The Relentless Siege and Psychological Toll

In the early 1860s, the Qing dynasty’s military campaign against the Taiping Rebellion reached a critical juncture at Nanjing, the rebel capital. Leading the siege was Zeng Guoquan, younger brother of the renowned statesman and general Zeng Guofan. For over two years, Zeng Guoquan had directed the Xiang Army in what would become one of the most grueling military operations of nineteenth-century China. The psychological pressure on the commander was immense, manifesting in severe physical symptoms that reflected his mental state. He developed extensive skin lesions, lost his appetite, and suffered from prolonged insomnia, bringing him nearly to the brink of collapse. Despite these personal struggles, the military objective remained clear: capture Nanjing and crush the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Engineering Persistence Against Formidable Defenses

Zeng Guoquan’s primary strategy involved tunneling under Nanjing’s massive walls to plant explosives. By 1864, his forces had dug thirty-three separate tunnels, each representing enormous labor and resources. The Taiping defenders, however, proved remarkably adept at countering these efforts. Their commander, Li Xiucheng, had developed sophisticated detection methods. By observing variations in grass color above ground—where vegetation turned yellow due to disturbed soil and moisture loss—he could identify tunneling activity. The rebels then employed counter-tunneling tactics, digging outward from the city to intercept and destroy the Xiang Army’s passages before they reached the walls. This defensive ingenuity cost Zeng enormous resources: thousands of pounds of gunpowder wasted and between one to two thousand engineering troops dead without significant progress.

The Final Breakthrough After Repeated Failures

Zeng Guoquan demonstrated what contemporaries described as stubborn persistence, refusing to abandon the tunneling strategy despite repeated failures. On July 19, 1864 wide in the fortifications. Xiang Army troops poured through the gap, creating chaos among Taiping defenders. By dusk, the entire outer city had fallen to Qing forces.

Emotional Release After Years of Strain

For Zeng Guoquan, the breakthrough represented not just a military victory but psychological liberation. The constant pressure of the prolonged siege had created unbearable tension that instantly dissipated upon seeing his troops enter the city. Though fierce street fighting continued and the inner citadel remained uncaptured, Zeng was physically and emotionally exhausted. After three consecutive sleepless nights, he retreated to his headquarters, where aides observed him in a state of emotional overwhelm—wearing simple clothing, barefoot, with sweat and tears streaming down his face. His immediate need was not tactical command but restorative sleep, marking the profound personal cost of his military leadership.

Reporting Victory to the Throne

Before surrendering to exhaustion, Zeng fulfilled his duty to inform the imperial court. Following his brother’s advice, he composed a concise memorial to the Emperor and Empress Dowager, emphasizing that while the outer city had been secured, the inner citadel—where Taiping leadership was believed to be holding out—remained contested. The dispatch noted that government troops had established defensive positions throughout the city and predicted complete victory within days. Zeng arranged for the message to be carried to Beijing by the fastest possible courier service . Only after completing these duties did Zeng collapse into desperately needed sleep.

Zeng Guofan’s Emotional Response to Victory

The news reached Zeng Guofan’s headquarters in Anqing around midnight on June 20. Awakened in the early hours, the senior Zeng received the dispatch with trembling hands. His reaction reflected the complex emotions of a man who had dedicated twelve years to defeating the rebellion. Since first organizing the Xiang Army in 1853, he had lost two brothers in the conflict, sent tens of thousands of Hunanese compatriots to their deaths, and himself faced multiple life-threatening situations including three suicide attempts. The victory brought feelings of triumph mixed with grief, relief, and apprehension about the future—emotions that kept him awake through the remainder of the night.

Historical Debate Over the Rebellion’s Legacy

The suppression of the Taiping Rebellion has generated complex historical judgments. Throughout the late Qing and Republican periods, revolutionary thinkers often criticized Zeng Guofan and his brother for crushing what they viewed as a progressive movement challenging Manchu rule. This perspective saw the Taiping as representing Han Chinese aspirations against foreign domination. However, other historians have offered more nuanced assessments that consider the Taiping movement’s limitations alongside its anti-Qing orientation.

Cultural Destruction as Strategic Failure

Prominent twentieth-century historian Qian Mu argued that the Taiping Rebellion failed fundamentally because it sought to destroy traditional Chinese culture rather than simply replace the Qing government. The systematic destruction of Confucian temples, the classification of classical texts as “demon literature,” and the attempt to replace Chinese cultural traditions with adapted Christian theology alienated educated elites and much of the population. Qian contended that the rebellion’s peculiar terminology—including its bureaucratic titles and state nomenclature—demonstrated its disconnect from Chinese cultural norms. He famously stated that had the Taiping succeeded, “all of Chinese history would have failed,” suggesting that victory would have meant the destruction of China’s historical continuity.

Administrative Limitations of the Heavenly Kingdom

Beyond ideological issues, the Taiping movement demonstrated significant administrative deficiencies throughout its existence. Unlike established governments, it never developed a sustainable fiscal system or bureaucratic infrastructure. Instead, it relied primarily on confiscation and what contemporaries called the “bag rent” system—essentially extracting resources from controlled territories without establishing regular taxation. In newly captured areas, Taiping forces typically permitted three days of unrestricted looting as both compensation and incentive for soldiers who received no regular pay. Contemporary accounts describe widespread atrocities during these periods, with soldiers committing “all manner of detestable acts in broad daylight.” Only after this initial plundering would administrators attempt to establish more systematic resource extraction methods.

Military Success Versus Governance Failure

The Taiping movement demonstrated considerable military prowess throughout its fourteen-year existence, controlling significant territory and nearly toppling the Qing dynasty. However, its inability to transition from rebellion to governance ultimately proved fatal. While the Qing system faced numerous problems, it maintained functioning administrative structures that could collect taxes, administer justice, and provide basic governance. The Taiping alternative offered destructive radicalism without constructive administration, making sustained rule impossible even in areas under their control for extended periods. This governance deficit ultimately undermined military successes and limited popular support.

Historical Reassessment in Modern Scholarship

Contemporary historians continue to reassess the Taiping Rebellion’s complex legacy. While early Communist historians celebrated it as a proto-revolutionary peasant uprising, more recent scholarship acknowledges both its anti-Qing aspects and its destructive tendencies. The rebellion caused an estimated 20-30 million deaths, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. Its suppression preserved Qing rule for another half-century but also demonstrated the need for reform that would eventually lead to modernization efforts. The Xiang Army’s victory represented both the preservation of traditional order and the beginning of regional militarization that would eventually undermine central authority.

Psychological Dimensions of Military Leadership

Zeng Guoquan’s experience during the Nanjing siege highlights the psychological dimensions of nineteenth-century warfare. His physical manifestations of stress—skin conditions, appetite loss, and insomnia—reflect the enormous burden of military command in a prolonged campaign. The moment of victory brought not jubilation but collapse, suggesting the cumulative effect of years of pressure. This human dimension of leadership often receives less attention than tactical decisions but proved crucial to the campaign’s outcome. Zeng’s persistence despite psychological distress ultimately contributed to the breakthrough that ended the rebellion.

The Aftermath of Nanjing’s Fall

Following the capture of Nanjing, Qing forces systematically eliminated remaining Taiping resistance. The rebellion’s leader, Hong Xiuquan, had died before the city fell, but his successors were captured and executed. The victory solidified the Zeng brothers’ historical reputations but also created political complications. The Xiang Army’s demonstrated effectiveness increased regional military power at the expense of central authority, contributing to the eventual rise of warlordism. The extensive destruction across central China required massive reconstruction efforts that strained Qing resources already weakened by foreign incursions and internal challenges.

Enduring Historical Questions

The Taiping Rebellion continues to raise profound questions about revolution, cultural continuity, and historical judgment. Was the movement primarily a nationalist uprising against foreign Manchu rule or a destructive millenarian cult? Did its suppression preserve Chinese civilization or prevent necessary change? These questions remain relevant as historians continue to assess one of the most significant events in modern Chinese history. The experiences of participants like Zeng Guoquan provide human-scale perspectives on these larger historical forces, reminding us that history is ultimately the story of people making difficult choices under extraordinary circumstances.

The fall of Nanjing marked both an end and a beginning—the conclusion of a devastating rebellion and the start of a period of attempted reform known as the Tongzhi Restoration. The complex legacy of this event continues to shape understandings of China’s nineteenth-century transformation and the challenges of balancing tradition with change, order with revolution, and cultural continuity with necessary reform.