The leader of the movement was a Cantonese by the name of Hung Siu Chuen.  A copy of the Bible having fallen into his hands, he applied to a Baptist missionary for instruction.  How much he learned may be inferred from the fact that he gave his followers a new form of baptism, requiring them to wash the bosom as a sign for cleansing the heart.  He had ecstatic visions, and preached a crusade against idolatry and the Manchus.  The ease with which the Manchus had been beaten by the British in 1842 had revealed their weakness, and the new faith supplied the rebels with a fresh source of power.  They mixed the teachings of the Gospel with new revelations as freely as Mohammed did in propagating the religion of the Koran.  The chief called himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ.  His prime minister assumed the title of the Holy Ghost; and his counsels were given out as decrees from Heaven.  All this had an air of blasphemy that shocked the sensibilities of foreigners, and compelled them to stand aloof or to support the Manchus.

The native authorities were permitted to engage foreign ships and seamen to operate against the rebels, who sustained a siege in Nanking almost as long as the siege of Troy.  From Shanghai, Suchau, and other cities the Taipings were driven out by the aid of foreigners, chiefly led by Ward and Gordon, the former an American, the latter a Briton.  General Ward was never under the command of Li Hung Chang; but to him more than to any other foreigner belongs the honor of turning the tide of the Taiping Rebellion.  A soldier of fortune, he offered to throw his sword into the government scale if it were paid for with many times its weight in gold.  Gathering a nondescript force of various nationalities, he recaptured the city of Sungkiang, and followed this up by such a series of successes that his little troop came to be known as the “Ever-victorious Army.”  Falling before the walls of Tseki, he was interred with pomp at the scene of his first victory, where a temple was erected to his memory, and he is now reckoned among the “Joss” of the Chinese Empire.  His force was taken into Li’s pay.

General Gordon (the same who fell at Khartoum) acted under the direction of Li Hung Chang; and his chief exploit was the recovery of Suchau.  Unable to resist his artillery, the rebel chiefs offered to capitulate.  They were assured by him that their lives would be spared.  To this Li Hung Chang consented, and the stronghold was at once surrendered.  Regardless of his plighted faith, Li caused the five leaders to be beheaded, an act of treachery which filled Gordon with such fury that he went from camp to camp, looking for Li, determined to put a bullet in his head.  Li, however, avoided a meeting until Gordon’s wrath had time to subside, and that treacherous act laid the foundation of his future fortunes.  He was made governor of the province, and for forty years he rose in power and influence.