Zeng Guofan (November 26, 1811 - March 12, 1872) was originally named Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, nickname Disheng, posthumous title Wenzheng, Han nationality, and a native of Xiangxiang County, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province. An important minister in the late Qing Dynasty, the founder and commander of the Hunan Army. A military strategist, Neo-Confucianist, politician, calligrapher, and writer of the Qing Dynasty, he was the founder of the "Xiangxiang School" of prose in the late Qing Dynasty. He rose to the rank of Governor of Liangjiang, Governor of Zhili, Bachelor of Wuyingdian, and was granted the title of First-class Yiyong Marquis. In the 16th year of Jiaqing (1811), he was born into a wealthy landlord family in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Xiangxiang Township, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province (now Tianping Village, Heye Town, Shuangfeng County, Loudi City, Hunan Province). There are nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan is the eldest son. My ancestors were mainly engaged in farming and lived a relatively comfortable life in Fuhoutang (the former residence of Zeng Guofan). Although his grandfather, Zeng Yuping, had little education, he had rich experience; his father, Zeng Linshu, was a scholar at a private school. As the eldest son and grandson, Zeng Guofan naturally received the ethical education from his two ancestors.
Entered a private school at the age of 6. He was able to read eight-legged prose and recite the Five Classics at the age of 8. At the age of 14, he was able to read selected works of Zhou rites and historical records. He also participated in the Changsha Boy Examination and received excellent results, which shows that he He is talented and intelligent as a child, diligent and eager to learn. In the twelfth year of Daoguang (1832), he passed the examination as a scholar and married Ouyang Cangming's daughter. He failed the examination twice in a row, and then studied hard for a year. At the age of 28, he passed the imperial examination in the 18th year of Daoguang (1838) and passed the imperial examination. From then on, he embarked on the official career step by step. And became the proud disciple of the Minister of Military Aircraft Mu Zhang'a. During his more than ten years in Beijing, he successively served as a concubine of the Hanlin Academy, a scholar in the Hanlin Academy, a lecturer in the Imperial Academy, a cabinet minister in the Wenyuan Pavilion, a cabinet bachelor, an inspector of the affairs of the Chinese Book Department, a minister in the Ministry of Rites, and a minister in the Ministry of War, Ministry of Works, and Ministry of Punishment. , Minister of Civil Affairs and other positions, Zeng Guofan followed this official career path and was promoted to the second-rank official position step by step. Seven moves in ten years, ten levels in a row.
Wax figure In the second year of Xianfeng (1852), Zeng Guofan died at home because of his mother. At this time, the Taiping Rebellion had swept half of China. Although the Qing government mobilized a large number of Eight Banners and Green Camp officers and soldiers from all over the country to deal with the Taiping Army, this decadent armed force was vulnerable to a single blow. Therefore, the Qing government repeatedly issued orders to reward regiment training, trying to use the armed landlords in various places to curb the development of revolutionary forces. This provided an opportunity for the emergence of Zeng Guofan's Hunan Army. In the third year of Xianfeng (1853), he took advantage of the opportunity given by the Qing government to seek strength to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. He took advantage of the situation in his hometown of Hunan and relied on complex interpersonal relationships such as masters, apprentices, relatives, and friends to establish a local regiment called Hunan Army. In February 1854, the Hunan army was mobilized in full force, and Zeng Guofan published "An Appeal to the Cantonese Bandits". In this statement, he attacked the Taiping Peasants' War as "poisonous to all living beings" and said, "Thousands of years of Chinese etiquette, justice, ethics, ethics, poetry, books, and canons have all been swept away. This is not the only strange change in the Qing Dynasty. "We, Confucius and Mencius, weep bitterly in Jiuyuan for the strange changes in teaching." He then called on "all those who can read and write can sit back and relax without thinking about what they are doing." He stood on the commanding heights of morality, so he mobilized At that time, a large number of intellectuals participated in the struggle against the Taiping Army, laying a solid foundation for future victory. Zeng Guofan brutally suppressed the Taiping Rebellion and used harsh punishments. It is said in history that "one person was sent to the state magistrate and another person to supervise the bandits. If the case was serious, he would be sentenced to death, and if the light was light, he would be killed with a stick, and if the light was light, he would be whipped a thousand times. ... The case was imminent. The confession will be rectified immediately, and there will be no delay." Not only did he directly kill people, but his father and fourth brother also killed people. Some people accused him of killing too many people and called him "Zeng Shatou" and "Zeng Butcher". It is said that when a child in Nanjing cries at night, his mother will say, "Zeng is here to shave his head," and the child will stop crying. During the battle with the Taiping Army, Zeng Guofan used methods such as plundering property and appointing officials and rewards to boost morale and develop the Hunan Army's fierce nature of leading the disabled. Among the armed forces of the Qing Dynasty with backward military quality, the Hunan Army became one of the main forces fighting the Taiping Rebellion in southern China. Zeng Guofan was awarded the title of First-class Yongyi Marquis, becoming the first scholar in the Qing Dynasty to be granted the title of Wuhou. He later served as the governor of Liangjiang and the governor of Zhili, with a first-class official position.
He wrote many works in his life, but "Family Letters" is the most widely circulated and has the greatest influence. In the fifth year of Guangxu (1879), seven years after the death of Zeng Guofan, Chuanzhong Bookstore printed the "Family Letters of Zeng Wenzhenggong" edited by Li Hanzhang and Li Hongzhang. He was also good at utilizing talents, and other famous officials in the Qing Dynasty such as Zuo Zongtang and Li Hongzhang were closely related to him. Zuo Zongtang, Li Hongzhang and others called Zeng Guofan their teacher. Zeng Guofan once said, "Li Shaoquan worked hard to be an official, and Yu Yinfu (Yu Yue) worked hard to write books."
After the defeat of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the remaining Taiping Army in Jiangbei joined the Nian Army. The Qing court ordered Zeng Guofan to supervise the military affairs of Zhili, Shandong, and Henan provinces. Zeng Guofan led the Hunan Army of 20,000 and the Huai Army of 60,000, equipped with foreign guns and cannons, and went north to "suppress Nian". His policy was to "focus on greeting and suppression, not on pursuit", and proposed plans such as "key defense" in an attempt to control Nian. The army blocked the canal and Shahe areas, leaving the Nian army with nowhere to escape, and then destroyed them. However, the Nian army broke through Zeng Guofan's defense line and entered Shandong, which completely bankrupted Zeng Guofan's strategic plan. Zeng Guofan was dismissed and replaced by Li Hongzhang.
In the ninth year of Tongzhi (1870), Zeng Guofan, who was serving as governor of Zhili, was ordered to go to Tianjin to handle the Tianjin religious case. On June 21, 1870, thousands of people in Tianjin gathered in front of the French Catholic Church because they suspected that the Catholic Church was using the nursery as a prostitute to abduct people and torture and kill babies.
The French consul Feng Daye believed that the government was not serious about suppressing the government. He encountered Liu Jie, the magistrate of Tianjin, with a gun on the street. He opened fire during a dispute and killed one of Liu Jie's servants on the spot. The public was outraged and first killed Feng, the French consul in Tianjin. Daye and his secretary Simon later killed 10 nuns, 2 priests, 2 other French consulate personnel, 2 French expatriates, 3 Russian expatriates and more than 30 Chinese believers, and burned down the French consulate and Wanghailou Catholic Church. and 4 Christian churches run by local British and American missionaries. After the incident, Britain, the United States, France and other countries jointly protested and dispatched warships to show off their power. After Zeng Guofan arrived in Tianjin, he considered the situation at that time and was unwilling to go to war with France. "But he hoped for a quick peace, regardless of whether he was guilty of crime." At the request of France, he discussed and decided to execute the 18 people who led the killings and send him into military exile. 25 people, and Zhang Guangzao, the prefect of Tianjin, and Liu Jie, the county magistrate, were dismissed from their posts and sent to Heilongjiang. They compensated foreigners for their losses of 460,000 taels of silver, and Chonghou sent a mission to France to apologize. The result of this negotiation was very dissatisfying to both the imperial court and public opinion, which greatly affected Zeng Guofan's reputation and aroused the scorn of both the government and the public across the country. Even his fellow Hunan residents smashed and burned a plaque in the Huguang Guild Hall boasting of his achievements. He died of illness in Nanjing on the fourth day of February in the eleventh year of Tongzhi (Gregorian calendar: March 20, 1872). The imperial court gave him the title of Taifu, and he was given the posthumous title "Wenzheng" after his death.
Many descendants of his family have become officials, such as Zeng Jize, etc.