Investigation On Propaganda Strategy Of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

In just a few years, Taiping Heavenly Kingdom developed into an overwhelming peasant movement covering an area larger than half China in modern Chinese history. Undeniably, the propaganda practice and strategies played an important role in this historical process.After the intensive study of relevant historical records and based on the actual publicity practice in Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, massive literature researches and qualitative analysis are employed in the paper to reveal the close relation between the rebellion movement and the propaganda practice. And the propaganda strategies are concluded from the practice which involved destroying the old gods, demonizing the enemies, setting up the propaganda organization, implementing ideological and cultural cleansing, variety of propaganda and forcing information control. Some progressive propaganda strategies are also proposed at the later stage of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but they were not properly carried out as the government tended to collapse.The propaganda strategies of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom integrated politic and religious propaganda, which not only showed characteristics of natural economy but also reflected conflicts and integration of Chinese-Western culture. These strategies involved abundant ideology resources such as peasant ideology, Confucianism, modern press propaganda; meanwhile, they were implemented with a deep social foundation, which can be characterised as a major composition of peasants, rural-based realm and the spread of Christianity in China.The propaganda strategies played an important role in promoting and guiding the rebellion movement, and it also represented some patterns of publicity activities. In addition, the paper reveals the defects as frauds and damage of traditional culture in these strategies.