Shi DakaiArticle Free Pass Shi Dakai, Wade-Giles romanization
Shih Ta-k’ai (born March 1831, Guixian, Guangxi province,
China—died June 25, 1863, Chengdu, Sichuan province), one of the
leaders of the Taiping Rebellion, the widespread uprising that
gripped South China between 1850 and 1864. The most literate of
the Taipings, Shi was an avowed enemy of the alien Qing (Manchu)
rulers of China. In the early part of the 20th century, he came
to be revered as a hero of the Chinese nationalist rebellion
against foreign domination. As one of the original five Taiping
rebel leaders, Shi assumed the title of yiwang (“assistant
king”). In 1856, when the eastern king Yang Xiuqing attempted to
usurp the throne of the supreme Taiping leader, Hong Xiuquan
(1814–64), the northern king Wei Changhui was recalled by Hong
from Jiangxi to kill Yang. The northern king killed not only
Yang but thousands of his adherents and relatives as well. When
Shi objected to the slaughter, the northern king plotted to kill
him, but Shi discove