NEWS & EVENTS

Master's program graduate gets to visit historical site (May 2011). Jonathan Gay, who graduated with his Master of Arts in History December 2009, was recently able to see some of the sites he'd learned about in person. The following is his account of the experience, and the journey that lead him there.

Upon finishing my bachelors in Social Studies Ed. in 2004, I was given the privilege and opportunity to journey to China and teach Oral English.  It was an eye-opening and amazing experience that I will never forget.  I fell in love with the Chinese people and relished the chance to live in their culture.  After 3 years, I decided it was time to further my education and return to the States.

I was accepted into High Point University’s graduate program to study History and enrolled when I returned to North Carolina in the Fall of 2007.  During my first semester I took what would come to be one of my favorite courses, Modern Chinese History with Dr. Deng, a native of Sichuan, China.  I desired to have a better understanding of China and through this class I was able to research primary sources concerning the last half-century in China and engage in dialogue with my professor and classmates about the social change that has characterized the Middle Kingdom in recent years.

It was through Dr. Deng’s assigned reading that I discovered Hong Xiuquan and the Taiping Movement of the 19^th century.  I was immediately fascinated by this amazing tale of a man from southern China who led a peasant rebellion against the Qing Dynasty and very nearly succeeded.  Although the rebellion is recorded as one of China’s deadliest civil wars, resulting in the death of an estimated 20 million, the sheer size of the conflict is not what attracted me to it.  It was rather the underlying spiritual nature of Hong’s motivations that drew me into his story.

As 19^th century China is not exactly known for having a widespread Christian influence on its social and political climate, I was absolutely stunned to find that Hong was deeply associated with Judeo-Christian ideals he had learned through Western missionaries and gospel tracts written in Chinese.  In fact, I became so intrigued with Hong and his followers that I decided to concentrate the efforts of my Thesis on them.  I wanted to have a better understanding of this radical movement wherein the leader claimed that he was actually the younger brother of Jesus Christ and that God had called him to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and bring about a Heavenly Kingdom marked by peace and righteousness.

Thanks in large part to help of Dr. Deng, Dr. Simpson, and Dr. Ringel, I was able to complete and submit my study of Hong and the Taiping in the Fall of 2009.  After months of research and writing, and rewriting, my studies left me with the following conclusion:

“The Taiping belief system blended Christian beliefs with the unorthodox teachings of its Heavenly King, Hong Xiuquan, and the Taiping leadership. These teachings were incorporated and followed as the motivating force behind their attempt to restore China as a nation in accordance with the Heavenly Father.  Strict enforcement of their beliefs loosened, however, and power struggles erupted as the movement stagnated once the Taiping settled in Nanjing.  Confucian scholars rejected the Taiping’s ideology as foreign nonsense, while both foreign governments and missionaries were disappointed to find that the Taiping’s religion was grossly different than Orthodox Christianity of the time.”

In the middle of all my studies at High Point, I was extremely blessed to meet my wife, Brittany, who was also in graduate school at the time.  We both graduated in the Spring of 2010 and decided to take advantage of the opportunity before us and travel to China together, teaching English at the same institute I had been at before.  It just so happens that our Chinese address, located in Nanhai, Guangdong, is only about an hour and a half’s drive from Huadu, the birthplace of one Hong Xiuquan.

I was able to travel with my Chinese friend, Paul Jin, and visit this small village with the hopes this would bring the story of Hong and the Taiping to life for me.  As I expected, it was an amazing experience.  I was able to observe Taiping documents, weapons, and currency; take my picture next to a giant statue of Hong himself; and even see replicas of the classroom he would have attended as a child and the bedroom where he would have first read the missionary literature that would eventually have such a dramatic influence upon his life and the lives of millions of other Chinese.

Visiting Hong’s hometown also gave me a greater appreciation for differences in interpretation of history.  While my study had focused primarily on the spiritual nature of the Taiping and their unique belief system, I found through talking to Chinese natives and observing the Chinese publications (some of which were translated into English) at Huadu that many Chinese historians have concentrated their attention on the Taiping’s radical rejection of the ancient dynastic system and efforts to initiate communal living.  In fact, my observation was that Hong is primarily celebrated by most Chinese as a predecessor to the radical reform that would eventually shape early 20^th century China and bring about the rise and establishment of the Communist Party.

While I did come across ideas of communal living in the Taiping’s reform programs, they were never effectively implemented and I didn’t see as strong a connection between Hong and the seeds which sprouted into Communism in China as many Chinese historians do.  Although, perhaps it’s just that Chinese historians have concentrated on the areas of Hong’s life that are of most significance to them, and I have done likewise.  Regardless, it was beneficial for me to see the differences in which we have interpreted the same event and gave me a better perspective of how the Chinese view their modern history.  I will always treasure my time spent at High Point studying this remarkable event and the day I was privileged enough to visit the hometown of Hong Xiuquan, a man who has also been referred to as “God’s Chinese Son.”