[citation needed] On 19 July 1864, six weeks after Hong's coronation, the Qing government captured Tianjing, the capital of the Taiping rebels.

The Taiping Army commander in charge of defending the southern gate of the town, Chen Xueming (陳學明), surrendered on 26 August 1864.

The rest of the survivors attempted to escape to the border region of Jiangxi and Fujian to join the remnant Taiping forces led by Li Shixian.

Hong Tianguifu escaped to the mountains near Shicheng after his token force was wiped out, but he was caught on 25 October 1864 by Qing soldiers searching for him.

[citation needed] While being escorted by guards, Hong Tianguifu had a conversation with a Qing army soldier named Tang Jiatong.

(Chinese: 太平天国的那些旧事全是我父亲和洪仁轩干的， 坐江山的也是他，跟我有什么关系，即使我在登基之后，也没有做出任何对清朝不利的事情，那些反抗清朝的事都是干王、忠王等人做的。) After the second day of writing a poem praising the Qing dynasty, he was executed by slow slicing on 18 November 1864 at the age of 14.

[2] Despite his short reign as king, he was still issued an official seal made of jade (玉璽; yù xǐ), which is exhibited in the Hong Kong Museum of History.