The book
Chinas Taiping Rebellion occurred between 1845 to 1864 and, as a result, has created a huge interest in terms of research. Many novelists have written their own versions of how the story occurred with different stylistic methods. The author of "God" Chinese son: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan is in no way different. The manner in which the story has been interpreted is in a holistic narrative approach whereby the author avoids s the use of the theoretical framework. The author narrates the tumulus beginnings of the port city of Canton in the early 1830s and then progressively adds the increasingly complex layers of the economic, political, religious and of course the cultural issues. The author does not intend to interpret the happenings of the time however, the kinds of sources that have been used depict that the author had taken time to conduct their research as the sources depict the heavenly visions, the scriptural reinterpretations and the biblical translations. The historical figures in the book speak for themselves, and it is through the author’s narrative style that the readers are able to draw their own conclusions about the movement of the Taiping rebellion.
Through the chronicle style of the author, the readers are able to gain an illumination of how the Taiping movement gained its momentum. The author initializes the book by the use the description of awed settled foreigners in Canton who practice a lucrative business of the opium trade. However, the author also expresses the government of Qing disillusionment and anger towards the foreign lucrative and exploitative business. Additionally, the author has shown the various instances of the many disagreements of the local populations with the foreigners and the almost visible divisions between the Chinese and the Christians as the Christians invited the persecution of the Chinese convert. Additionally, ethnic tensions also are depicted in the groups that consisted the Manchu Qing government.
The book "God" Chinese son: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan treats the visions of Hong, Yang and Xiao as realities. This is a reality in that Hong perceived the visions as a reality as well. At the beginning of the Taiping movement, the author shows that there are religious implications that arose from the advice that Yang and Xiao gave to Hong. In the book, as the army grew, the voices of Jesus, and God spoke respectively to Xiao and to yang. This led the two leaders to announce their commitment to ensuring that the individuals who broke the commandments were punished. There are a few instances of tension when the power that Xiao had immersed seemed to be outgrowing that power that Yang had and it was during the battle that Xiao was wounded. This did not result in death, but a series of heavenly visions happened to Xiao. It is during the time that Xiao was wounded that Jesus spoke through him. This led to the conclusion that God had given him super visionary powers and thus had promoted him to be above the other kings in the earthly Taiping hierarchy.
The film
The movie, ‘The Warlords’, is a movie that is based on a historical drama that is perceived to have occurred in the eighteenth century. This was during the Taiping rebellion. This rebellion according to the movie arose as a result of the assassination of a general who ruled at the time. The movie has been directed in a manner that shows dramatic relationships between three brothers and masterful battle scenes. The three brothers include Qing Yun, Er-hu, and Zhang Wen-Xiang. The contextual of the movie is set in time that there is turmoil in china due to the expansion of European colonialism in the land. This can be summarized as a shift in the powers of the world. From the film, it was evident that for a long period, the rulers of the Chinese people had a negative view of the goods that the Europeans sold and had placed trade restrictions on them. The war that arose, The Opium War, was as a result of the need to open trade, and it is the Chinese who lost the war horribly. In the movie, some historical parts are referenced. Additionally, there are lots of moral dilemmas that the characters in the movie are faced with. In the movie, one of the typescripts has an affair with a lady of his blood brother. The problem arises when he realizes that the love is not only passionate but also has a deep true connection. This leads the village into war thereby causing lots of sufferings. All the time, this individual has great feelings for the people of the society and ensures that the people get a more compassionate and brighter future as his brother also envisions. The reality is that the individual keeps getting despaired as time goes by and once the reality sets in that the Qing government is very corrupt. His brilliance is depicted as a general when he wins all the battles however, this is lost once his brothers realize that he betrayed them and he was killed by the same government that he had done almost everything for. The movie also shows the difference in the fighting strategies in that the main characters were very effective in the hand-to-hand combat; however, they could be defeated by the use of the slightest technology. This can be interpreted as fighting a losing battle with technology. The Europeans had way much better weapons in terms of guns, and this gave them a better
Similarities
Both the book, "God" Chinese son: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan” and the movie, ‘The Warlords have different instances of similarities. One of the major similarities is the contextual historical background that the story and the movie are based upon. Both the movie and the story are based on the historical concept of the Taiping Rebellion. The issues that are raised in the book that resulted in the war are the same as the issues raised in the movie. The reasons include the feelings that the European community was exploiting the Chinese community in terms of the products that they sold. The other reason is that some few individual thought that they could exploit the others without having any retaliation. The second similarity is the evidence of the Opium wars. The fact that in the book, Hong Xiuquan , is seen as a leader who is leading revolution of the Opium Wars, there was need to ensure that an individual of the same character is introduced to the film. Loyalty and goodwill are another similarities that is despicable to the movie watcher or the individual reviewing the movie.
During the war plagued 19th era in the late Qing dynasty China, three kinsmen will become blood brothers and execrate to be true to each other, notwithstanding all the political disturbances and unrest around them. Surroundings evolve as years pass, and the brotherhood eventually culminates in tragedy. The other similarity that is present in both the book and the film is the rules of marriage that are constant all through. In both works, men and women were separated even if they were married. One had to have victory over the personal demons so that you could be allowed to make love. In both instances, there was an exception in that the leaders of Taiping had the chance of making love. In terms of religion, it is evident that the works in this context depict societies that were very religious. The societies even as far as believing that human beings can be gods. One of the three leaders(Hong Xiuquan), had made it compulsory in the issue of attending worshiping, if an individual failed, the whole team has to come back. Another similarity is the traditions that are depicted in the need to combat the brutality that the state had done to the people when they tried to dispel the individuals calling for freedom. In the book, the people who wanted to be free were even murdered while in the film, the individual who rebelled against the government were killed. In the film, there is an instance whereby a person is killed by assassins from the government that he had once worked loyally for it. In the book, Xiao was supposedly killed so that he could be the overall overseer of the people of China. The use of the three brothers can be used as a similarity to the three kings found in the book. The main smarty can be said to be that of the extremism in terms of Muslims or Christianity.
In terms of the differences, there are numerous from the book. One of the main alterations is how the book has been set up. An introduction is given a detailed attention as this section of the film may set the perception of the whole movie. The difference arises when one uses imagery as a way of communicating while the other uses a narrative stylistic way of communicating. The other main difference is the characters used in the book and the film. In the book, the characters had to reveal their true identical names while, in the film, the individual are also planned priority.
Another major difference is the issue of romantic relationships. In the book, "God" Chinese son: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan, there are very few instances when the women met men for some time. The only other problem is that in the book, the narration has to be precise and believable in that they are now not newsmakers. In the film, however, there would be no need to ensure that the issues of relationships are kept only to the minimal in that the romantic relationship increases sales of the movie. There are no relationships in the book apart from the relationships that the main characters to appear in the book. The relationship that an individual has is also completed with a choice of either following your husband to the grave.
Conclusions
It has been evident that the "God" Chinese son: the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan and the Warlords is a movie that are based both on the similarities and the differences. The main issue arose in the eighteenth century is vital in that there were a competition and the players and the stakeholders in the market. One of the major similarities is the contextual historical background that the story and the movie are based upon. The extremism of the Taiping rebellion was directed towards the outside. Its aim was to change the world according to the understanding and expectations of Taiping Christianity. The fact that Europe conquered some [arts of china is perfected very highly commander. The differences that the works cited may have may include the all the other sources that have been used in the research of the said paper. Finally, the issue of religion should not be used as a way to ensure that there is a form of separation and that there is a need for individuals to teach tolerance amongst ourselves. I feel that the individuals who made the film and the should have taken more time to find out information regarding to the need to have a proper research on the beginning of the Taiping movement, the author shows that there are religious implications that arose from the advice that Yang and Xiao gave to Hong. In the book, as the army grew, the voices of Jesus, and God spoke respectively to Xiao and to yang
Works cited
The Warlords. Peter Chan. Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei. Touchstone, 2007. DVD.
Spence, Jonathan D. God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavently Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997. Print.
