Site of the Dacheng Kingdom's Royal Palace

Site of the Dacheng Kingdom's Royal Palace

The Site of the Dacheng Kingdom's Royal Palace is a cultural relic protection unit of Guiping City.

Site of the Dacheng Kingdom's Royal Palace

The Site of the Dacheng Kingdom's Royal Palace is located within the central campus of Guiping Town at Guiping City, now part of the urban area of Guiping. It was the site of the governmental institution of the peasant regime established by the Dacheng Army, led by Chen Kai and Chen Wenmao, after the Jintian Uprising marched northward during the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty.

After the Jintian Uprising in 1851, people across the regions responded en masse. In June 1854, Chen Kai, a boatman from Heshan County in Guangdong, led an armed uprising in Foshan. He joined forces with over 50 boats, including those of Cantonese opera artist Li Wenmao, and sailed up the Pearl River. Along with Liang Peiyou, Wu Bai, and Wu County, they occupied the estuary of the Da Huang River, besieged the Xunzhou Prefecture city (now Guiping County), and on August 16, 1855, captured Xunzhou. They captured Liu Tishu, the prefect of Xunzhou, and Li Qingfu, the magistrate of Guiping, among others. They established the Dacheng Kingdom in Xunzhou, adopting the reign title Hongde, and used the former Xunzhou prefectural yamen as the Dacheng Kingdom’s Royal Palace (now the central school of Guiping Town), renaming Xunzhou to Xiujing and Guiping County to Yongxiu County. Chen Kai, initially titled the King of Zhenan, later became the King of Pingxun, also known as the King of Hongde. Liang Peiyou was titled the King of Pingdong, Ou Run the King of Pingxi, Liang Dachang the King of Dingbei, and Yao Xinchang the Grand Marshal of the Northern Route. They implemented new fiscal and economic measures, levied taxes, and minted coins called “Hongde Tongbao” and “Pingjing Shengbao.”

The Xiujing Royal Palace of the Dacheng Kingdom originally had a main hall, with a 100-meter-long, 2-meter-wide pathway facing east. The pathway featured stepped platforms for civil and military officials to pay homage, along with stone staircases and a cloud ladder, and two large stone lions placed on either side of the palace gate. In addition to fortifying the palace city, they built artillery batteries along the banks of the Qian and Yu rivers, installing several large iron cannons, with hundreds of warships moored on the river. They also replaced the couplet on the stone pillars of the old City God Temple with: “It is all because there is a temple that governs the changes of yin and yang, resounding with divine power; the city restored above the moat discerns good and evil, clearly manifesting retribution.” These iron cannons and couplets, along with other relics, were preserved until they were successively destroyed during the Great Leap Forward’s steel-smelting campaign in 1958 and the Cultural Revolution in 1966.

Chen Kai (1822–1861), a native of Heshan County, Guangdong. In his childhood, he came from a poor family and made a living by cutting grass for fish farming and working for others with his father. Later, after the early deaths of his parents, he went to Foshan in his teens to work as a shop assistant at Tongmao General Store, opened by his fellow townsman Feng Riri in Taipingfang. Initially highly regarded by the shop owner, he was later dismissed because he often associated with local secret societies, which made the owner fear being implicated. Thereafter, Chen Kai made a living as a carpenter, floating timber rafts, and rowing boats.

During the Qing Dynasty, there was a rural secret organization in the south called the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society), active in the southeastern provinces, also known as the Hongmen. Chen Kai “had long been fond of associating with the jianghu (martial world)... More details about Chen Kai ++

Li Wenmao (?–1858), a native of Heshan County, Guangdong, was one of the main leaders of the Guangdong Tiandihui uprising during the Taiping Rebellion period. Originally a renowned Cantonese opera artist, he enjoyed fame on stages in Guangzhou and Foshan.

The Tiandihui, also known as the Sanhehui, was a large-scale secret society during the Qing Dynasty. During the Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng reigns, Guangdong was the center of its activities. It advocated for “overthrow the Qing and restore the Ming.”

In July of the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Li Wenmao initiated an uprising in the northern suburbs of Guangzhou, joined forces with Gan Xian who had risen in Yahu, and established... More details about Li Wenmao ++

Liang Peiyou (?–1875), from Shangsheng Toutouqiao, Gula Town, Heshan County, Guangdong Province. He joined the Tiandihui early on and became the leader of the Tiandihui on the Xijiang River.

In March 1855, he joined forces with the Hong soldiers led by Chen Kai and Li Wenmao in Zhaoqing. In mid-May, after being attacked by Qing troops, the three led over 40,000 troops, abandoned the city, and retreated upstream on more than a thousand boats. Along the way, they repelled pursuing Qing forces. Upon entering Guangxi, they attacked Wuzhou, captured Teng County, passed through Pingnan, arrived in Xunzhou, where anti-Qing forces in the vicinity flocked to join them, greatly strengthening their army. They established the Dacheng Kingdom, with Liang titled the King of Pingdong. In March 1875, while traveling from Daniao Market in Pingnan to Liao... More details about Liang Peiyou ++

Yao Xinchang (1827–1866), originally named Yao Dayu, was from Luoxiu Hantang Village (now Xintong Village). Orphaned at the age of eight, he was raised by his aunt and began working as a child laborer for landlords at the age of 12.

At that time, Guangxi suffered consecutive natural disasters, corrupt governance, and a people’s livelihood in despair. The Taiping Rebellion and Tiandihui rose in rebellion. In the spring of 1854 (the fourth year of Xianfeng), Yao Xinchang and his kinsmen Yao Daguang (nickname Yao Lanshi) and Yao Daying (Yao Shiliu) initiated the Tiandihui in Zhonghe and Zhongduan, gathering a troop of over a hundred people. Using Dongxin Village as their base, they led attacks on landlords’ fortified villages... More details about Yao Xinchang ++