00:00Did you know one failed exam started a war that killed more people than all of World War I?
00:05His name was Hong Shukuan.
00:07He spent years studying for China's imperial exam, the test that decided your entire future.
00:12He failed it four times.
00:14After the fourth failure, he collapsed.
00:17He had visions.
00:18Vivid, terrifying, impossible visions.
00:21When he came back to himself, he was certain of one thing.
00:24He was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, sent by God to cleanse China of demons and build a heavenly
00:30kingdom on earth.
00:31People believed him.
00:33Thousands.
00:34Then, tens of thousands.
00:36Then, millions.
00:37By the 1850s, Hong had an army.
00:40He seized cities.
00:41He declared a new nation in the heart of China.
00:44The Qing Dynasty nearly fell.
00:46The fighting lasted 14 years.
00:48When it was finally over, somewhere between 20 and 30 million people were dead.
00:52More than any war Europe had ever seen.
00:55And almost nobody in the Western world knows it happened.
00:58All of it started with one man who just wanted to pass a test.
