Hung Jen-Kan

Born 1821; died Nov. 23, 1864. An active member of the Taiping movement in China. Cousin of Hung Hsiu-ch’üan.

From 1844 to 1850, Hung was engaged in propagandizing the ideas of the Taiping movement. To avoid persecution by the authorities, he fled to Hsiang-kang (Hong Kong) when the Taiping rebellion broke out. It was only in April 1859 that he succeeded in joining the Taiping forces, and soon thereafter he was appointed prime minister of the Taiping state. In 1859 he wrote A New Essay to Help Govern, setting forth a program of reforms designed to do away with China’s technological and economic backwardness. Hung was taken prisoner by Ch’ing troops in October 1864 and was executed.