Huan Jin, "The Collapse of Heaven: The Taiping Civil War and Chinese Literature and Culture, 1850-1880" (Harvard UP, 2024)
New Books in East Asian Studies
Perceptions of Heaven and Diverse Literary Forms in the Taiping Civil War
Exploring the contrasting perspectives of two generations of writers who lived through the Taiping Civil War, this chapter showcases the evolution from a traditional view of heaven representing moral order to a fragmented and illusory interpretation. Through a variety of literary genres, including ideological texts and fiction, the chapter examines how personal experiences during the war and failures in the civil service examination shaped these writers' expressions. The narrative also explores the impact of ideological and religious texts, propaganda edicts from the Taiping rebels, and the Qing government's responses, providing insights into the diverse experiences and influences of the catastrophic yet religiously charged period of the Taiping War.
