The Taiping Rebellion was one of the costliest civil wars in human history. Tens of millions of people lost their lives as Chinese rebels, imperial armies, and local militias clashed across the Yangzi Delta. Although the Rebellion has been studied from a variety of perspectives, we know little about how ordinary people coped with the enormous destruction. In What Remains: Coming to Terms with Civil War in Nineteenth-Century China, Tobie Meyer-Fong draws on a rich array of primary sources to discover how individuals, families, and communities grappled with fundamental questions of loyalty and loss as they struggled to rebuild shattered cities, bury the dead, and make sense of the horrors that they had witnessed. At a National Committee on U.S.-China Relations program on October 10, 2013 in New York City, Tobie Meyer-Fong discussed the cultural, social, and emotional impact of the Taiping Rebellion.

• published: 15 Oct 2013
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