Hong Tianguifu

Hong Tianguifu (23 November 1849 – 18 November 1864) was the second and last king of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. He is popularly referred to as the Junior Lord (幼主). Officially, like his father Hong Xiuquan, he was the King of Heaven (天王). To differentiate, he is also called the Junior King of Heaven (幼天王).

History
Hong succeeded his father at fourteen. He was not respected like his father by the kingdom's princes and was spoken of poorly. In Li Xiucheng's autobiography, written shortly before Li's execution, Hong was described as "inexperienced", "spoiled" and "incapable". Hong also never rode a horse, which was essential for leaders and commanders in wars.

Four months after Hong's coronation, the Qing government captured Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping rebels. Hong escaped to Dongba, Jiangsu in July 1864 and rendezvoused with his uncle Hong Rengan. They first went to Guangde County, Anhui, before heading to the town of Huzhou, Zhejiang on 13 August 1864, where they rendezvoused with the local Taiping Army commander Huang Wenjin (黃文金). The Qing government sent Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang to attack the town. The Taiping Army commander in charge of defending the southern gate of the town, Chen Xueming (陳學明), surrendered on 26 August 1864. Hong Tianguifu, Hong Rengan and Huang Wenjin were forced to flee from the town next day, under the cover of night. Huang Wenjin soon died of his wounds. The rest of the survivors attempted to escape to the border region of Jiangxi and Fujian to join the remnant Taiping forces led by Li Shixian. However, on 9 October 1864, they were ambushed by the Qing army at Shicheng. Hong Tianguifu escaped to the mountains near Shicheng after his token force was wiped out, but he was caught on 25 October 1864 by Qing soldiers searching for him. Hong Rengan was captured and subsequently executed on 23 November 1864 at Nanchang, Jiangxi.

While being escorted by guards, Hong Tianguifu had a conversation with a Qing army soldier named Tang Jiatong. Hong first talked about his relationship with his father and others. He said that the old things of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom were done by his father and Hong Renxuan. "It has nothing to do with me, even after stepping on the road, I did nothing that is unfavorable to the Qing dynasty. Those who resisted the Qing Empire were shattered by the king, Zhongwang and others." After the second day of writing a poem praising the Qing dynasty, he was executed by slow slicing on 18 November 1864 at the age of 14.

A glimpse of Hong Tianguifu's character can be seen by his remarks before his execution: "Guangdong is not a nice place, I do not want to go back in. I just want to study with Old Master Tang in Hunan, and I want to be a good scholar". This apparently innocent, pointless, and irrelevant comment was considered by some as a desperate and futile attempt to avoid death by confusing the executioner of his identity. It may also have reflected his lack of understanding of what was happening to him and his lost kingdom.

Despite his short reign as king, he was still issued an official seal made of jade, which is exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of History.

Hong Tianguifu's name is unusual in that it contains a three-character given name, whereas almost all Chinese given names have only one or two characters.