RIVER STRATEGY : A PHASE OF THE TAIPINGS' MILITARY DEVELOPMENT 1

Abstract

The Taiping Insurrection which lasted for fifteen years (I850-I865) is one of the most significant rebellions in the history of modem China; its military activities extended almost through the entire area of China Proper. As claimed by one author, 20,000,000 persons perished 2. Its influence upon the Imperial government was profound and far-reaching. The predominance of the Chinese in the administration of the Empire, the reorganization of the tax and finance systems, and the establishment of the new military system, are some of the consequences of the rebellion 3. So important was the Taiping Insurrection that many authorities have recently devoted study to the various aspects of the period in which it developed. Few authorities, however, have emphasized the significance of the control of river communications by the Taipings in their military activities. It is the purpose of this paper to discuss the important bearing of controling water communications on the rise and fall of the movement. In discussing the Taipings' naval strategy, one should not be misled by the idea that the Taipings possessed the type of modern fleet which could bombard a city from a distance. It was only after I854 that the Taipings had a fleet which consisted of different types of fighting vessels for appropriate functions during naval operations. The Taipings' river fleet consisted merely of boats-passenger and freight-seized from the owners during the course of the military campaigns 4.