Xiao Chaogui

Xiao Chaogui

Xiao Chaogui (about 1820-1852), originally surnamed Jiang, was born in Wuxuan County, Guangxi. One of the core leaders of the "Jintian uprising" was a famous general and strategist in the early days of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

His family was poor. He followed Hong Xiuquan to establish God worship religion and took part in the Jintian uprising. In the first year of Xianfeng, he was canonized as the "king of the west" and called 8000 years old. He was lower than Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, and higher than Feng Yunshan, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai.

In the second year of Xianfeng, he resisted the attack of the Qing army and died bravely.

Life of the characters

Character origin

Xiao Chaogui (C. 1822-1852) is the father of Jiang Wanxing, the mother of the family, and the younger brother of Jiang Youfu, the Yiwang of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He lives in Gupeng village at the foot of pengai mountain in Guiping. Xiao Yusheng was adopted as his son, so his surname was changed to Xiao. There are two sons, the eldest, Xiao Youhe, and the second, Xiao Youfu. Xiao you and xijue were the kings of Youxi. They won the trust of Hong Xiuquan in the later period of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. After the fall of Tianjing, they were killed by the Qing army.

Xiao Chaogui grew up with his adoptive father when he was young, and his family was poor. He went to Zijingshan mountain area of Guiping City and lived hard by growing vegetables, farming and burning charcoal. His parents have four sons, and Xiao Chaogui ranks the third. The second elder brother is Xiao Chaofu, the top king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the fourth younger brother is Xiao Chaoxing, the model king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and the younger brother is Xiao SANFA, the style king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In order to make a living, Xiao Chaogui left home and worked as a shop assistant. Soon after, he left his hometown with his parents and settled down in the XiaGu shed of pingai mountain in Guiping to make a living by opening up wasteland and burning charcoal. At this time, Xiao Chaogui was just in his early 20s, and he was ready to experience the hardships of the poor people's vagrant life in feudal society.

Join the uprising

In 1843, Hong Xiuquan founded the society of God, sent Feng Yunshan to preach in Guiping and secretly organized revolutionary forces. In 1846, Yang Xiugui became a good friend of the pilgrimage society. They went around to the people of all ethnic groups to publicize the doctrines and benefits of the God worship Association, and actively mobilized all ethnic groups to participate in the God worship Association. In 1848, Feng Yunshan was arrested and imprisoned in Guiping county. Hong Xiuquan returned to Guangdong for rescue. At this time, Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing entrusted their heavenly Father and heavenly brother to surrender, stabilized the hearts of the people and persisted in the struggle.

First of all, he deified Hong Xiuquan, asked everyone to support him as the Lord of peace, vigorously develop the congregation, and called on members to support Allah with one heart and one mind. For this reason, he has done a lot of work, constantly educating the congregation to strengthen their faith and fighting spirit, which has played a great role in consolidating the organization and strengthening their faith. On November 19, under the pretext of Brother Jesus, Xiao Chaogui had a dialogue with Hong Xiuquan

Christ, brother of heaven, said to the king of heaven: brother Hong Xiuquan, do you know me? The heavenly king said: I know. (page 3 of the decree of heavenly Father and heavenly brother)

In the face of a fait accompli, Hong Xiuquan admitted the special status of Xiao Chaogui's rumor of acting for Tian brother. In the three and a half years from October 1848 to may 1852, brother Tian went down to earth to preach blindness for more than 120 times, which involved many important historical events before and after the Jintian uprising. Later, Hong Xiuquan had a dialogue with Xiao Chaogui

"The heavenly king said," brother Tian, who was the military adviser in Taiping?

Brother Tian said: Feng Yunshan, Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui are all military strategists! Hong Xiuquan's younger brother, the sun is my wife, and the moon is my wife. Feng Yunshan has three stars, Yang Xiuqing has three, and Xiao Chaogui has two. Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui are two phoenixes (page 5 of the decree of heavenly Father and heavenly brother)

Although Xiao Chaogui is one star less than Feng Yunshan, he has achieved the status of military strategist. When Feng Yunshan did not return from prison, Xiao Chaogui and Yang Xiuqing became "double phoenixes" supporting Hong Xiuquan's entrepreneurship. In fact, in the eyes of the congregation, Xiao Chaogui has already become a powerful "savior". God worship society began with secret religious association, gradually evolved into a political anti Qing organization, and finally became the ideological and political pillar of armed anti Qing. Xiao Chaogui played an extremely important role in it.

At the same time, Xiao Chaogui launched charcoal burning workers to donate hundreds of money, dredged the government to rescue Feng Yunshan from prison, and actively participated in the organization and planning of the Jintian uprising. On the eve of the Jintian uprising, in order to strengthen the League organization, Xiao Chaogui went back to his hometown of Wuxuan to recruit the assembly and mobilize his brothers to participate in the uprising. He was determined to destroy his house and wreck his boat. Under the leadership of Xiao Chaogui, the masses sold their property one after another and went to Jintian to take part in the camp. He sits in the mountain general headquarters, and makes instructions or decisions in the name of Tianxiong's coming down to earth for every major event. He organized the congregation and developed his strength with great courage. He and Yang Xiuqing made unified arrangements, carefully planned and prepared for the armed uprising, which played an important role in issuing orders and commanding the overall situation. It fully shows the style and charm of an extremely resourceful, intelligent, steady and strategic uprising initiator and leader.

Jintian beacon

In September of the thirtieth year of Daoguang (October 1850), the preparations for the uprising had matured. On January 11, 1851, more than 20000 members of the "God worship Association" of Han, Zhuang, Yao and other ethnic groups gathered in Jintian, where they swore to set up an uprising flag in ancient Yingpan, which was officially known as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The Jintian uprising started the struggle against feudalism and aggression. The Taiping army occupied the mouth of the Dahuang River and defeated the Qing army led by Li Xingyuan and Xiang Rong.

On March 10, the Taiping army broke through from Jiangkou into Zijingshan. On March 12, the Taiping Army crossed the mountain to Dongxiang and Sanli of Wuxuan. Xiao Chaogui played an important role in helping Hong Xiuquan mobilize, encourage and command the Taiping army to kill the enemy bravely. On the 23rd, Hong Xiuquan ascended the throne in Dongxiang, called himself the king of heaven, and granted Xiao Chaogui the title of Youbi, commander and former commander. His position is second only to Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, who shoulder the important task of military command.

A tough transition

In May, Xiao Chaogui and other protectors Hong Xiuquan entered Xiangzhou and moved to zhongpingwei. In July, the Taiping army withdrew from Wuxuan and Xiangzhou and returned to Zijingshan and Jintian. The Qing army concentrated 30000 troops and attacked the Taiping army from the north to the south. The Taiping army was surrounded in the narrow area of Jintian and Mocun. The situation was grim. Some soldiers were afraid of difficulties and pessimistic. On July 13, in Mo Village of Xinxu, Xiao Chaogui cooperated with Yang Xiuqing to make rumors under the pretext of brother Tian, admonishing the officers and men to "agree with one heart, fight against the mountains and rivers together", "serve the country faithfully", serve the public and not the private, be loyal to the revolution, boost morale, oppose defection, and save the revolutionary situation from danger. The soldiers were encouraged to fight bravely and take the lead, which greatly encouraged them and strengthened their confidence and courage to continue fighting.

On September 11, the Taiping army broke through from Xinwei to siwangwei in Pingnan County, and raided Guancun. Xiang Rong, the Guangxi governor, made a detour into Guancun in Pingnan County, setting up dozens of camps in an attempt to intercept the Taiping army. The former Army led by Xiao Chaogui and the rear army led by Feng Yunshan cooperated closely. Xiang Rong was not stable enough, so he launched a sudden attack with the force of lightning. Xiang Rong was almost completely annihilated, and his generals killed 10 or 20 people. A large number of grain, grass and weapons became the spoils of the Taiping army. The great victory of Pingnan Guancun cleared the way for the Taiping army to March successfully. Xiao Chaogui, commander of the land army, marched forward with light clothes and snatched customs and cards, playing a vanguard role. On September 20, the Taiping Army marched into Dali mountain area of Tengxian county. On September 25, Luo Kuo, commander of Xiao Chaogui, led the vanguard to conquer Yong'an City (now Mengshan county) with the tactics of attacking the West from the East, and entered Yong'an. The troops had a rest, improved the official system, and initially established the political and military system of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Be crowned king

On October 25, 1851, Hong Xiuquan issued an imperial edict to reward and enfeoffment, enfeoffment five kings of East, West, South, North and wing, and reward more than 800 officials. Xiao Chaogui was named king of the west, 8000 years old. He was highly valued by Hong Xiuquan and married his younger sister Hong xuanjiao to him. In the name of Yang Xiuqing, the eastern king of Taiping army, and Xiao Chaogui, the Western King of Taiping army, on the way to March, they issued three proclamations, which called on the people to overthrow the rule of Qing Dynasty. They all "worked together to sweep away the dust of Hu" and realize the society of "one family in the world, sharing peace". It not only separated and isolated the enemy, but also mobilized the heaven and Earth Society of the three rivers and two lakes and the poor peasants to join the Taiping army, which made the troops develop rapidly.

Break through and go north

On April 5, 1852 (the second year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty), the Taiping army broke through the siege from Yong'an and went north. Xiao Chaogui led several thousand Taiping troops to shoulder the heavy responsibility of counterattacking the pursuit of the Qing army. On April 7, Wu Lantai, the vice capital of Guangzhou in the Qing Dynasty, led a large army to follow him. Xiao Chaogui and Feng Yunshan, the southern king, were ordered to fight back. On April 8, ulantai led the Qing army to invade, and the Taiping Army stood high and launched a fierce offensive to annihilate four or five thousand Qing troops. Qing General Chang Rui and other four soldiers were killed. Ulantai was injured when he fell from a cliff and survived. The main force of the Qing army in Guangxi was basically defeated. Taking advantage of the victory, the Taiping army went northward with great momentum. In the summer of 1852, when the Taiping Army entered Hunan from Quanzhou in northern Guangxi, Yang Xiuqing, the eastern king, and Xiao Chaogui, the Western King, jointly issued the important proclamations, such as the four directions edict of asking for Hu Xi from heaven, the edict of saving the world and the people, the edict of saving all born Chinese people, and so on. They strongly attacked the perverse practices of the Qing Dynasty, listed the charges of the bureaucratic landlords stripping the people of their fat and cream, and declared the end of the evil luck of the Qing Dynasty The new trend of "one family in the world, sharing peace" is coming; we call on the broad masses of the people to support the revolution, fight against the Qing Dynasty and "share the joy of peace". These speeches, with a clear-cut banner and great momentum, played an important role in publicizing and encouraging the unity of the people, isolation of the enemy and promotion of the victory of the revolution.

Heroic sacrifice

In 1852, the Taiping army occupied Guilin, conquered Xing'an, attacked Quanzhou, went north to Hunan, and then went to the Xiao Dynasty

Chinese PinYin : Xiao Chao Gui