The Opening Sentence Of The
Oath Of Membership Read As Follows:
"We combine everywhere to recall the
Ming and exterminate the barbarians, cut off the Tsing and await the right
Prince." But as there were none of the Mings left, and as their name had
lost whatever hold it may have possessed on the minds of the Chinese
people, this proclaimed object tended rather to deter than to invite
recruits to the society. Yet if any secret society shared in the
origination of the Taeping Rebellion that credit belongs to the Triads,
whose anti-Manchu literature enjoyed a wide circulation through Southern
China, and they may have had a large share in drafting the programme that
the Taeping leader, Tien Wang, attempted to carry out.
The individual on whom that exalted title was subsequently bestowed had a
very common origin, and sprang from an inferior race. Hung-tsiuen, such
was his own name, was the son of a small farmer near Canton, and he was a
_hakka_, a despised race of tramps who bear some resemblance to our
gypsies. He was born in the year 1813, and he seems to have passed all his
examinations with special credit; but the prejudice on account of his
birth prevented his obtaining any employment in the civil service of his
country. He was therefore a disappointed aspirant to office, and at such a
period it was not surprising that he should have become an enemy of the
constituted authorities and the government. As he could not be the servant
of the state he set himself the ambitious task of being its master, and
with this object in view he resorted to religious practices in order to
acquire a popular reputation, and a following among the masses.
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Page 411 of 704
Words from 111529 to 111821
of 191255
