re
one--and they were far from being in the best of spirits. They had
advanced far, but it looked as if it was into the lion's mouth. Their
march had been a remarkable one, but it had been attended with no
striking success. In their front was the Tientsin militia,
strengthened by a large if nondescript force, led by the Mongol chief
Sankolinsin. In their rear the levies of Hoonan, of the vast district
that had suffered from their exactions, were closing up, and soon they
were closely beleaguered in a hastily-fortified camp at Tsinghai. In
this they were besieged from the end of October to the beginning of
March 1854. The Imperial generals, afraid to risk an assault, hoped to
starve them out, and so they might have done had not Tien Wang sent a
fresh army to extricate this force from its peril. Then the retreat
began, but, beset by assailants from every side, it was slow and
disastrous. The struggle went on until March 1855, when Sankolinsin
was able to declare that not a Taeping remained north of the Yellow
River. Only a very small portion of the two armies sent to capture
Peking ever returned to the headquarters of Tien Wang.

While these events, and others that do not call for description as
being of minor importance, were in progress, symptoms of
disintegration were already beginning to reveal themselves in the camp
at Nanking. After its capture Tien Wang himself retired into the
interior of his palace and never afterwards appeared in public. All
his time was passed in the harem, and the opportunity was thus given
his more ambitious lieutenants to assert themselves. Tung Wang, the
"Eastern King," became principal Minister. He, too, claimed to have
communion with Heaven, and on celestial advice he began to get rid of
those of his comrades who opposed his schemes. He even summoned Tien
Wang to his presence and reproved him for his proceedings. A plot was
then formed against Tung Wang, and he was slain with three of his
brothers, in the presence of Tien Wang, by another of the Taeping
chiefs. Nor did the slaughter stop there, for it is alleged, although
the numbers must not be accepted literally, that 200,000 of his
partisans--men, women, and children--were massacred. These internal
dissensions threatened to break up the Taeping confederacy, and no
doubt they would have done so but for the appearance of the most
remarkable man associated with the movement, and one of the most
heroic figures in China's history.

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