Attributing Hong Xiuquan to christianity is somewhat like attributing Stalin to Atheism.
Hong Xiuquan is better seen as just 19th century menifestation of a vicious cycle which has plagued China since China was first unified into an Empire. Basically, every dynasties that started strong has seen high rate of initial economic growth, which led to large scale population growth that outstripped agriculture development, leading to misery, corruption, and end up being toppled by large scale bloody peasant rebellions after a few centuries. Hong Xiuquan is just one in a series of such malthusian reapers in Chinese history. None of his predecessors were christian. His immediate successor, Mao, was communist and atheist. So the fact that he had something to do which christianity was incidental. The fact that Chinese culture and the Malthusian trap the country is in should dovetail viciously like clockwork every 5-6 centuries is the the real culprit.
Hong Xiuquan is better seen as just 19th century menifestation of a vicious cycle which has plagued China since China was first unified into an Empire. Basically, every dynasties that started strong has seen high rate of initial economic growth, which led to large scale population growth that outstripped agriculture development, leading to misery, corruption, and end up being toppled by large scale bloody peasant rebellions after a few centuries. Hong Xiuquan is just one in a series of such malthusian reapers in Chinese history. None of his predecessors were christian. His immediate successor, Mao, was communist and atheist. So the fact that he had something to do which christianity was incidental. The fact that Chinese culture and the Malthusian trap the country is in should dovetail viciously like clockwork every 5-6 centuries is the the real culprit.
