Changes

== Origins of the Taiping Movement ==

== Origins of the Taiping Movement ==

By the mid 19th century the [[Qing]] dynasty was facing severe internal and external pressure. Rural discontent led to an increase in secret society activity, among bodies such as the White Lotus Society, the Small Sword Society, the Society of Elders and Brothers (Gelaohui), and the Triads in the south. Features of this activity included egalitarianism (primitive communism), a membership drawn from peasantry and poor artisans, cult worship, and xenophobia - towards the ethnic-Manchu dynasty as well as foreigners. A common slogan was ''Fan Qing fu Ming'' - 'Overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming'. Peasant uprisings were increasing in number in the early decades of the century, and, in south China, tensions were rising between local Chinese and Hakka people - ethnic Chinese who had migrated from north to south China centuries before, but who had never fully integrated.

By the mid 19th century the [[Qing]] dynasty was facing severe internal and external pressure. Rural discontent led to an increase in secret society activity, among bodies such as the [[White lotus|White Lotus]] Society, the Small Sword Society, the Society of Elders and Brothers (Gelaohui), and the Triads in the south. Features of this activity included egalitarianism (primitive communism), a membership drawn from peasantry and poor artisans, cult worship, and xenophobia - towards the ethnic-Manchu dynasty as well as foreigners. A common slogan was ''Fan Qing fu Ming'' - 'Overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming'. Peasant uprisings were increasing in number in the early decades of the century, and, in south China, tensions were rising between local Chinese and Hakka people - ethnic Chinese who had migrated from north to south China centuries before, but who had never fully integrated.

== Hong Xiuquan and the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion ==

== Hong Xiuquan and the outbreak of the Taiping Rebellion ==