# My Visit to the Taipings explained — My Life in China and America

> Chapter companion for My Life in China and America by Yung Wing.

## What happens

In the fall of 1859, Yung Wing joins a small party of missionaries and Tsang Laisun on a journey to Nanking to observe the Taiping rebels and assess their potential to replace the Manchu Dynasty. Traveling by boat and on foot, they pass through Suchau, Woo Sik, Cheong Chow, and Tan Yang, meeting various rebel commanders and witnessing the devastation of war. Upon reaching Nanking, Yung Wing meets with Kan Wong, a nephew of the rebel leader Hung Siu Chune, and offers a series of reform proposals for the Taiping government, though he declines to join their cause.

## Themes in this chapter

### Political Reform and Revolution

Yung Wing's journey is motivated by assessing the Taiping rebels as potential reformers, and he proposes a comprehensive set of reforms for their government.

### The West as Model and Mentor

Yung Wing's reform proposals, such as military and naval schools, banking systems, and graded schools, reflect Western models of modernization.

### Corruption and Personal Integrity

Yung Wing observes the conduct of rebels and imperialists, noting the corruption and negligence in China's wartime administration.

## Character check-ins

### Yung Wing

Narrator and traveler, seeking to understand the Taiping movement and considering whether to support them.

### Commandant Liu

Military commandant in Suchau who provides letters of introduction and provisions, and recites the doxology.

### Kan Wong

Nephew of Hung Siu Chune, now a prince in the Taiping government; meets with Yung Wing in Nanking.

### Rev. Mr. Roberts

Missionary seen in Nanking, dressed in yellow satin, whose role is unclear; Yung Wing recognizes him from Macao.

### Hung Siu Chune

Leader of the Taiping rebellion, referred to as the Tien Wong; his religious teachings are discussed.

## Key lines

> My object in going was to find out for my own satisfaction the character of the Taipings; whether or not they were the men fitted to set up a new government in the place of the Manchu Dynasty.

Yung Wing wanted to personally assess the Taipings' suitability to replace the Manchu Dynasty.

_Yung Wing's stated purpose for the journey._

> We found the surrounding country within a radius of thirty miles of Shanghai to be very quiet and saw no signs of political disturbance.

The area around Shanghai was peaceful, with no visible signs of unrest.

_Observation of the countryside near Shanghai._

> The rebels whom we met on the public road were generally very civil and tried in every way to protect the people in order to gain their confidence.

The Taiping rebels behaved courteously and sought to win the people's trust through protection.

_Yung Wing's impression of the rebels' conduct._

> He said the Tien Wong himself explained that he could not hold the same footing with God himself; that the homage paid to God was an act of religious worship, but that rendered to the Tien Wong was merely an act of court etiquette.

The Tien Wong clarified that worship was reserved for God, while homage to him was merely ceremonial.

_Explanation of Taiping religious practices._

## Links

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