Feng Yunshan

Feng Yunshan (simplified Chinese: 冯云山; traditional Chinese: 馮雲山; pinyin: Féng Yúnshān; Jyutping: Fung4 Wan4 Saan1; 1815 – June 10, 1852) was an important leader during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government (1850–1864). Feng was a companion of Hong Xiuquan from the very earliest days of the rebellion. Feng was the founder of the "God Worshippers" during the 1840s. This was the very first form the Taiping Rebellion took. He was one of the first Taipings to be baptised and Hong publicly announced how Feng was a deep friend of his.

Feng assembled thousands of believers in Guangxi during the time Hong spent in Canton in 1847, founding the base of the Taiping Rebellion. Feng was later announced as the "South King" of the Taiping Rebellion. He is credited with being the strategist of the rebellion and the administrator of the kingdom during its early days.

On May 24, 1852 as the Taiping marched by Quanzhou with no intention of invading, a Qing gunner fatally wounded Feng as he sat in his sedan chair. Rallied by the news, the Taiping surrounded Quanzhou and, in the space of 2 days, breached the walls and killed every citizen who had not fled. Feng finally succumbed to his wounds in June that year.

References

• Jonathan D. Spence - God's Chinese Son, Norton 1996