Abstract: Near the end of the Taiping Rebellion, in December, 1863, Li HongZhang killed Taiping captives in Suzhou, marking the destruction of the Taiping's Sunan base and facilitating the Qing government's destruction of the movement. But this event also intensified the conflicts between the foreign commander, Charles Gordon and Li, and even triggered a severe condemnation by the foreign powers. Clarifying the facts surrounding this event will make an invaluable contribution to the historical evaluation of Li Hongzhang and research into the Taiping Rebellion. There has been a great deal of research on this topic, but the author has studied the relevant historical data and has new thoughts and his reconstruction of this incident identifies the real reason for the killing．