God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan [Paperback]

Jonathan D. Spence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0393315568 | ISBN-13: 978-0393315561 | Edition: Reprint

"A magnificent tapestry . . . a story that reaches beyond China into our world and time: a story of faith, hope, passion, and a fatal grandiosity."--Washington Post Book World

Whether read for its powerful account of the largest uprising in human history, or for its foreshadowing of the terrible convulsions suffered by twentieth-century China, or for the narrative power of a great historian at his best, God's Chinese Son must be read. At the center of this history of China's Taiping rebellion (1845-64) stands Hong Xiuquan, a failed student of Confucian doctrine who ascends to heaven in a dream and meets his heavenly family: God, Mary, and his older brother, Jesus. He returns to earth charged to eradicate the "demon-devils," the alien Manchu rulers of China. His success carries him and his followers to the heavenly capital at Nanjing, where they rule a large part of south China for more than a decade. Their decline and fall, wrought by internal division and the unrelenting military pressures of the Manchus and the Western powers, carry them to a hell on earth. Twenty million Chinese are left dead.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In what PW called a "masterful history," Spence recounts the mid-19th century Taiping Rebellion, in which a Chinese Christian fanatic seized Nanking and ruled his "New Jerusalem" for a decade.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A China specialist who's had two LJ Best Books (The Search for Modern China in 1991 and The Memory Palace of Mateo Ricci in 1984) examines a bloody 19th-century uprising in China whose leader claimed to be the son of God.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (December 17, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393315568
• ISBN-13: 978-0393315561
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 6.2 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #133,725 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Best Taiping history in English is second best available March 17, 2007

By Firebrand

Format:Paperback

Professor Spence has set a high standard with exceptional and appealing English language books on Chinese history, and this volume one of his best. It is a sweeping and detailed history, a truly beautiful, handsome book full of wonderful illustrations and graphics.

But it is not the best book ever written on the Taiping movement. That title belongs to the (unfortunately long out of print) 1973 "Taiping Revolutionary Movement" by Jen Yu-Wen. Profesor Jen spent 50 years investigating the Taiping history, and had a master's command of all of the sources availalble in Chinese and English. Jen's book, which is encyclopedic, but extremely readable, was one of the sources for "God's Chinese Son". Ironically, Spence wrote the foreword for Jen's book.

Spence's perspective and treatment, along with his writing style, is detached, and from a discernible Western bias. This is typical of not only Spence's histories, but those of Fairbank, etc. Jen's book takes one much closer to the on-ground, cultural, psychological and physical realities. Jen's chronicle of the military movements is far more detailed. The general dearth of sources available in English that offer the Chinese view of Chinese history is tragic.

Nevertheless, Spence's is easily the best English language Taiping history in print, and still highly recommended.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Unbelievable Story Told in a Believable Manner December 27, 2000

By Ricky Hunter VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

This story of the rebel and religious leader, Hong Xiuquan, is a weird and horrifying read. It is almost unbelievable that this one man, after having a dream of ascending to heaven, can have mustered a rebellion against the Manchu Dynasty that was stunning in its success and devasting in its failure as twenty million Chinese lay dead at the end of the almost twenty year rebellion. Jonathan D. Spence, in God's Chinese Son, covers this material with his usual combination of both writing skill and scholary research. The reader may occasionally get bogged down in the fine details, particulary with no knowledge of Chinese history from this period, but this book provides a wonderful ride through an unusual time and place in history.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Narrative history as good as it gets. April 20, 1999

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

God's Chinese Son is a stunning work of historical scholarship -- an equal mixture of solid documentation, cogent argument and imaginative brilliance. Spence takes the historical biography form and uses it not only to illuminate a fascinating life, but also to turn that life into a window on his own rich, layered reconstruction of 19th-century China. Well worth buying, reading and re-reading; a must for the serious student and the casual reader alike.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting text, but not for those looking for a light read December 13, 2004

By Jonathon Lever

Format:Paperback

Spence's accounts of Chinese history have always been among my favorite ever since I first read his "History of Modern China". The level of detail and the connections that he makes in his writing are usually incredible and to a large degree, God's Chinese Son is no exception to this pattern. Spence provides a very detailed account of the Taiping Rebellion, stretching from the origins of the leadership to the end result for the Heavenly Kingdom.

The level of detail that Spence provides in laying out what happened as well as why it happened is amazing. However, in some respects it's this level of detail that was also a drawback at various points too. Spence provides an excellent account of the story, but at many points I found myself losing the forest for the trees. Despite this, his thesis is well supported and overall the story is well told.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating but a bit difficult to read. April 6, 2000

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I found this book to be incredibly interesting--I could hardly put it down. However, it is written entirely in present tense, some sort of post-modern angle, I suppose. Other than that, I would highly recommend it. The Taiping Rebellion is perhaps the most underrated event in human history. This book helps get the story out to a wider readership. The discussion of Hong's religious beliefs, a mixture of Christianity and his own personal odd opinions, is a fascinating study in the origin of a religious sect, making the book well worth the time to read for that part alone.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Biography of a village teacher turned into prophet-emperor. January 18, 1998

By Interloper

Format:Hardcover

This is a biography of Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taiping movement in 19th century China. The author, a well-known expert of Chinese history, does not attempt to explain, interpret or evaluate his hero or the Taiping movement to any extent beyond describing the known facts with some historical and social background. He is content with telling a story: the story of a strange man in a strange world; a story we could hardly believe if we did not know it is true. Focusing that much on the central personality has the inevitable drawback that we learn little about the motivations behind the attitude of the rest of the world toward him and his kingdom. But the story is well told, the maps are a great help in locating the events, and the publisher deserves all praise for the tasteful presentation of the volume.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Tough slog through some fascinating events November 19, 2001

By A reader in Michigan

Format:Paperback

I am not sure what book Spence set out to write here. Was he trying to write a scholarly history of the Taiping rebellion or was he writing a popular one? The level of detail in much of the book suggests the former -- using long quotes and a passion for detail that often renders the text dense and unwieldy, Spence manages to make much of this story impregnable. This would be fitting, and all too common, for an academic history, but clearly this is not his intent. Leaving out such things as the ultimate influence of the Taiping rebellion on Chinese life or the Qing perspective on the rebellion makes the story rather less than complete. But if this is a popular history, then why the long interludes about the exact details of Western missionary movements around Southwest China prior to Hong Xiuquan's conversion? I found this segment excruciating and entirely unnecessary. Perhaps there is more justification for his extended discussion of Taiping theology, but these seem unduly detailed for a popular history.

The saving grace in all this is the story. The events of the Taiping rebellion are so unlikely and remarkable that even with these textual issues, the book is difficult to put down. The fantastic, anomolous story of Hong's revolution is nail-biting stuff and certain worth trudging through the muddy prose through which it is conveyed. I am not sure I would pick up another book by Jonathan Spence, but I am glad I made it through this one.