Learn about the Taiping Rebellion with this clip from The Story of China. The Taiping Rebellion affected a large area of China between 1850 and 1864, cost millions of lives, and had the potential to overthrow the Qing dynasty. In 1851, Hong Xiuquan's Taiping army swept across China towards Nanjing, which fell in 1853 and became the Taiping capital. The Taipings called for a new type of society, with common property and equal status for men and women, and banned footbinding, prostitution and gambling, as well as opium, tobacco and alcohol.