Imperial forces overwhelm the last the pockets…

Imperial forces overwhelm the last the pockets of Taiping resistance by the end of 1865.

Much of the once prosperous areas of China lie in ruins and desolation, and millions have died during the course of the rebellion that shakes the Qing dynasty profoundly.

Under the Taipings, the Chinese language had been simplified, and equality between men and women was decreed.

All property was to be held in common, and equal distribution of the land according to a primitive form of communism was planned.

Some Western-educated Taiping leaders had even proposed the development of industry and the building of a Taiping democracy. (The Qing dynasty has been so weakened by the rebellion that it will never again be able to establish an effective hold over the country. Both the Chinese Communists and the Chinese Nationalists trace their origin to the Taipings.)