Taiping Heavenly Kingdom History Museum
The Taiping Kingdom History Museum (Chinese: 太平天国历史博物馆) is a museum in Nanjing about the Taiping Rebellion (1851–1864). It sits inside Zhan Yuan Garden, a historic garden in Nanjing.
The surrounding garden was once Enthusiasm Garden, part of the Ming Dynasty’s Hongwu Emperor's domain, and in 1853 it became the residence of Yang Xiuqing, a Taiping military leader. During the rebellion, Nanjing was captured by the Taiping and served as their headquarters until 1864, when Qing forces recaptured the city in the Third Battle of Nanjing.
The museum opened in 1958. It displays Taiping artifacts such as currency, weapons, uniforms, and documents about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s ideology, which was based on a unique form of Christianity. Hong Xiuquan led the movement, believed he was Christ’s younger brother, and claimed to be commanded by God to overthrow China’s Manchu rulers, whom he described as demons.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 16:37 (CET).