GUANWEN (Xiufeng).
Biographical sketches and incidents of the Taipin [Taiping] Rebellion. Extracted from the Chinese of Kuan-Wen, late Viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan and subsequently First Minister at Pekin.
VERY RARE
Most of the Western accounts of the Taiping Rebellion centre on the efforts of “Chinese Gordon” and his “Ever Victorious Army”. Very few contemporary records exist from the Chinese perspective on this brutal conflict which left over 20 million dead. The author Guan Wen (1798-1871), was a high-ranking Manchu official (he was made Grand Secretary in 1861) and military general who was considered a brilliant commander and strategist. His biographies of Hong Xiuquan (1814-1864) (“Dynastic writers assert that, when born, he displayed symptoms of idiotcy [sic]”), and other leaders of the Taiping rebels, provides a fascinating insight into Chinese historiography. The book by Guanwen referred to in the title is the Ping ding yue fei ji lüe, edited by Du Wenlan and published in Beijing in 1871. Very rare and early Kelly Shanghai imprint. Only one copy in OCLC (Yale).
