Three bowls of tea and rice are placed on the table.
Meat and vegetable are placed representing their reverence to God.Ma Shouling
The worship liturgy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was unique. According to Prince Zhang Lin Shaozhang (林紹璋, ?-1864), the Taipings had their distinctive worship manner due to their supplementary revelations from God.
This paper will introduce different aspects of worship in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, including liturgical furnishings (places, decorations, tables, seats), utilization of visual elements, Heavenly Calendar and festivals. I shall also describe the worship order on the day of worship (musical instruments, hymn singing, scripture reading, creed and ten commandments, preaching and evangelical meetings, prayer, firecrackers, sacraments, daily office and prayers, and rites of passage) of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Through the introduction, it is my objective to uncover the actual and ideal worship liturgy of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
This is a piece of thesis to be submitted to the Chung Chi Divinity School, Chinese University of Hong Kong. All rights reserved, for personal use only, please contact the author for other purposes.