CHAPTER VI
THE MILITARY, POLITICAL, AND SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS OP THE INSURGENTS
A. The Taiping Army,
The dash and élan of the rebel army excited the admiration of Chow T'ien-chioh, governor of Kwangsi, who in 1851 addressed his colleague, the governor of Hupeh, regarding the prowess of Hung and his followers:
Hung Tsuen is a barbarian, who practices the ancient military arts. At first he conceals his strength, then he puts it forth a little, then in greater degree, and lastly comes on in great force. He constantly has two victories for one defeat, for he practices the tactics of Sun Pin.[1] The other day I obtained a book describing the organisation of one army; it is the Sze-ma system of the Chow dynasty.[2] A division has its general of division; a regiment has its colonel [literally, a Sze has its sze shwae, a leu has its leu shwae]. An army consists of 13,270 men, being the strength of an ancient army with the addition of upward of a hundred men.[3]
Their forces are divided into nine armies, in accordance with the system of nine degrees in the tribute of Yu.[4] In this book is specifically described the first army, that of Grand Generalissimo Hung; and it states at the end, that all the other nine armies are to be arranged and organised in the same manner.