Zeng Guofan

Life

His birthplace is given as Baiyangping in Changsha Prefecture, now Tianziping in Shuangfeng County, Loudi, Hunan. His genealogical name was Chuanyu, and he was identified as a seventieth-generation descendant of Zengzi through the southern branch of the Zeng clan.

In 1838 he passed the jinshi examination, ranked 42nd in the third class's third rank, was also described as receiving tong jinshi status, and was appointed a Hanlin Academy shujishi. In 1840 he became a Hanlin Academy examiner and was later promoted to shijiang.

His subsequent posts included chief examiner for the Sichuan provincial examination, a collator at the Wenyuan Pavilion, shijiang xueshi, shidu xueshi, an Academician of the Grand Secretariat, and vice ministers in the Boards of Rites, War, and Personnel; he served as a Sichuan provincial examiner in 1843, a co-examiner in 1845, and a Jiangxi provincial examiner in 1852.

In the early Xianfeng reign, while residing in his native place, he was ordered to assist with militia organization and soon formed the Xiang Army. In 1852 he was ordered to organize the Xiang Army to suppress the Taiping movement, becoming its founder and commander. In 1854 the army entered combat; he issued the Proclamation against the Cantonese Bandits and within several years captured major strongholds including Wuhan and Jiujiang.

After the Jiangnan field camp suffered another defeat in 1860 and the Taiping forces moved east toward Suzhou and Changzhou, the Qing court appointed him imperial commissioner and governor-general of Liangjiang to direct the Jiangnan campaign. He captured Anqing in 1861, and after the accession of the Tongzhi Emperor was placed in charge of military affairs in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, and Jiangxi.

Zeng Guoquan's assault on Tianjing, Zuo Zongtang's advance into Zhejiang, and Li Hongzhang's campaign from Shanghai against Suzhou and Changzhou were all carried out under Zeng Guofan's direction. After the Xiang Army captured Tianjing in 1864, he was made Grand Tutor to the Heir Apparent and a First-Class Marquis of Yiyong; another formulation gives the honor as Grand Protector to the Heir Apparent, and the title was also made hereditary in perpetuity. He later commanded campaigns against the Nian forces without success.

After Tianjing, the Taiping capital, fell in July 1864, large-scale killing caused many deaths and injuries; in Nanjing, Zeng Guofan and Zeng Guoquan were consequently called “Zeng the Barber” and “Zeng the Butcher,” while another explanation derives “Zeng the Barber” from Zeng Guofan's harsh discipline and the execution of men for minor offenses.

Together with Li Hongzhang he founded the Jiangnan Arsenal and, following Rong Hong's proposal, selected the first group of students to study in the United States. He later supported the Self-Strengthening efforts led by Prince Gong Yixin, encouraged locally sponsored industry, and advocated treating foreign countries through equal diplomacy.

In the seventh year of the Tongzhi reign (1868), he became governor-general of Zhili while serving as Grand Secretary of the Wuying Palace. The Tianjin Church case is dated to the ninth Tongzhi year (1870) in one chronology and to 1871 in another. In the negotiations, he had seventeen people executed and officials sent into exile in an effort to secure a compromise, and was harshly criticized for being seen as yielding to foreign pressure. He returned as governor-general of Liangjiang and died in office at Nanjing in 1872; he was posthumously granted the title Grand Tutor and given the posthumous name Wenzheng.

Thought and writing

He held that moral principle, evidential research, and literary composition were all indispensable, and throughout his life followed the Cheng–Zhu school of Neo-Confucianism.

His prose inherited the Tongcheng tradition of Fang Bao and Yao Nai while developing it, and he became a founder of the late-Qing Xiangxiang school of prose. His selections Jing Shi Bai Jia Za Chao and Shi Ba Jia Shi Chao circulated widely.

His writings and compilations included 《曾文正公家書》, 《曾文正公全集》, 《求闕齋文集》, 《詩集》, 《讀書錄》, 《日記》, 《奏議》, 《家調》, and 《求闕齋詩集》. Other titles included 《讀儀禮錄》, 《孟子要略》, 《曾文正公家訓》, 《曾文正公雜著》, 《曾文正公雜著鈔》, 《曾文正公日記》, 《求闕齋日記類鈔》, 《求闕齋日記》, and 《求闕齋讀書錄》.

Family and network

His younger brother was Zeng Guoquan (1824–1890); his eldest son was Zeng Jize (1839–1890), and his second son was Zeng Jihong (1848–1881).

His recorded friends included Yu Yue, Mo Youzhi, Wu Tingdong, He Guizhen, Li Shanlan, Shao Yichen, Jiang Zhongyuan, Wu Minshu, Mei Zengliang, and Dai Junheng.

His students included Wu Rulun, Xue Fucheng, Li Yunlin, Li Hongzhang, Wu Kunxiu, and Zhang Yuzhao; his disciples included Yu Yue, Wu Rulun, Zuo Zongtang, Li Shuchang, Huang Pengnian, Li Hongzhang, and Liu Shunian. Wu Changqing privately followed his learning, while Cheng Hongzhao, Yang Xiangji, and Zhou Tenghu served on his staff, and Zhu Kongzhang and Xiao Mu served under him.

Influence

The Xiang Army became an important support of the late-Qing regime and expanded the power and political networks of provincial commanders. Zeng Guofan was paired with Hu Linyi as “Zeng and Hu” and, with Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong, was counted among the “Four Great Late-Qing Ministers.”

His prose influenced writers of the late Qing and early Republic, including Yan Fu, Lin Shu, Tan Sitong, and Liang Qichao. In his youth Mao Zedong called Zeng Guofan the modern figure he admired above all others, while in later life he called him the most formidable figure of the landlord class; Chiang Kai-shek regarded Zeng's principles of conduct as a model for politicians, used the Zeng-Hu Military Principles as a textbook for senior officers, and kept the Complete Works of Zeng Wenzheng beside him for lifelong reading.