Hong Tianguifu

Hong Tianguifu , also called Hong Tiangui and in Qing historical record, Hong Futian , was the second and last of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping. He is popularly referred to as the Junior Lord . Officially, like his father Hong Xiuquan, he was the King of Heaven . To differentiate, he is also called the Junior King of Heaven .

Hong succeeded his father at sixteen and was not respected like his father by the princes, and he was spoken of lowly. In ''Zhong Prince Li Xiucheng Describes Himself'' , the autobiographical account of a prince of the Heavenly Kingdom written shortly before his , Hong Tianguifu was described as "inexperienced," "spoiled," and "incapable." Also, Hong Tianguifu never rode a horse, which was essential for leaders and commanders in wars.

Four months after his coronation, Nanjing, the capital of Taiping rebels were captured by Qing Dynasty. Hong Tianguifu escaped to Eastern Dam , Jiangsu in July, 1864, rendezvoused with his uncle, Hong Rengan , Gan Prince . After going to Guangde County, Anhui first, they went to the town of Huzhou, Zhejiang on August 13, 1864 to rendezvous with the local Taiping Army commander Huang Wenjin . Imperial Chinese Qing Dynasty sent Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang to attack the city, and Chen Xueming , the Taiping army commander in charge of defending the southern gate of the town surrendered on August 26, 1864. Hong Tianguifu, Hong Rengan and Huang Wenjin were forced to flee from the town next day, under the cover of darkness at night, and Huang Wenjin soon died of his wounds. The rest of the survivors attempted to escape to the border region of Jiangxi, Guangdong and Fujian to join the remanent of Taiping forces led by Li Shixian , but on October 9, 1864, they were ambushed by the Imperial Chinese army at Stone Town and Hong Rengan was captured and subsequently excuted on November 23, 1864 at Nanchang , Jiangxi. Hong Tianguifu escaped to the mountains near Stone Town after his token force was wiped out, but he got caught on October 25, 1864 by Qing soldiers searching for him and was subsequently executed on November 18, 1864 at the age of sixteen.

A glimpse of Hong Tianguifu's character can be seen by his remarks before his execution: "Guangdong isn't a nice place, I don't want to go back. I only want to study with Old Master Tang in Hunan, then become a first-degree scholar." This apparently innocent, pointless and irrelevant comment was considered by some as a desperate and futile attempt to avoid his untimely death by fooling the executioner into confusing his identity. It may have been his utter lack of understanding of what was happening to him, and to his lost kingdom.

Despite the short time he was a king, he was issued an official jade , which is an exhibit in the Hong Kong Museum of History .

Hong Tianguifu's name is unique, in that it contains a three- given name, whereas almost all have just one or two characters.