Hong Xiuquan (1 January 1814 – 1 June 1864), born Hong Renkun, style name Huoxiu (火秀), was a Hakka Chinese who led the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing Dynasty, establishing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom over varying portions of southern China, with himself as the "Heavenly King" and self-proclaimed brother of Jesus Christ.

Hong Xiuquan's name at birth was "Hong Huoxiu", the third son of a poor Hakka family. He was born in Fuyuanshui Village, Hua County now part of Huadu District Guangzhou), Guangdong to Hong Jingyang and Madam Wang. His grandfather was Hong Guoyou, who was, like his ancestors, a farmer. He later moved to Guanlubu Village. His wife was Lai Xiying.

Hong showed an interest in scholarship at an early age, so his family made financial sacrifices to provide a formal education to him, in the hope that he could one day complete the civil service examinations. Hong started studying at a school called Book Chamber House at the age of seven. He was able to recite the Four Books after five or six years. At around the age of 15 his parents were no longer able to afford his education, so he became a tutor to children in his village and continued to study privately. He took the local preliminary civil service examinations and came first; so, at the age of 22, in 1836, he took the provincial examinations in Guangzhou. Unsurprisingly, he failed the imperial examinations, which had a pass rate of less than 1%. He retook the test four times, but never succeeded. This was partly due to being unable to secure a bribe to the examination officials.

Kang Youwei (simplified Chinese: 康有为; traditional Chinese: 康有為; pinyin: Kāng Yǒuwéi; March 19, 1858–March 31, 1927), was a Chinese scholar, noted calligrapher and prominent political thinker and reformer of the late Qing Dynasty. He led movements to establish a constitutional monarchy and was an ardent Chinese nationalist. His ideas inspired a reformation movement that was supported by the Guangxu Emperor but loathed by Empress Dowager Cixi. Although he continued to advocate for constitutional monarchy after the foundation of the Republic of China, Kang's political ideology was never put into practical application.

Kang Youwei was born on March 19, 1858 in Nanhai, Guangdong province. According to his autobiography, his intellectual gifts were recognized as a child by his uncle. Therefore, from an early age he was sent by his family to study the Confucian classics in order to pass the Chinese civil service exams. However, as a teenager he was dissatisfied by the scholastic system of his time, especially its emphasis on preparing for the eight-legged exams, which are artificial literary exercises done during examinations.