Post by: Sheng_Pao on March 06, 2008, 08:16:15 AM
To claim he is such is only distorting our own knowledge about our enemy.
He is actually extremely smart and wily like an old fox who had been avoiding hunters for months.
He knows what is the opium of the masses. And he knows how to keep the masses ignorant regarding grave issues.
Over the years, porn has been one of the greatest brainwashing agents in human history, much greater than opium itself.
Please allow me to explain
When the British imperialists entered China in the 19th century, they forced the Qing Emperor Daoguang to sign a treaty that allows the trade of both porn and opium. The British also sent agents (Chinese traitors) into the dynasty's main armies, to introduce the mostly peasant population in the army to smoke opium and use pornography.
The effects of this can be certainly seen during the Taiping Rebellion. The Taiping rebels failed to overthrow the Qing because the ordinary peasants and soldiers alike feared that they will lose their opium and porn once the Taipings unified the country, destroyed the Qing Dynasty, and kicked the foreigners out of the country. Therefore, in the provinces of Hunan and Huabei, even though they were occupied by the Taiping Army, their citizens still sided with the dynasty. In Hunan, a majority of the peasants joined the Qing forces.
The Taipings also failed to capture Shanghai because the city is mostly run by the puppets of foreign corporations who had been brainwashed and totally dependant on porn, opium, and escorts. Once they realized that the Taipings were a threat to their "freedoms", they raised countless money and funds to help the foreigners fight the Taipings.
The Taiping rebellion occupied vast swaths of China that were NOT under Qing or foreign influence. However, any Chinese at that time who even had a SLIGHT bit of Western influence refused to join the Taiping cause. Most of the Confucian mandarins and scholars sided with the Qing Dynasty in suppressing the rebellion because all of these high class gentry men enjoyed "exclusive luxuries", and by now, you should all know what these exclusive luxuries are. No way were they going to give up their dainty call girls with tiny feet or their treasured opium pipes to live a life of hard work and helping others. No way were they going to give up their nice little opera houses and all of the girls dancing for them.
So what is my point exactly? Has brainwashing done it's damage here?
Pornography was there to stay, and in Guomingdang China, the Zhongyang Zhenfu(Nationalist Government) promoted pornography and many of the funds given to them by the United States, Germany and Britain to equip their armies with modern weaponry were used to hire the best and most exotic prostitutes for their officers. By now everybody who studies political science should know that these funds given to them by the various Western countries were not used to benefit the Guomingdang regime. It was meant for them(the Guomingdang) to purchase objects of moral decadence so these other tiny foreign countries such as Germany, Japan, and UK would finally have a way to control China and it's vast population with only limited military resources. These countries already seen what happened to their forces in Africa when they faced lightly armed but extremely determined fighters. Imperialism pays a tough price. The ones who win the chess game of imperialism wins the jackpot essentially, a nation, it's resources, and unlimited free labor. Those who lose the chess game becomes crushed and broken beyond repair, and they themselves WILL become the target of imperialism by their arrogant and sneery neighbors. This is pecking order on a vast social scale. And it is an example of Social Darwinism being applied so thoroughly that not even a millimeter of land is overlooked.
Please keep reading
So how to control a nation as large as China, with it's vast population, and history and culture so deep that most are willing to die than to be subjected to a foreign rule? Just how? Militarily, any foreign foe would be crushed, despite his technological innovations. Military invasions would stand no chance against an entire citizenry mobilized. Japanese Emperor Hideyoshi lost over 100,000 men in a futile attempt to invade China in 1542.
The modern imperialists are smarter. Brainwashing the citizenry proved to be much more efficient than outright aggression. And the use of porn and opium, two of the most dangerously addictive and detrimental substances in known history, proved to be a snare that many people failed to realize.
Thus a great lion, being shot at and poked at with spears, will charge, roar and decimate his attackers. However, a great lion who has licked a plate of opium laid out for him by cunning trappers, will find the substance extremely satisfying, and he will go after it, seeking for more of that strange substance, until he realizes that he has fallen into the trapper's pit.
When the Communists finally liberated China in 1949, they realized that destruction of the foreign menace will also involve great logistic and educational planning. The root of all the peasant ignorance and their gullibility has to be eliminated first. The opiates of the masses have to be torn up by the roots and burned, and the message has to be sent out to everybody so they will understand if someone is just trying to be their friend or to brainwash them to turn against their own country.
So what is it that I am trying to tell you, my fellow Conservatives?
Barack Obama himself knows the precise and extremely complicated mechanisms of social history. He has even included the words "social darwinism" in his speeches and texts. He understands how to instantly ensnare and control and entire population without losing money and manpower and possibly human lives. He understands how proud Americans are of their heritage, and that most Americans are decended, not only physically but psychologically, from the same stock that stood so valiantly against global tyranny at Lexington, Concorde, and Bunker Hill. Yet, gaining unlimited control of such a populace will elevate him to a new status of power few men have ever enjoyed. Fighting them and trying to conquer them outright will result in horrendous losses for him. As a person who has studied and understood the workings of social darwinism and imperialism and knkow them so intimately, he will resort back to an extremely old and effective tactic. Entice them, lure them, make them smile, make them follow you, make them act on your orders, make them turn against each other, make them believe that if they lose their material goods such as electronic entertainment, they will suffer, so make them buy more. And more. And more. And more. Place more shows onto the media. More Desperate Housewives. More Wife Swaps. More Lost, and American Idol, and Ultra Dance.
They can't fight against that. The founders used their longrifles and cartridge boxes against outright tyranny. How can arms be used against electronic enticement and harmless advertising? Better yet, make all of their children attend public education. It is a perfect chance to turn them against their conservative traditions.
And present American culture is ripe with such potentials. There are Playboys everywhere, and Hustlers, and Howard Stearns. It is just a manner of getting them into peoples' heads more efficiently and making the material more readily available.
However, there is the problem with social mutations. If there is Social Darwinism and Social Evolution, there is Social Mutations. Once a while, you will get the fighter, the resister, the fearless leader. The person who throws away all attempst to brainwash him and return his beloved country to it's roots and traditions. Abnd likewise, brainwashing is so effective, these mutants can also effectively "brainwash" many people to join their cause. At it's peak, the Taiping Movement had almost 5 million fighting members and over 7 million sympathizers. And even though they failed to destroy the Qing Dynasty and it's foreign puppet-string holders, they inflicted a mortal blow to the Dynasty, and the Dynasty did die from it's complications 40 years later.
The solution: get rid of the roots of resistance. As a student of such global political agendas, Obama is aware of Chinese politics as well as 19th century European imperialist tactics. He wants to avoid the mistakes that the imperialist made, and in the meantime, increase his own profits and power.
Imposing gun control is the best solution. Not only restrict guns, but make it so that the already brainwashed population will hate them and loathe them. Therefore, if a Social Mutation occurs sometime in the furture, the mutation will no longer be able to put up a significant resistance.
It is the picture perfect environment to start a dictatorship, twenty-first century style. The raw materials are already there. The elements are already present in the beakers, test tubes and pipettes. All it takes is a mad scientist, an innovative genius, a cunning tactitian, to mix these elements together and at the right proportions to create hellfire.
I want to thank everybody for taking the time to read.
Post by: Paddy on March 06, 2008, 08:33:09 AM
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 06, 2008, 09:27:12 AM
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 06, 2008, 09:28:27 AM
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Over the years, porn has been one of the greatest brainwashing agents in human history, much greater than opium itself.
It's interesting how the great oppressive regimes of history - the Communists, the Nazis, the Fascists, the Islamofascists, and various others - all tried to destroy pornography and sexual 'perversion'.
Post by: Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas on March 06, 2008, 11:34:06 AM
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Over the years, porn has been one of the greatest brainwashing agents in human history, much greater than opium itself.
Two-word rebuttal: Lindsay Lohan. See a recent photo-shoot of her as Marilyn Monroe. Won't post the link, as this is a family-friendly-ish forum. And I don't want to upset anyone's dinner. The freckles will scare you into a higher moral frame of mind.
Post by: Strings on March 06, 2008, 12:37:02 PM
Post by: Jamisjockey on March 06, 2008, 12:52:13 PM
And this is where social conservatives always hit the rocks: wanting to control something that should be nothing more than an aspect of folks' private lives...
Amen. Why I'm a libertarian (little "L").
Post by: Perd Hapley on March 06, 2008, 01:00:34 PM
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The freckles will scare you into a higher moral frame of mind.
You don't like freckles? I do. 
Post by: charby on March 06, 2008, 01:06:30 PM
The freckles will scare you into a higher moral frame of mind.
I like freckles.. Lindsay Lohan scares me, for as young as she is her party lifestyle has taken its toal on her good looks.
Post by: Paddy on March 06, 2008, 01:49:00 PM
Post by: Jamisjockey on March 06, 2008, 02:00:05 PM
I like freckles and red hair on girls. On guys, they just look creepy.
I will buy a beer for the moderator that makes this your new avatar!
Post by: Perd Hapley on March 06, 2008, 02:00:35 PM
Post by: Strings on March 06, 2008, 02:08:54 PM
Post by: Paddy on March 06, 2008, 02:18:13 PM
Post by: Jamisjockey on March 06, 2008, 02:46:38 PM
Like I said, creepy.
Which adds to the humor.
Carrot top is one of those really, really bizarre people who's almost funny, but just too freaky to be funny.'
Post by: Perd Hapley on March 06, 2008, 06:05:45 PM
And this is where social conservatives always hit the rocks: wanting to control something that should be nothing more than an aspect of folks' private lives...
Amen. Why I'm a libertarian (little "L").
OK, can we go back to this? Social conservatives ALWAYS do X ? Um, unfair generalization?
After all, neo-pagans ALWAYS get suckered into worthless, alternative quack medicine. Right?
And libertarians ALWAYS have armed stand-offs over unpaid taxes. Yeah?
Post by: wooderson on March 06, 2008, 06:29:38 PM
Post by: Paddy on March 06, 2008, 07:07:25 PM
And this is where social conservatives always hit the rocks: wanting to control something that should be nothing more than an aspect of folks' private lives...
Amen. Why I'm a libertarian (little "L").
OK, can we go back to this? Social conservatives ALWAYS do X ? Um, unfair generalization?
After all, neo-pagans ALWAYS get suckered into worthless, alternative quack medicine. Right?
And libertarians ALWAYS have armed stand-offs over unpaid taxes. Yeah?
I finally figured out your problem, fistful. You need to classify/categorize everything. I think you're either OCD or full blown autistic. Please tell me you drive everyone around you crazy with the need to square papers on the desk, make everything exactly parallel, not step on any cracks, you have all your shirts lined up in the closet by color/design/style, etc.,
or else you need drugs. And lots of them.
Post by: Strings on March 06, 2008, 07:35:21 PM
Is it a problem where EVERY social conservative does it? No... just like not all Democrats are anti-gun. But it does seem that the leadership keeps pushing this stuff, without the rank & file saying "enough is enough!".
Post by: Paddy on March 06, 2008, 07:54:14 PM
You stupid bastards still think Reagan was a conservative. You wouldn't know conservatism if it jumped up and bit off your balls, if you had any.
Screw it. You deserve what you get in exchange for your ignorance.
Post by: johnster999 on March 06, 2008, 09:33:24 PM
Post by: Paddy on March 06, 2008, 09:46:10 PM
Wow some serious hostility to conservative types in here tonight. I wonder why? Oh yeah. Ron Paul just bailed.
Well, you're obviously new and clueless. Welcome to APS.
Post by: johnster999 on March 06, 2008, 09:48:57 PM
Well, you're obviously new and clueless. Welcome to APS.
Obviously, to have a clue I must agree with you, right?
Thanks for the welcome.
Post by: Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas on March 07, 2008, 02:28:39 AM
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You don't like freckles? I do.
See the 'New York Magazine' Spring 2008 Fashion something or other. It's on the internet (like many other frightful things). The freckles make 'er look like a fallout victim or the possessor of a teriffic skin disease. Cloroxed hair doesn't help. As I said, it will scare you into a higher frame of mind.
Post by: Perd Hapley on March 07, 2008, 06:23:20 PM
I finally figured out your problem, fistful. You need to classify/categorize everything. I think you're either OCD or full blown autistic. Please tell me you drive everyone around you crazy with the need to square papers on the desk, make everything exactly parallel, not step on any cracks, you have all your shirts lined up in the closet by color/design/style, etc., or else you need drugs. And lots of them.
OK, with the laugh smiley, I'll assume you're trying to make a joke. I don't get it.
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Further proof that modern 'conservatism' is adrift, undefined and confused. We now have 'social conservatism' versus 'fiscal conservatism' versus 'compassionate conservatism'.
And that's not coherent, either. Are you sure you're posting in the correct thread? Quote
We've totally forgotten about Samuel Francis, Edmund Burke, Thomas Jefferson, and John C. Calhoun, to name but a few.
That's an interesting list. I see you have discovered Wikipedia. Samuel Francis indeed rings no bell with me, but from some of his remarks, he appears to have been a sad little racist. Probably worth forgetting.
Edmund Burke is a name that has actually been making some surprising appearances on talk radio lately. Mark Levine and Richard Land both mentioned him within the past couple of weeks. But, yeah, he's not a household word by any means.
Thomas Jefferson. Uh, yeah, OK. I'm sure he'd be all on board with those smoking bans you like so much. Oh, wait. Tobacco farmer. Oh, wait. Life, liberty, purfuit of happineff.
John Calhoun. A complicated figure. What do you like about him?
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You stupid bastards...
We can keep that in mind the next time you complain about personal attacks. 
Post by: Sindawe on March 07, 2008, 07:07:16 PM
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Quote from: RileyMc on Today at 02:46:10 AM
Well, you're obviously new and clueless. Welcome to APS.
Obviously, to have a clue I must agree with you, right?
Thanks for the welcome.
Well, you're obviously new and clueless. Welcome to APS.
Obviously, to have a clue I must agree with you, right?
Thanks for the welcome.
Don't mind RileyMc. He hates everything. 'Prolly from missing his big break in show buisness with that old cereal commercial.
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It's surprising how little writing (of any quality) has been undertaken about the sex industry.
Did'nt they try that in thhe 70s and 80s, before they figured out that Gonzo sells better and is cheaper to produce?
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 08, 2008, 03:14:34 AM
These are the Taiping our friend Sheng Pao endorses so much:
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The theocratic and militaristic regime instituted several social reforms, including strict separation of the sexes, abolition of foot binding, land socialization, suppression of private trade, and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion by a form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
So, communists AND theocrats versus Westerners who supported porn, opium, and freedom of religion?
And you're suggesting that Westerners and pro-Western Chinese won BECAUSE of porn and opium?
So porn helps defeat Communist-Theocrat idiots? Yay for porn.
Post by: Sheng_Pao on March 14, 2008, 07:53:04 AM
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So, communists AND theocrats versus Westerners who supported porn, opium, and freedom of religion?
And you're suggesting that Westerners and pro-Western Chinese won BECAUSE of porn and opium?
So porn helps defeat Communist-Theocrat idiots? Yay for porn.
And you're suggesting that Westerners and pro-Western Chinese won BECAUSE of porn and opium?
So porn helps defeat Communist-Theocrat idiots? Yay for porn.
Think the western colonialists in China supported freedom of religion? Think again. If they did, there would have be no Boxer Uprising.
Opium was forced upon our people. Emperor Daoguang was forced to sign a treaty ceding Hong Kong and allowing unrestricted opium trade, otherwise the British would march right to Beijing and burn down the imperial capital. This is what we had to put up with for over a hundred years. Oppression, humiliation, and political cutthroat-ism.
Why do you think the War for Southern Independance began anyway?
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 14, 2008, 10:35:54 AM
Think the western colonialists in China supported freedom of religion? Think again. If they did, there would have be no Boxer Uprising.
So wait, you think the Taiping were actually good guys? You would like to live under their rule?
Post by: Sheng_Pao on March 15, 2008, 10:59:54 AM
The Taiping regime actually cared for the people, and they were strong proponents of RKBA. Under Taiping rule, martial arts studies must be pursued by every member of Taiping society, from the farmer to the princes. And the Taipings also encouraged people to take up guns, and whatever they can, and they also said that when the people are armed, they can resist foreign aggression much better.
All of the Taiping founders, including the four kings, who began the uprising in Guangxi, prior to the open declaration of war against the Qing in 1851, violated the Qing policy against weapons possession. All of them stashed various things, and although they liked guns, they preferred broadswords and halberds, but they also had millions of pounds of gunpowder stored in nearby caves. Originally they were prepared to fight the British in case they marched inland, but then the Qing, forced to ally with the British, and also ruled by corrupt mandarins started moving against them and robbing the peasants of food.
When the Qing military governor of the Guanlubu region discovered the Taiping strength in the December of 1851, the Taipings knew they had to start the war earlier than usual. At Jintian, while only half the Taipings were even prepared to fight the well armed Qing banner army, the Taiping absolutely destroyed the Manchus. The Dragon carried the day.
Today, if you go to Beijing, on the eastern wall of the People's War Hero Monument, the Taipings are dedicated and praised by the current Chinese government for their bravery and courage and neverending spirit.
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 15, 2008, 11:28:07 PM
But let me ask you one thing.
Wikipedia states
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he theocratic and militaristic regime instituted several social reforms, including strict separation of the sexes, abolition of foot binding, land socialization, suppression of private trade, and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion by a form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
Is it true that these practices were really the practices of the Taiping? If yes, I am forced to say I could never be in support of such a movement, and if I lived in these places at that time, would probably be one of those people in Hunan, Huabei,, or Shanghai that resisted them. They don't seem to be nice people to me, and I consider owning property, associating freely with other people (including women), and of course consuming the porn and drugs of my choice, to be a basic liberty of man. If a fight developed over those issues, I know which side I would pick.
Post by: Dntsycnt on March 16, 2008, 04:09:54 AM
It's surprising how little writing (of any quality) has been undertaken about the sex industry. The business practices (the language of domination used in marketing), the sociological milieu of Silicone Valley, etc.. Authors always seem to focus on particular kinks or the viewer at home - the industry itself is relatively unexamined.
You should check out XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography by Wendy McElroy.
Post by: Sheng_Pao on March 17, 2008, 01:32:40 PM
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Is it true that these practices were really the practices of the Taiping? If yes, I am forced to say I could never be in support of such a movement, and if I lived in these places at that time, would probably be one of those people in Hunan, Huabei,, or Shanghai that resisted them. They don't seem to be nice people to me, and I consider owning property, associating freely with other people (including women), and of course consuming the porn and drugs of my choice, to be a basic liberty of man. If a fight developed over those issues, I know which side I would pick.
The Taipings abolished footbinding because it is a Manchu sexual fetish. Manchu rulers and politicians loved women who had small feet because they want them to shove them up, well, you know what. In the beginning of the rebellion, the Taipings outlawed separation of the sexes ONLY in the army, and the ruling class, because they feared that the influences of women might interfere with the mens' ability to fight and to rule.
HOWEVER, in 1857, Emperor Hong Xiuquan had to deal with a case where a male soldier was caught visiting the female barracks because they were already married before they joined the Taipings, and they had a baby son, and the male was just at the females' barracks to care for the child. Nevertheless, according to Taiping military rule, any mingling between the sexes in the Heavenly Army is punished by beheading. Therefore, after the couple was beheaded, Emperor Hong Xiuquan decided that he has to adopt a more progressive form of rule. Therefore, after 1857, separation of the sexes ended. Separation of the sexes were never implicated in civilian life. However, as the Taipings are a form of socialist government, civilians are required to work certain time periods, such as the building of fortresses and processing steel to build siege guns. For example, the massive guns that were used to pound Nanjing's defenders into submission in 1853 were all built by the common folk. That is why the Taiping leaders ordered the artillerymen to be "sure and accurate with each shot", because each round fired represents the labor and sweat of the people.
Regarding theologies of the Taiping movement, the Taiping leaders did wage a war against Confucianism, because the Manchus' practice of Confucianism, despite their claims that they will lead honest and fidel lives, actually were very adulterous, worshipped fetishes and unnatural sex acts, such as sodomy with womens' feet, and of course, the Qing Dynasty was so corrupt that one statesman said that if you go into any Qing army barracks across the country, most of the soldiers would most likely be in a state of complete stupor from opium smoking. Almost half of the Qing government's budget was embezzled by military leaders and district leaders to purchase and trade opium. Therefore, the Taipings wanted to purify Confucianism, and they believed that the Confucianist principle of "obediance", is leading the Chinese to bow down to the hated foreigners. Therefore, they wanted to eliminate the cowardly ruling class and restore the Chinese race to their "Warring Kingdom" spirit, so they can drive out the foreigners and rebuild their country again. But how? How would they do that with the Manchus in power? The Manchus are a threat, and they had to go, all of them.
Prior to the rebellion, while Hong Xiuquan still lived in Guanlubu, he came down with a very serious illness. It was the year 1840, and one day during the winter, he suddenly fell deathly ill. So ill that no wise man, woman, wizard or alchemist from both provinces could cure him. Today, such phenomenon caused by bacterial sepsis and the release of toxins into the nervous system would be called "hallucinations". The illness that he was afflicted with was most likely meningococcal septicaemia, the case where the Meningococcal organism actually enters the patient's bloodstream. The bacteria itself does not kill any cells or tissues, but the cell wall of the Meningococcal organism is composed of a compound called Lippopolysaccharide A, or "Lipid A". This compound resembles the polysaccharides and other complex carbohydrate polymers that are present in all of our cells, and many bacterial cells have that substance in their protective cell walls, but lipid A is highly toxic to humans, simply because the enzymes in our body that normally break down carbohydrates could not recognize this substance. Thus, the patient could quickly go into septic shock due to the buildup of Lipid A in the bloodstream. Some symptoms of septic shock are vivid and terrifying hallucinations and delirium. So terrifying in fact, that patients in the years before antibiotics who contracted bacterial/viral sepsis would throw themselves out of windows, screaming that imaginary monsters are chasing after them.
In Hong Xiuquan's case, he went into stupor and delirium, and he believed that he ascended to Heaven for a period. There, he "met an elderly man with a golden beard as bright as the Sun, and holding aloft a mighty sword made of gold. That man was God, and Hong Xiuquan was to take that sword and smite down all the infidels (Manchus) that were the ruling elite of China. These infidels were responsible for the loss of Chinese military power in the Opium War, and they were responsible for moral decadence as well as encroachment onto their land by the English and the French colonial powers".
Therefore, the reason that Hong Xiuquan believed that God did not take him into heaven right now is because he still had a task to complete in this corporeal world, that is, to wage war against the infidels and lead the Army of Heaven to victory and bring the Middle Kingdom back to it's supreme power of the Han, Tang, and Ming Dynasties. Undoubtedly, a lot of his thinking is also influenced by the tracts of the Western Christian missionaries that he read prior to coming down with the illness.
For reasons unknown, Hong Xiuquan managed to fight the illness, and his body was able to recover from the bacterial sepsis without the use of any modern drugs. When he came out of his stupor approximately 40 days after he fell unconscious and deathly ill, he immediately realized what he was to do.
In fact, he became much more stronger than he was before the illness, and during the period of less than ten years, he rallied the unorganized peasant population of Guangxi and Guangdong into the vast and fearsome fighting force that would be known as the Taiping Heavenly Army. Thus, when he "spoke" to God during his coma, he realized he was in fact, the younger brother of Jesus Christ. As Jesus Christ died for the sins of the people and people has still sinned even to his day, he believed that he will go back to the corporeal realm and purge the land of sin and moral corruption with the Sword.
At that time, people are very superstitious, especially the farmers and fishermen who lived in Guangxi.
And the power which he used to rally these people, and the religious mysticism that he employed were in fact fearsomely strong. During the Battle of Jintian on December 9th, 1851, a largely outnumbered and outgunned Taiping Army faced a vast Imperial force led by one of the Qing Dynasty's most vaunted and skilled generals: Commander Ikedanbu. Partially for the reason of the Taipings being outnumbered is because most of the other Taiping units were elsewhere in the province, scattered in the mountains and abandoned coal mines, making gunpowder and smelting steel to build howitzers. The only Taiping units present at Jintian were the ones commanded by Hong Xiuquan's closest disciple Feng Yunshan, Xiao Chaoghui, and Yang Xiuqing. Also commanding another Taiping division was 14 year old Tan Shaokuang, a skilled martial arts practicioner and extremely skilled marksman. The total number of Taiping troops on scene during this fight was less than 20,000. However, Ikedanbu had almost 40,000 men under his command, and almost 10,000 of them were Manchu and Mongol cavalry, straight from the northern steppes, the best horsemen the world has ever seen. It was absolutely hot and hazy that day, the afternoon sun bathing the earth with a blazing yellow glare, as the two armies faced each other across hills right outise the village of Jintian.
Almost at once, the Qing batteries opened up, shells exploding all over the Taiping ranks, killing some of them and wounding many. However, the Taipings did not open fire, yet. They simply waited. As the Qing barrage ended, thousands of Imperial troops began to march down the hill, thousands upon thousands of halberds and rifles. The Taiping waited until the Manchus were within 500 yards. Then the order to fire was given. Suddenly, hundreds of cannons opened up, their fire aimed directly at the Manchu ranks before them. Brutal and accurate, the Taiping fire absolutely destroyed the battle formations. Exploding shells and shrapnel from canister ripped into the imperial ranks like scissors ripping through curtain fabric. Thousands upon thousands of Qing troops lay dead or dying. Nearby, thousands of dead cavalrymen lay on the bloodied ground, while the horses that escaped the terrific cannonade screamed and stampeded about.
Now, the order to charge was finally given. Almost 20,000 Taipings rushed the field at the same time. To the left of Ikedanbu's main column, Tan Shaokuang's division smashed straight into his unprotected left flank. Now the battle had become a melee. Swords, halberds, spears, bayonets and rifle butts. The Taiping fought mainly with their broadswords, hacking through the imperial ranks as quickly as they could mend them. Within an hour, the battle was over. Almost 35,000 Qing troops, including their commander Ikedanbu, lay dead, while over 15,000 Taipings are killed.
The battle at Jintian was the Manassas of China's Taiping Revolution, and like Manassas, a people with strength, determination, and filled with desire to protect their homes and children carried the day against overwhelming odds.
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 18, 2008, 03:02:16 AM
Post by: Sheng_Pao on March 18, 2008, 06:43:09 PM
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The other things on that list, however..
Yes??? Feel free to ask me.
Post by: MicroBalrog on March 19, 2008, 10:25:33 PM
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he theocratic and militaristic regime instituted several social reforms, including strict separation of the sexes, abolition of foot binding, land socialization, suppression of private trade, and the replacement of Confucianism, Buddhism and Chinese folk religion by a form of Christianity, holding that Hong Xiuquan was the younger brother of Jesus Christ.
"Land socialisation, supression of private trade, and the replacement of the ... folk religion by a form of Christianity".
These ones seem very disturbing to me.
Again, I'm not trying to voice an opinion here.
But let me put it this way.
If there were a war, and one side was for supression of private trade, banning porn and opium, and the other side were against these things, it's likely I'd have not joined the former side.
I can emphatize with the Chinese who didn't, based just on the limited information you gave me.