Tai-Pings, a name bestowed upon the followers of Hung Hsiû-ch`wan, a village schoolmaster of China, who, coming under the influence of Christian teaching, sought to subvert the religion and ruling dynasty of China; he himself was styled “Heavenly King,” his reign “Kingdom of Heaven,” and his dynasty “Tai-Ping” (Grand Peace); between 1851 and 1855 the rising assumed formidable dimensions, but from 1855 began to decline; the religious enthusiasm died away; foreign auxiliaries were called in, and under the leadership of Gordon (q.v.) the rebellion was stamped out by 1865.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Taine, Hippolyte Adolphe * Tait, Archibald Campbell