Hong Tianguifu
Hong Tianguifu was the second and last king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He is popularly referred to as the Junior Lord. Officially, like his father Hong Xiuquan, he was the King of Heaven. To differentiate, he is also called the Junior King of Heaven.
History
Hong was born in village in Hua County, Guangdong. Initially given the first name Tiangui, his father added an additional character around 1860, making his name unusual, as Chinese given names typically have only one or two characters. The name change came amid Hong Xiuquan's increased focus on mysticism and belief that Hong was fit to replace him as "worldly leader". In the kingdom's hierarchy, Hong was referred to as "The Young Monarch of 10,000 years", mirroring his father's title "Heavenly King, Lord of 10,000 years".Hong succeeded his father on 2 June 1864, a day after his death, at age fourteen. He was not respected like his father by the kingdom's princes and was spoken of poorly. In Li Xiucheng's autobiography, written shortly before Li's execution, Hong was described as "inexperienced", "spoiled" and "incapable". Hong also never rode a horse, which was essential for leaders and commanders in wars.
On 19 July 1864, six weeks after Hong's coronation, the Qing government captured Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping rebels. Aided by Li Xiucheng, Hong escaped to, Jiangsu, disguised in Qing Army uniforms. Hong's two younger brothers were killed during the clashes. They rendezvoused with his uncle Hong Rengan and first went to Guangde County, Anhui, before heading to the town of Huzhou, Zhejiang on 13 August 1864, where they rendezvoused with the local Taiping Army commander Huang Wenjin. The Qing government sent Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang to attack the town. The Taiping Army commander in charge of defending the southern gate of the town, Chen Xueming, surrendered on 26 August 1864. Hong Tianguifu, Hong Rengan and Huang Wenjin were forced to flee from the town the next day, under the cover of night. Huang Wenjin soon died of his wounds. The rest of the survivors attempted to escape to the border region of Jiangxi and Fujian to join the remnant Taiping forces led by Li Shixian. However, on 9 October 1864, they were ambushed by the Qing army at Shicheng. Hong Tianguifu escaped to the mountains near Shicheng after his token force was wiped out, but he was caught on 25 October 1864 by Qing soldiers searching for him. Hong Rengan was captured and subsequently executed on 23 November 1864 at Nanchang, Jiangxi.
While being escorted by guards, Hong Tianguifu had a conversation with a Qing army soldier named Tang Jiatong. Hong first talked about his relationship with his father and others. He said, "The old affairs of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were done by my father and Hong Renxuan, he sat on the throne. What did it have to do with me? Even after ascending the throne, I did nothing that is unfavorable to the Qing dynasty. The ones who resisted the Qing Empire were Prince Gan, Prince Zhong and the other ." After the second day of writing a poem praising the Qing dynasty, he was executed by slow slicing on 18 November 1864 at the age of 14.
A glimpse of Hong Tianguifu's character can be seen by his remarks before his execution: "Guangdong is not a nice place, I do not want to go back in. I just want to study with Old Master Tang in Hunan, and I want to be a good scholar". This apparently innocent, pointless, and irrelevant comment was considered by some as a desperate and futile attempt to avoid death by confusing the executioner of his identity. It may also have reflected his lack of understanding of what was happening to him and his lost kingdom.
Despite his short reign as king, he was still issued an official seal made of jade, which is exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of History.