The Dahong Kingdom was an anti-Qing peasant regime established by Chen Jingang, leader of the Guangdong Tiandihui, during the Xianfeng era of the Qing dynasty. It rose amid the Taiping Rebellion, with its heartland spanning western Guangdong and eastern Guangxi. In 1854, during the great Guangdong Tiandihui Hongbing uprising, Chen Jingang, a cooper from Sanshui, raised the banner of rebellion against the Qing in his hometown. His forces quickly swelled to a hundred thousand and once laid siege to Guangzhou before advancing north to Chenzhou in Hunan. In 1857, Chen Jingang captured the county seat of Huaiji and officially founded the Dahong Kingdom, proclaiming himself the King of Nanxing and appointing his trusted lieutenant Zheng Jin, also known as Zheng Shaozhong, as Grand Marshal. His forces controlled counties along the Guangdong-Guangxi border, including Huaiji, Kaijian, Fengchuan, and He County. They opened granaries to aid the poor, held examinations to recruit talent, and established a complete military and civil administration. In 1861, Chen Jingang led his army south to capture the county seat of Xinyi, now the Bazhen Ancient City in Zhenlong, Xinyi City, Maoming, and moved the regime’s center there. In 1863, the Qing court deployed major forces from Guangdong and Guangxi to wipe out the Dahong Kingdom, laying a prolonged siege to the royal city of Xinyi. The commander Zheng Jin was bribed with high office and generous rewards by senior Qing officials. He launched a mutiny, assassinated Chen Jingang, and presented his head to the Qing army. With no leader, the rebel forces quickly fell apart, and the Dahong Kingdom, which had survived for six years, was utterly destroyed. Zheng Jin later became a senior military officer in the Qing dynasty.
This book tells the story of Chen Jin, who is reborn as a soldier sharing his name, and struggles to survive and turn the tables against the odds after being betrayed by the turncoat Zheng Jin.
