God's Chinese Son

by Jonathan D. Spence

It is 1837 when Hong ascends to Heaven. While there, he is charged by God, his Heavenly Father - attired in black dragon robe and high-brimmed hat, his mouth almost hidden by his luxuriant golden beard - to slay the demon devils who are leading the people on earth astray. Their leader is Yan Luo, king of hell, the Dragon Demon of the Eastern Sea. Hong does battle in Heaven, armed by his father with sword and seal, aided by his elder brother, Jesus. Returned to his home village in south China, he resolves to carry on the struggle against the evil polluting humanity. He knows himself to be the younger brother of Jesus Christ, God's Chinese son. . The Taiping uprising, led by Hong Xiuquan, was a massive millennial movement that, in its violent rise and fall between 1845 and 1864, cost at least twenty million Chinese their lives. In the course of this struggle the Taiping succeeded in overturning the authority of the ruling Qing dynasty throughout a massive territory in southern China. Thi