 Several factors contributed to the Heungseon Daewongun‘s decision to crack down on the Catholics.Perhaps the most obvious was the lesson provided by China, that it had apparently reaped nothing but hardship and humiliation from its dealing with the western powers – seen most recently in its disastrous defeat during the Second Opium War.No doubt also fresh in the Heungseon Daewongun‘s mind was the example of the Taiping Rebellion in China, which had been infused with Christian doctrines.