Remains of Shi Dakai’s Former Residence

　　    Shi Dakai, a native of Nabang Village in Beishanxia Li (now Qishi Township, Guigang City), joined the anti-Qing revolutionary movement organized by Feng Yunsan in the late Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty. He organized a God Worshipping Society group in the Qishi and Longshan areas. In September 1850, Shi Dakai swore to rise against the Qing and arrived at Jintian. In 1851, he participated in the Jintian Uprising of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He led the Left Army as its commander general at the age of 20, and in the first year of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom’s Xin Kai era (1851), he was appointed as the Wing King.

　　    Remains and sites related to Shi Dakai include: the site of Shi Dakai’s former residence in Nabang Village, the martial arts training ground behind Nabang Village, the horse racing field on Kelian Mountain, the ancestral tomb of Shi Dakai, the Worshiping Plaza, Worshiping Mountain, the tombstone of Shi Dakai’s great-grandmother erected in the winter of the 20th year of the Daoguang era (discovered in 1933, currently housed in East Lake Park), and the Stele Record of the Construction of the Ferryboat (discovered in 1979, now preserved in East Lake Park).

　　Shi Dakai (1831～1863)　　    Shi Dakai (1831–1863), nicknamed Yada and also known as Shi Gandang, was a Hakka from Guixian (now Guigang) in Guangxi. He was a renowned general of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and a well-known military strategist, politician, and martial arts master in modern China. Initially appointed as the “Commander General of the Left Army and Wing King,” during the Tianjing Incident he was further titled “Commander General of the Holy Divine Electric United Army and Wing King.” Both the military and civilians revered him as the “Righteous King” (though he humbly declined the title). Shi Dakai is one of the most legendary figures of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. At the age of sixteen he was “discovered and called to action,” at nineteen he commanded thousands of troops, and at twenty he was made a king. He was martyred at just thirty-two years old. His military achievements were numerous, and he was victorious in battle time and again, scoring major wins over the Xiang Army such as the victory at Hukou and the victory at Zhangshuzhen... Details+