The Xianfeng Emperor was exiled from his own city and eventually succumbed to death from the stress. The court was left with two empresses, Ci’an慈安 and Ci’xi慈禧and a mere child as head of the ancient empire. As flames engulfed the Summer Palace and the Forbidden City was looted by French and British soldiers, far to the south another movement known as the Taiping Kingdom太平天囯, was drawing to its own conclusion.

The Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864) was one of the deadliest civil wars in all of human history. At the heart of the conflict was Hong XiuQuan 洪秀全. After his fourth failure of the imperial examinations, Hong suffered a nervous breakdown and received a vision. He met his heavenly father Yaweh and discovered himself to be the brother of the Western God, Jesus Christ. Cutting his queue as a sign of rebellion against the Manchu dynasty, he and his cousin, Hong Rengan 洪仁玕, ignited a revolution to reclaim the Mandate of Heaven and liberate the Chinese people from the dual oppression of imperial rule and colonial exploitation.

The vision created by the Hong scholars was called the Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace—where land would be shared, opium and foot-binding banned, and women granted equal status. They sought to modernize the administration and articulate a coherent political program. Their message resonated with the millions who had been left destitute by famine, corruption, and addiction.

Despite their early successes, the rebellion was strangled by the combined efforts of Qing armies and the duplicitous intervention of British and French powers. In an effort to hedge their bets, British merchants sold weapons to both sides, fueling a war they would later condemn for its barbarity. Some Western commanders, like Charles Gordon, chose to exclusively serve the Qing court under the pretense of preserving peace and protecting trade. Ironically, their actions created more instability, not less. The prolonging of the civil war led to tens of millions of deaths, massive displacement, and a shattered economy. Trade—the very thing the British and French claimed to protect—was severely disrupted and never fully recovered.

By 1864, the Taiping came to an end at the hands of Zeng Guofan曾國藩, the Confucian general who, despite personal discomfort and spiritual guilt, orchestrated the siege of Nanjing and the annihilation of the Heavenly Kingdom. Zeng was torn between his ideals and his loyalty to order. Zeng was a man whose loathing of war caused him to fight with relentless efficiency.

In the end, the Taiping Rebellion was crushed, its leaders dead, and its vision buried—but not forgotten. The reforms they championed would echo in the many revolutionary movements to come. And the role of the West—profiting from China’s agony while pretending to act as stewards of peace—left a legacy of mistrust that would haunt China for generations.

Sources I can recommend if you are interested in learning more: * Zhang Daye. “The World of a Tiny Insect A Memoir of the Taiping Rebellion and Its Aftermath” * Stepen R Platt. “Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War” * Jonathan D Spence.  ''God's Chinese Son:The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan'' * Anderson, Flavia . "The Rebel Emperor"

[insanityofmalo]

Bonjour Mademoiselle~

Did… did you just call me mademoiselle??

[bluelemonika]

Consider: The Stray Squids are a classical band

you’re absolutely correct. string quartet. fuck

toshsgsgs thank u tho!!! now that i’m awake i’ll actually. exist a bit lol. try to get a grasp on how exactly i want the story to play out

[vasyenka]

Your Cecil is sublime! Please, oh, please consider doing some Q&A stuff with gifs.

ahhhh thank you so much! >w< I’d love to make some more gifs! <333 maybe perhaps a cosplay ask blog? rofl <3

[vasyenka]

BIRTHDAY HAPPY

AHAHAHA YOU THANK <333

[vasyenka]

Shini!! omg I found your tumblr by accident. I miss you and the lovely Luster like crazy. It's been too long since Yaoi-con! I hope Elliot and I can see you guys soon ♡♡ psst I just got into wtnv and found you through that tag :p

AHAHAHA NO WAY THAT’S AWESOME

Seriously we need to meet up again it’s been AGES! ahhhh ;w; <3333

[vasyenka]

No kidding! And from what it sounded like when Cecil briefly mentioned him after voicemail, he doesn't seem to completely hate him, more so.... very confused. I'm really excited to see Kevin's character progression and would love nothing more if there was an episode sort of like [Best of?] except for Kevin pre-Strex to get a look on what he was like and who he is.

ahaha I agree! There didn’t seem to be any maliciousness at all, just genuine confusion, at least from my interpretation. We’ll just have to see!

AND URGH THAT’S TOTALLY ON MY WISHLIST! I kind of doubt we’ll see anything pertaining to pre-Strex Kevin, but that’d be amazing!