Foreign Barbarians or Foreign Brothers: the Taiping Perception of the Western Others and the Christianization of Culturalism

This article examines a case of Christianized pre-modern Chinese nationalism. Among the studies of historical Chinese identity, a concept exists: culturalism. It refers to the notion that the identity of being Chinese was based on the cultivation of Chinese cultural norms. The author explores how culturalist rationale and Sino-centric perspectives are articulated in a language influenced by Christianity via the lens of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). While Westerners were commonly depicted as inferior ‘barbarians’ or ‘foreign demons’ in late imperial China, the Protestant-influenced Taiping ideology reconfigured this image. On one hand, the Taiping embraced a universal family under God, regarding Westerners, their Christian counterparts, as foreign brothers. On the other hand, they simultaneously retained a Sino-centric narrative that portrayed these foreign brothers as inferior and in need of education. For the Taipings, Chinese superiority was expressed through Christian-influenced language. This inherent tension underscores the complexities of the Taiping Rebellion, which was simultaneously driven by radical innovations inspired by Protestantism and entrenched traditional Chinese cultural values.