Zuo Zongtang

Zuo Zongtang

Zuo Zongtang (November 10, 1812 - September 5, 1885), Han nationality, was a farmer in upper Hunan Province. He is from Xiangyin, Hunan Province. In the late Qing Dynasty, statesman, militarist, national hero, one of the representatives of the Westernization Movement, together with Zeng Guofan and others, were called "four famous officials of the late Qing Dynasty's resurgence".

Zuo Zongtang once studied in Chengnan Academy of Changsha. At the age of 20, he won the provincial examination. Although he failed many times in the examination, he paid attention to farming, read many books, and studied geography and the art of war. Later, he rose from Muyou to take part in the pacification of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, the Westernization Movement, and the suppression of the Nien army. He also presided over the pacification of Shaanxi and Gansu, the restoration of Xinjiang, and the promotion of the establishment of Xinjiang province. During this period, he successively served as the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, the governor of Liangjiang, the official to Dongge, the military minister, and the second Marquis of kejing. During the Sino French war, he was invited to Fujian to supervise the division. He died in Fuzhou in 1885. He was 73 years old. The Qing court bestowed the posthumous title of "Wenxiang" on Taifu, which was incorporated into Zhaozhong temple and Xianliang temple.

Zuo Zongtang wrote the military camp system of Chu and the agricultural book of Pu cunge. His manuscript and documents were compiled as the complete works of Zuo wenxianggong in the late Qing Dynasty and the complete works of Zuo Zongtang after the founding of the people's Republic of China. (overview chart source)

Life of the characters

Farmers in Xiangshang

Master data:

The first Opium War

、

Nanjing Treaty

Zuo Zongtang was born on November 10, 1812 in zuojiayu, Xiangyin County, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province. He is wise in nature and less ambitious. In 1816 (the 21st year of Jiaqing), he went to Changsha with his father Zuo Guanlan to study. In 1827 (the seventh year of Daoguang), he took the second place in the Changsha government examination. In the same year, he gave up the hospital examination because his mother was seriously ill, and soon her mother died. During the period of Ding you, he began to study the theory of statecraft and practical application at least from 1829 (the ninth year of Daoguang). He studied the famous works related to Chinese history, geography, military, economy, water and other contents, such as the compilation of emperor's statecraft, the book on the benefits of the world's prefectures and countries, the book on reading history He was regarded as the most precious treasure by the public opinion summary and the outline of waterways, which played a great role in his later war, administration and financial management.

In 1830, Zuo Zongtang lost his father. He Changling, a famous pragmatic official and practical scholar, visited Changsha during his father's worry period. He Changling "treated him as a statesman".

In 1831 (the 11th year of Daoguang), he entered Chengnan Academy of Changsha to study. He Xiling, the younger brother of he Changling, was a teacher of Zuo Zongtang at that time. He was very fond of his disciple, saying that he was "outstanding and self-supporting, but he really got something from his studies". Later, the teachers and students also formed a family. In the same year, Zuo Zongtang joined the Xiangshui school established in Changsha by Wu Rongguang, governor of Hunan Province. He studied hard and got excellent results. In this year's examination, he ranked first seven times.

In 1832 (the 12th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang took part in the rural examination held in Changsha, the provincial capital. He won the honor of being the first person in the "search for cultural relics". However, in the following six years, he went to Beijing for the examination three times, and none of them was as good as the second. Zuo Zongtang failed to follow the "right path" to become an official when he was frustrated in the imperial examination. However, he devoted himself more to the study of managing the world, and his ambition and ability were appreciated and respected by many celebrities including he brothers. In the same year, Zuo Zongtang married Zhou yiduan.

In 1833 (the 13th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang went to Beijing for the first time to attend the examination and made an appointment with Hu Linyi in Beijing. He wrote a series of poems about the situation in Xinjiang.

In 1835 (the 15th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang went to the conference examination again and was ranked the 15th in Hunan Province. Unexpectedly, he was withdrawn because of the excess, and was only taken as "transcribed". Unwilling to give in, Zuo Zongtang abandoned his job and returned home. With the help of Mrs. Zhou, he devoted himself to the study of public opinion.

In 1836 (the 16th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang met Tao Shu, governor of Liangjiang, when he was lecturing at Lujiang Academy in Liling, Hunan Province. In 1838 (the 18th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang returned to his hometown for the third time. On his way home, he met Tao Shu in Nanjing. The latter offered to let his only son Tao Zheng marry Zuo Zongtang's eldest daughter. Soon after Tao Shu died, Zuo Zongtang taught in Anhua Taoists for eight years from 1840 (the 20th year of Daoguang) to 1847 (the 27th year of Daoguang), and helped to manage the affairs of Taoists. During this period, he extensively read the books of Taoists, ran Liuzhuang, studied agronomy and geography, paid attention to the Opium War, and put forward some countermeasures such as "building fireboats and gunboats".

In 1847 (the 27th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang returned to Liuzhuang in Xiangyin.

In 1848 (the 28th year of Daoguang), Zuo Zongtang gave relief to his neighbors in Dashui, Xiangyin. In the same year, Hu Linyi recommended Zuo Zongtang to Lin Zexu, the then governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, but Zuo Zongtang did not take up his post because of the incident.

In January 1850 (the lunar calendar is still the 29th year of Daoguang), Lin Zexu returned to his hometown and asked Zuo Zongtang to meet in the boat in Changsha. They had a long talk all night, involving the ancient and modern situation, comments on the characters, and the current affairs of the western regions (such as tunzheng and water conservancy). Later, Lin Zexu also talked about the meeting with others, praising Zuo Zongtang as an "extraordinary talent" and "peerless genius", expecting Xu lianghou.

The military curtain roared

Master data:

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement

、

The second Opium War

In 1852 (the second year of Xianfeng), when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom army besieged Changsha and the provincial capital was in danger, Zuo Zongtang, under the exhortation of Guo Songtao and others, was hired out of the mountain by Zhang Liangji, the governor of Hunan, and joined in the camp of defending the Qing Dynasty. Zuo Zongtang let the city down in the days of heavy fire. Zhang Liangji was overjoyed and entrusted all the military affairs to Zuo Zongtang. Most of Zuo Zongtang's suggestions were adopted and put into effect immediately. Finally, the Taiping army besieged Changsha for three months and withdrew to the north. Zuo Zongtang's fame began from then on.

In 1853 (the third year of Xianfeng), Zuo Zongtang followed Zhang Liangji to Huguang governor's shogunate. In the same year, Zhang Liangji was transferred to Shandong governor. Zuo Zongtang no longer followed him, but returned to Xiangyin.

In April 1854 (the fourth year of Xianfeng), Zuo Zongtang, at the invitation of governor Luo Bingzhang of Hunan, joined the governor's shogunate for six years. At that time, the rule of the Qing Dynasty in Hunan was in danger. The Taiping Army galloped in the north of Hunan. Most of the cities around Changsha were occupied, while the poor peasants in the East, South and west of Hunan raised up one after another. Zuo Zongtang thought hard and planned day and night to assist Luo Bingzhang in "four areas of inner Qing Dynasty" and "five provinces of foreign aid" to support the overall situation. At the same time, we should get rid of bad government, increase revenue and reduce expenditure, stabilize currency, and vigorously raise funds for arms purchase: arms and ships. Luo Bingzhang obeyed his advice and said that he did not check the documents. Due to Zuo Zongtang's careful assistance and planning, not only the military and political situation in Hunan Province has been turned around, but also the Hunan army has won successive battles out of the province, and other work has also achieved remarkable results.

In 1855 (the fifth year of Xianfeng), Emperor Jichen recommended Zuo Zongtang.

In 1856 (the sixth year of Xianfeng), due to Zuo Zongtang's contribution in helping Zeng Guofan's army pay, the Qing court "used the military department's doctor" to reward Dai Hualing.

In 1858 (the eighth year of Xianfeng), under the recommendation of Luo Bingzhang, Zuo Zongtang added the title of sipingqing.

In 1859 (the ninth year of Xianfeng), fan Xiejing charged with the crime. Zuo Zongtang was forced to leave Luo Bingzhang's shogunate at the end of that year and the beginning of the next year. Zuo Zongtang came out of Zuoxiang, which attracted the attention of the government and the public. At that time, there was a saying that "the world can't live without Hunan, Hunan can't live without Zuo Zongtang". Some high officials and dignitaries competed to recommend him in front of the emperor, and Emperor Xianfeng also paid great attention to him. However, it also caused some people's hatred and slander, especially the collapse of fan Xie, the general of Yongzhou town in Hunan Province, which nearly killed Zuo Zongtang. Fortunately, Hu Linyi, Guo Songtao, pan Zuyin and others helped to calm down the uproar. Not only that, the fate of Zuo Zongtang soon also appeared a new turn.

Dongping, Fujian and Zhejiang

In 1860 (the tenth year of Xianfeng), after the Taiping army conquered the Jiangnan camp, Zuo Zongtang took sipingjingtang as an alternate and accompanied Zeng Guofan, the imperial minister and governor of Liangjiang, to run military affairs. He recruited 5000 people in Hunan to form the "Chu army" and went to Jiangxi and Anhui to fight against the Taiping army.

In 1861 (the 11th year of Xianfeng), Zeng Guofan recommended Zuo Zongtang as governor of Zhejiang Province. After the Taiping army conquered Hangzhou, the Qing government officially granted Zuo Zongtang as governor of Zhejiang Province (January 1862) to supervise military affairs.

In 1862 (the first year of Tongzhi), Zuo Zongtang marched into Zhejiang. In the following two years, with the cooperation of the Chinese French Mixed army "Changjie army", the Chinese British mixed army "Chang'an army" and "Dingsheng army", he successively captured Jinhua, Shaoxing and other places. In 1863 (the second year of Tongzhi), he was promoted to governor of Fujian and Zhejiang.

In March 1864 (the third year of Tongzhi), Zuo Zongtang conquered Hangzhou, added the title of Prince Shaobao, and gave him a yellow mandarin jacket. He took various measures to restore the economy in Zhejiang, and conquered Huzhou and other places, so as to control the whole territory of Zhejiang. On merit, he was awarded the second rank, and he was awarded the title of Uncle Jing. Xuan was ordered to lead his troops into Jiangxi and Fujian to pursue Li Shixian and Wang Haiyang of Taiping army. In February 1866 (the fifth year of Tongzhi), Zuo Zongtang finally defeated Li Shixian, which was equal to Jiaying prefecture (now Meizhou) of Guangdong Province.

After the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Zuo Zongtang proposed to reduce the number of troops and pay more for training. In 1866 (the fifth year of Tongzhi), shangshuzou asked for a bureau to supervise the construction of ships, which was approved for trial implementation. That is to say, he set up a shipyard in Mawei, Fuzhou, and sent people abroad to buy machinery and ship troughs. He also founded Qiushi Hall art Bureau (also known as ship administration school) to cultivate shipbuilding technology and naval talents. When things happened in Northwest China, Shen Baozhen, the former governor of Jiangxi Province, was recommended as the Prime Minister of shipping. A year later, Fuzhou Shipping Bureau (also known as Mawei Shipping Bureau) officially started construction, becoming China's first new shipyard.

Xijing Shaanxi Gansu

In 1862 (the first year of Tongzhi), the Hui people in Shaanxi took advantage of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and Nien army to enter Shaanxi

Chinese PinYin : Zuo Zong Tang