The videos I watched became popular in ancient times

In my country's more than 2,000 years of feudal history, although there has always been a social environment in which men are superior to women, many outstanding female figures have emerged in various fields.

For example, the only female emperor Wu Zetian, and the talented Su Xiaomei and Li Qingzhao.

Even among brothels, there are a large number of people who have survived to this day, including Dong Xiaowan, Liu Rushi, Chen Yuanyuan and so on.

There are also many stories of people going to the battlefield and bravely killing the enemies. In ancient times, there was the story of Mulan joining the army.

This reflects that there were many female generals in ancient my country who were good at fighting, and Empress Dowager Xiao and others are prominent examples.

These women, although weak in body, lived in a special feudal society.

But their lives are full of legends, well-known to later generations and passed down through the ages.

As the most controversial female figure in the history of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiujiao's personal story is widely circulated and talked about by later generations.

Over the past hundred years, there have been dozens of literary works recording Hong Xuanjiao's unofficial history, novels, dramas, operas, etc., which can be said to be numerous and popular.

Women have always been a hot topic in historical narratives. The origin, appearance, talent, demeanor, marital status, etc. of historical women are all focuses of people's attention.

As a famous female soldier leader in this peasant war, Hong Xiujiao is even more intriguing because she was dubbed the most beautiful woman in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Her stunning appearance and capable personality make up how Hong Xuanjiao is seen by later generations.

There is only one flaw. Even though there is a vast amount of historical data on the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it is still impossible to deduce Hong Xiujiao's complete life.

"Hong Xuanjiao can be said to be the most outstanding of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's heroines."

"She is beautiful and intelligent, has outstanding martial arts skills, is resourceful, and has good judgment."

"She is kind and passionate, and although she is in the royal family, she is selfless and dares to break the old rules and establish new ones."

"For example, Xie Manmei and Chen Zhongyang violated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's rule that officers and soldiers below the rank of prime minister were not allowed to date and marry."

"Hong Xuanjiao not only vowed to rescue Xie Manmei, but also asked Hong Xiuquan to abolish this inhumane law."

"In love, she dares to love and hate, but she also takes the overall situation into consideration. Her love is long-lasting and tragic."

"As Hong Xiuquan commented: If Hong Xuanjiao was not a woman, she would have been crowned queen long ago."

"Hong Xiujiao's contribution to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom can even be ranked after Yang Xiuqing, Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai."

"In historical books, Hong Xuanjiao's original surname was Yang. Her name was Yang Xuanjiao, also known as Yang Yunjiao and Yang Xianjiao."

"She was from Guiping County, Guangxi, and was the wife of Xiao Chaogui, the Western King of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, so she was called the Western Queen's Mother."

"Because she is generally considered to be the second son of the Heavenly Father, that is, the sister of Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom mythology system created by later generations, she is also called Hong Xuanjiao."

"Her first great achievement was participating in and initiating the Taiping Rebellion, and she was one of the main members."

"During a famine, Hong Xuanjiao uncovered a plot by the Qing Dynasty inspector Wang to exchange grain for opium and resell it to make dirty money."

"It once became a stumbling block for Qing officials in Guiping County to exploit farmers, and also a thorn in their side."

"Later, under the leadership of Hong Xiuquan, she also participated in battles of all sizes, beheading generals and enemies and charging into battle."

"In terms of love, she originally liked Lin Fengxiang, and they were secretly in love."

"However, for the sake of his brother's great cause of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he followed Hong Xiuquan's advice."

"For the sake of the overall situation, I reluctantly gave up my love and married the Western King Xiao Chaogui."

"Later, the Western King Xiao Chaogui was unfortunately killed in the attack on Changsha, and Hong Xuanjiao was finally able to renew her relationship with Lin Fengxiang."

"But, unfortunately, later on, during the attack on Tianjin."

"Lin Fengxiang was alone in the deepest part of the country and was surrounded by Zeng Guofan's heavy troops and arrested."

Zeng Guofan: When Wei Changhui met Hong Xuanjiao, it was like a mouse meeting a cat.

Hong Xuanjiao and Xiao Chaogui shared the same ideals, beliefs and missions, and actively encouraged people to worship God.

Hong Xuanjiao was even more famous among female believers, and there was even a slogan circulating within the God Worshipping Society at that time.

Boys learn from Feng Yunshan and girls learn from Yang Xuanjiao.

Hong Xuanjiao and Xiao Chaogui got married, they had a deep relationship and had a son.

Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan returned to Zijing Mountain. The headquarters of the God Worshipping Society was located in Zijing Mountain and Pingai Mountain, and the local people basically lived between the two mountains.

At that time, Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui, one was believed to be able to convey messages on behalf of God the Father, and the other was believed to be able to convey messages on behalf of God the Brother Jesus.

In the eyes of the locals, these two people have a relationship that is close to God.

As they are the mouthpieces of God and Jesus and possess supreme power, Yang and Xiao are quite prestigious in the local area.

Moreover, Yang Xiuqing was a Hakka of Han nationality, and Xiao Chaogui was born into a Zhuang peasant family, and they had very close relations with the local Yao and Zhuang brothers.

If Hong Xiuquan and Feng Yunshan wanted to develop the revolution here, they would have to establish good relations with Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui and mobilize and unite the masses through them.

Hong Xiujiao was a scheming woman. She imitated Hong Xiuquan's style and made up an almost identical dream for herself.

The general idea is that he was seriously ill and dying during the Dingyou year, and when his soul was about to ascend to heaven, he saw God.

God told Hong Xuanjiao that you will meet someone ten years later.

This man comes from the East and he will teach you how to worship God. You must obey him sincerely.

The person God was talking about was created by Hong Xiuquan based on Hong Xiuquan's characteristics to please him.

Hong Xiuquan was naturally very happy, feeling that he and Hong Xuanjiao were the only two people who had seen God with their own eyes.

Therefore, for the needs of political propaganda and revolution, Hong Xiuquan and Xiao Chaogui's wife Hong Xuanjiao became sworn brothers and sisters.

Therefore, because of the bond between them, Hong Xiuquan and Xiao Chaogui became sworn brothers.

In this way, Hong Xuanjiao raised her own status according to Hong Xiuquan's routine.

Not only did she package herself as the daughter of God, she also won the faith of believers.

Her husband Xiao Chaogui was also inspired by his wife's success.

He also claimed that he could speak on behalf of Jesus, the Heavenly Brother, but why not God the Father.

Because someone else had already taken it, Yang Xiuqing was regarded as God's spokesperson in the eyes of others.

God has no shortage of messengers, so Xiao Chaogui can only be demoted to a lower level and become Jesus' spokesperson.

So soon after Xiao Chaogui became Jesus' messenger, he announced it to the believers in the church.

Brother Tian has recognized Hong Xuanjiao as his sister, and Hong Xuanjiao has become the most popular person for a while.

These fancy titles even fooled Hong Xiuquan himself.

Hong Xuanjiao and Xiao Chaogui were a perfect match and quickly became popular figures in the society with great prestige and influence.

The couple was at the peak of their career, but some people were worried.

Yang Xiuqing himself was the spokesperson for Heavenly Father and he knew exactly what tricks this couple was playing.

He was angry but couldn't expose it, otherwise he would lose his identity as the spokesperson for Heavenly Father.

Hong Xuanjiao has an outgoing personality, a strong desire to show off, and likes to be in the limelight.

She always felt that Yang Xiuqing's so-called identity as the spokesperson for God was superior to her and her husband, and she was also dismissive of Yang Xiuqing, which made Yang Xiuqing even more angry.

The two were incompatible, and Yang Xiuqing began to suppress Hong Xuanjiao in a premeditated manner.

It is easy to suppress Hong Xiujiao, as Yang Xiuqing is responsible for conveying the will of God.

Whatever he said or did, it was certainly the Father's will.

So Yang Xiuqing quickly took revenge and announced one day that he would punish Hong Xiujiao on behalf of God.

The crime for which Hong Xuanjiao was punished was that she had no respect for her elders and did not respect the will of heaven.

Hong Xiujiao had a stubborn personality. She refused to yield even after being beaten with sixty sticks. She angrily accused Yang Xiuqing of relying on the authority of God to vent his personal anger.

Shocked to hear that his wife was beaten, Xiao Chaogui hurried back, but he did not turn his elbow inward.

Xiao Chaogui was very afraid that his wife's disobedience to God the Father would lead to more serious consequences, making the couple's previous efforts go to waste.

So he tried to smooth things over, speaking on behalf of his brother Tian and reiterating the noble status of Hong Xuanjiao as the emperor's sister.

At the same time, he spoke well of Yang Xiuqing, hoping that his wife would admit her mistake, stop being stubborn, and ease the relationship with Yang Xiuqing.

Xiao Chaogui tried his best to calm the situation, but Hong Xuanjiao was more stubborn than he thought. She refused to listen and even resented her husband's biased behavior.

Xiao Chaogui had no choice but to ask Hong Xiuquan for help, hoping that he would teach Hong Xuanjiao by using his brother's identity.

Hong Xuanjiao became even more angry, and a rift began to appear in the relationship between the couple.

"During this period, when Hong Xuanjiao learned that Lin Fengxiang's army was surrounded and there was no reinforcement in the rear, she asked Hong Xiuquan to send troops north to rescue Lin Fengxiang."

"But Hong Xiuquan was unable to spare any troops, and it was not appropriate to withdraw troops from the already tense rear area to the north just to save Hong Xuanjiao's lover."

"He rejected Hong Xuanjiao's request to send troops because he was afraid of causing dissatisfaction among his subordinates."

"Helplessly, Hong Xuanjiao only brought a few subordinates with her to rescue her lover Lin Fengxiang."

"He went to Beijing alone to rescue Lin Fengxiang and others who had been arrested, and he actually used a trick to rescue Lin Fengxiang and others at night."

"But, under the relentless pursuit of the officers and soldiers."

"When Lin Fengxiang and Hong Xuanjiao were resting on the way, Lin Fengxiang was arrested again."

"Hong Xuanjiao and her subordinates tried to rescue her a second time, but this time they were deceived by the Qing soldiers and were almost captured."

"When Lin Fengxiang was about to be executed, Hong Xuanjiao prepared her own coffin and went to the execution ground in person to see Lin Fengxiang off. She was also prepared to go to Huangquan Road with Lin Fengxiang."

"Later, under the persuasion of his subordinates, he gave up his determination to die with Lin Fengxiang and returned to Tianjing to continue serving the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

"She remained single from then on until she died heroically for her country when the city was captured."

"She was willing to postpone her rescue of Lin Fengxiang for a few days in order to save Xie Manmei and Chen Zhongyang, a pair of illegal lovers."

"Hong Xiuquan also issued an edict to abolish the law that prohibited men and women from dating and marrying each other, which further proved Hong Xiuquan's kindness and open-mindedness."

"The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom did not allow officers and soldiers below the rank of prime minister to fall in love and marry each other, but Xie Manmei and Chen Zhongyang fell in love in secret and got pregnant, and someone reported it to Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King."

"In order to save Xie and Chen, Hong Xuanjiao personally went to ask Yang Xiuqing to spare their death penalty and allow Chen Zhongyang to make meritorious contributions instead of serving his sentence."

"Yang Xiuqing had originally agreed to pardon the two men's death sentences in consideration of Hong Xuanjiao's personal request." "But later, the case was brought to the attention of Heavenly King Hong Xiuquan, who also issued an edict to pardon the two men's death sentences."

"But Yang Xiuqing wanted to show off his power and make the Heavenly King submit to him."

"After Hong Xiuquan announced that he could pardon Xie Manmei and Chen Zhongyang from death, he still insisted on executing them under the pretext of Heavenly Father's will in order to establish his own prestige."

Li Hongzhang: The only fairy general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, she frightened the Qing soldiers, but she was the culprit that led to the destruction of the Heavenly Kingdom.

As for the image of Hong Xuanjiao, different historical books have different opinions.

Some historical books believe that Hong Xuanjiao was a brave and warlike heroine, while some unofficial histories portray her as the cause of the Taiping Rebellion.

Regardless of her image, one thing is consistent, that is, everyone basically agrees that Hong Xuanjiao is a beauty.

She is a heroine and also a beautiful and heroic female general.

She is a source of disaster, but she does not have a stunning appearance and cannot stir up much trouble, and cannot achieve the effect of bringing disaster to the country and the people as some unofficial histories want.

Since the caning incident, Hong Xuanjiao gradually faded into obscurity, and it is difficult to find her in history books anymore.

In the early days of the Taiping Rebellion, the women in some generals' families made great contributions to the war.

The female soldiers went in barefoot and wrapped in their clothes, climbing over mountains and valleys.

During battles, they all held weapons and stood ready for battle, and were as agile and brave as men.

After the Jintian Uprising, Xiao Chaogui fought all the way and was named the commander of the front army.

After arriving in Yong'an, he was named King of the West.

Hong Xuanjiao naturally became the honorable Princess of the West, ranking first in the harem of the West Prince's Palace.

At that time, the concept of male superiority and female inferiority was deeply rooted. As a woman, Hong Xuanjiao should not have had the wildness to show her face and charge into the battlefield like men.

But in the early stages of the uprising, any extra strength would be helpful, so people didn't really care about these things.

Later, the revolutionary situation gradually improved, especially after the capital was established in Tianjing.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom's etiquette system was gradually improved, and stricter policies on men and women were implemented.

More restrictive policies and regulations have been introduced, stipulating that men should handle external affairs and women should handle domestic affairs.

They isolated themselves from each other, no one interfered in other's affairs, and women gradually left the political stage of men.

Hong Xiujiao was bound by her identity as the Princess of the West, and the previous beating incident caused her status in the God Worshipping Society to decline sharply and she was completely suppressed.

She was imprisoned in the deep palace and served as an obedient princess, with her freedom restricted by layers of dogma.

In this way, she experienced a series of events including her husband's death in battle and the fall of Tianjing.

"Hong Xiuquan had no choice but to obey the Father's divine judgment and let Yang Xiuqing execute Xie and Chen, the ill-fated couple."

"But at the same time, Hong Xiuquan also took this opportunity to abolish the inhumane law of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom that prohibited officers and soldiers below the prime minister from dating and marrying each other."

"At the same time, Xie Manmei and Chen Zhongyang were allowed to hold a tragic wedding on the execution ground. This may be the first couple in Chinese history to hold a wedding on the execution ground."

"After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established its capital in Tianjing, although Hong Xuanjiao never went to the battlefield again, she became a capable adviser to Hong Xiuquan."

"When Hong Xiuquan was undecided about many important matters, he would first consult Hong Xuanjiao."

"Whenever Hong Xuanjiao came up with a good idea, Hong Xiuquan would adopt it."

"For example, in the killing of Yang Xiuqing and Wei Changhui, two major events related to the turning point of the fate of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Xiuquan secretly conspired with Hong Xuanjiao."

"She even saw Wei Changhui's ambition and thought that Wei Changhui would take the opportunity to launch a massacre and eliminate dissidents, so she reminded Hong Xiuquan not to allow Wei Changhui to kill innocent people."

"Unfortunately, the ambitious Wei Changhui not only did not obey Hong Xiuquan's instructions, but also carried out a bloody massacre and wanted to usurp the throne."

"In handling state affairs and appointing and dismissing officials."

"Hong Xuanjiao was more concerned about the overall situation and appointed people based on their merits than Hong Xiuquan."

"Hong Xiuquan appointed his two elder brothers as kings in order to contain Shi Dakai."

"Hong Xuanjiao was the first to stand up and oppose it, and she opposed it strongly."

"However, Hong Xiuquan, who was frightened by the two kings Yang and Wei and became suspicious, stubbornly refused to adopt Hong Xuanjiao's opinion on this issue."

"It eventually forced Shi Dakai to leave, which severely damaged the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and put it on the road to decline and destruction."

"Later, Tianjing fell, the city was destroyed, the country was destroyed, and the family was ruined."

"Under the encirclement and suppression of the Qing army, Hong Xuanjiao, as a female general, fought bravely and was ready to die, refusing to surrender."

"Hand in hand with the soldiers, we ignited the prepared explosives, sacrificed our lives for our country, and died with the Kingdom of Heaven."

"Her short but brilliant life was a life of revolutionary struggle."

"It is truly worthy of praise and admiration from future generations."

Zuo Zongtang: The internal strife in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was caused by Hong Xiujiao’s jealousy. Success or failure depends on beauty.

According to unofficial historical records, the story of Hong Xuanjiao being locked up in the deep palace is much more exciting and has more erotic elements.
During the siege of Changsha City, Western King Xiao Chaogui was killed by a cannon.

Hong Xuanjiao became a widow overnight and lived alone in the Western Palace.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom established its capital in Nanjing, Hong Xiuquan, the Heavenly King, became increasingly lax, indulged in wine and sex, and the power of the Heavenly Kingdom basically fell into the hands of Yang Xiuqing, the Eastern King.

Yang Xiuqing once had an affair with Hong Xuanjiao, Xiao Chaogui's wife. When the two were sleeping together, their affair was discovered by a group of people.

Yang Xiuqing deliberately acted like God descending to earth and said to everyone, Xuan Jiao is my sixth daughter.

She is Xiuqing's sister and should change her surname to Yang, and her husband Xiao Chaogui should be the emperor's son-in-law.

What it means is that we are all children of Heavenly Father, brothers and sisters, so what’s wrong with sleeping together?

This historical material does contain some inaccuracies, but it is not advisable to simply regard it as unofficial history.

In short, there is no way to verify whether there was an affair between Hong Xiujiao and Yang Xiuqing, but the conflicts and caning incidents between the two in their later years are a foregone conclusion.

However, romantic affairs often attract more attention, and the love triangle between Hong Xiujiao, Yang Xiuqing and Xiao Chaogui has also become the material of unofficial history.

Some unofficial histories also record the story of how Yang Xiuqing and Hong Xuanjiao rekindled their old love after Xiao Chaogui died in battle.

After Xiao Chaogui's death, Hong Xuanjiao had nothing to do all day, so she followed a foreign missionary to learn medicine to pass the time and learned good medical skills.

Yang Xiuqing thought of his old lover and frequently used the excuse of medical treatment to get him back.

After Hong Xuanjiao was brought into the Prince Dong's Mansion, their old love was rekindled.

These two people were both important figures in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. One was the Western Princess who was in charge of commanding the female camp, and the other was the Eastern King who was second only to the emperor.

The romantic scandal between the two people quickly spread, and some gossipers even told Hong Xiuquan.

After hearing this, Hong Xiuquan felt that there was nothing wrong with it. There was nothing wrong with using his sister to win over and restrain the Eastern King.

So Hong Xiuquan told everyone that he and the King of the East were both sons of God, and Hong Xuanjiao was naturally the King of the East's sister. There was nothing to be surprised about a brother-sister blind date.

Since Hong Xiuquan had said this, naturally others had nothing to say.

However, not long after, a woman named Fu Shanxiang appeared beside Yang Xiuqing.

This woman was beautiful and a famous talent in Tianjing.

Fu Shanxiang, the first female number one scholar in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and even in history, was arranged to work in the East King's Palace.

Yang Xiuqing, who was beautiful, talented and romantic, was inevitably moved. He focused on pursuing his new love and neglected Hong Xuanjiao.

Hong Xiujiao turned from love to hate and decided to take revenge on Yang Xiuqing.

She noticed that Yang Xiuqing, who was in power, had offended many forces in Tianjing, so she actively tried to win over the generals who opposed Yang Xiuqing.

It just so happened that at this time Hong Xiuquan had long been resentful of the increasingly arrogant Yang Xiuqing, and was instigated by anti-Yang generals.

He began to think of punishing Yang Xiuqing and secretly recalled the Northern King Wei Changhui to discuss important matters with him.

Hong Xiujiao took the opportunity to suggest to Yang Xiuqing that he hold a welcoming banquet for the Northern King who had returned to Beijing, and Yang Xiuqing readily agreed.

When everyone was drinking and having fun at the banquet, Hong Xuanjiao winked at Wei Changhui.

Wei Changhui immediately stood up and stabbed Yang Xiuqing in the heart.

With the death of Yang Xiuqing, the internal strife and fighting within the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom officially began, pushing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom further and further on the road to national destruction.

The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was severely damaged and was captured by the Qing army in one fell swoop. The grand Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement came to an end.

This is what is commonly referred to in unofficial history as the argument that Hong Xiujiao was jealous and single-handedly caused internal strife in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, leading to the destruction of the country.

As for what happened to Hong Xiujiao after the Taiping Rebellion ended, there are many different opinions.

Unofficial history states that on the day Tianjing fell, Hong Xiujiao led the female battalion to fight and was eventually killed in battle.

There are also reports that she disguised herself as a commoner and escaped to Shanghai among the fleeing crowd.

After many twists and turns, he finally went across the ocean to the United States with the foreign missionaries around him and worked as a doctor in San Francisco.

There are various theories that are incredible, but some scholars believe that Hong Xuanjiao may have died of depression.

In "Poem to Heavenly Father", there are two possible explanations for the statement that Xuan Jiaogu is the first Jiaogu.

The first explanation is that in Hakka, the pronunciations of "Xuan" and "Xian" are similar, so they may have been mistakenly recorded when they were engraved.

Another way of saying it is that it was originally a respectful title for the deceased.

"Poems to Heavenly Father" is not some unofficial history. It is a reading material for the harem that Hong Xiuquan, as the Heavenly King, had to review and proofread personally, so the possibility of printing errors is very small.

Besides, how could no one point out such a mistake in the name of the Princess West after it was printed and distributed to the entire harem?

It is very likely that Hong Xuanjiao had passed away long ago, so that no one in the existing harem knew this early deceased princess.

Regardless of whether the records in unofficial history are erotic anecdotes fabricated by literati, it is naturally biased to attribute the cause of the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the jealousy of a woman like Hong Xiujiao.

It dilutes the political reasons behind it and can just be laughed off.

Even though there are not many records about Hong Xuanjiao, it still does not diminish her legendary color.

What is certain is that Hong Xuanjiao did devote herself to the revolutionary torrent as a woman and made historical contributions to the anti-feudal struggle. (End of this chapter)