Marx and the Taiping rebellion
a proxy for complaint against the Qing government: merely an insult which, although seeming to arise from racial hatred, just as much masked genuine dislike of their governing policies. So, although a clearly ethno-nationalist element has been demonstrated to have existed, it was in no way so great a cause of revolt as the socioeconomic realities which pushed people towards the rebellion, or, for some, the overpowering religious compulsion. What emerges is a number of varied causes for revolt in 1850s China. We can see that social protest over economic conditions, the need for authority and protection, genuine religious or millenarian belief, class conflict, a degree of ethno-nationalism, and simple convenience or even coercion prompted millions of Chinese to join the Taiping. For this author, the Qing dynasty had run its course by the 1850s, with it facing a range of domestic problems; and the rebellion, were it not for the intervention of foreign powers, should have swept it away. The Taiping rebellion, therefore, should be read as primarily a social protest movement – although other, ideological causes persisted – against a defunct government. Marx valuably recognizes this aspect; but his failure to understand that it was primarily internal, not external, causes which prompted this, alongside his neglect of the other, lesser motives like ethno-nationalism and religious appeal renders his account severely limited.
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