 In the late 1840s, Hong Xiuquan, a Hakka Chinese who had converted to Christianity, started the Taiping Rebellion which came close to replacing the Qing dynasty with a Christian Kingdom of Heavenly Peace (Taiping Tianguo).Hong had trained in the Chinese classics but failed the examinations to gain government office.Hong had read parts of the Bible in a tract by Gutzlaff's assistant, Liang Fa, but these selections did not give any basis for iconoclasm or rebellion against the Manchu government.