NANJING, June 23, 2002 — As I ordered dinner today, I noticed a long string of Chinese characters on the window of the restaurant and felt certain they constituted the name of the place. I asked a friend to translate the inscription. She struggled for a few moments and finally said, "The name of this restaurant is 'The King from the Sky.'" Intrigued by this name, I asked for an explanation, and this is what I learned:

In the mid-19th century occurred the greatest uprising of peasants in Chinese history. It was called the Taiping (peaceful) Revolution and, like other revolutions, it was led by a more privileged and better-educated class than typified the peasantry. Moreover, it became not a peaceful revolution but soon developed into an aggressive war machine whose aim was to overthrow the ruling Qing dynasty.

Christian missionaries had educated Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the revolt, as well as his initial followers. This group of Chinese zealots established in Nanjing a government entitled the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-1868) and prepared for war against the Qing. Hong, as the self-styled 'Son of God', was the ruler. In what was an obvious theft of Christian theology, Hong replaced Jesus. It was this history that gave the restaurant its name, 'The King from the Sky'.