January 11, 1851 · Guangxi Province Theater
January 11, 1851
In the village of Jintian in Guangxi Province on the fortieth birthday of Hong Xiuquan, approximately 10,000 followers of the God Worshippers Society formally declared the establishment of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and raised the standard of revolt against the Qing Dynasty. Hong had spent years building his movement among the Hakka minority and dispossessed peasants of Guangxi — people who had suffered from natural disasters, economic dislocation from the Opium War's disruption of the Canton trade, and the brutal inter-ethnic conflicts between Hakka and Punti communities. The uprising began with a military clash with local Qing forces and the proclamation of a new divine order, with Hong as Heavenly King and his chief followers as Kings of the four directions.
Commanders