The Hundred Secret Senses

In The Hundred Secret Senses, Amy Tan grounds the supernatural elements of Kwan’s past-life narrative in the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), one of the deadliest civil wars in human history. The book shows the circular nature of time. Kwan speaks about the Taiping Rebellion as though it happened only yesterday, revealing how the present is shaped by the past, often repeating it. Kwan’s stories collapse the distance between centuries, suggesting that history is not something left behind but something continually lived. In this way, Tan uses Kwan’s voice to highlight how people and communities carry forward not only the facts of history but also its emotional textures, its unresolved griefs, and its unfinished desires.

The Taiping Rebellion was initiated by Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka visionary who, after failing the imperial examinations and experiencing a nervous breakdown, declared himself the younger brother of Jesus Christ. His mission was to overthrow the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and establish the Taiping Tianguo, or “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace.” The movement attracted millions of followers, particularly from the marginalized Hakka ethnic group, with its promises of land reform, gender equality, and the eradication of opium. 

In the novel, Kwan’s past self, Nunumu, is a Hakka bandit who proudly joins the rebellion as part of the “army of the Heavenly King” in the struggle for Great Peace. Her commitment mirrors that of real Hakka communities who viewed the rebellion as a chance to rise from centuries of discrimination. For many Hakka, the Taiping cause offered religious transcendence, social mobility, and the promise of justice. Tan draws on this history to enrich Nunumu’s motivations: she is not simply swept along by events but participates in what she sees as a righteous, almost sacred struggle.

The rebellion’s historical complexities are reflected in the character of General Cape, who is based on the American mercenary Frederick Townsend Ward. Ward initially offered his services to the Taiping rebels before leading the “Ever Victorious Army” on behalf of the Qing government. This historical betrayal is mirrored in the novel when Nunumu learns that General Cape, who rallied the Hakka, had allied with the Manchus. 

With a death toll of more than 20 million, the rebellion represents a period of immense national trauma. Its religious ideology, which blended Christianity with Chinese millenarian traditions, also reshaped cultural identity and contributed to lasting debates about orthodoxy and spiritual authority in Chinese history (Wills, Matthew. “Taiping: China’s nineteenth-Century Civil War.” JSTOR Daily, 2024). Tan draws on these broader historical consequences to give Kwan a worldview steeped in catastrophe and renewal. 

Kwan often speaks as though suffering is a prelude to transformation, a perspective that arises naturally from someone whose remembered life was marked by both devastation and visionary hope. Her belief in ghosts, reincarnation, and the permeability of past and present reflects the spiritual hybridity that characterized the Taiping movement, where visions, prophecy, and divine communication were foundational elements. Tan uses the Taiping Rebellion not merely as historical setting but as a shaping force that informs Kwan’s identity, values, and understanding of fate.