Background
Zuo Zongtang was born on November 10, 1812 in Xiangyin, Hunan, China.
1875
Portrait of Zuo Zongtang, by Piassetsky
As Viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, Zuo posed for a Russian photographer. He wearing civilian dress with a peacock feather in his hat.
As Viceroy of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, Zuo posed for a Russian photographer. He wearing court dress with long court beads.
左 宗棠
Zuo Zongtang was born on November 10, 1812 in Xiangyin, Hunan, China.
His family paid for him to attend a local private school starting from the age of five, where he mastered the Confucian classics. At the age of 20, he qualified to attend the Imperial Academy.
Zuo's career got an inauspicious start when, in his youth, he failed the imperial examination seven times (ca. 1822–1835). He decided to abandon his plans to become an official and returned to his home by the Xiang River to farm silkworms, read, and drink tea. It was during this period that he first directed his attention to the study of Western sciences and political economy.
In 1851, Zuo Zongtang started his career in the Qing military by participating in the campaign against the Taiping Rebellion. In 1862, he was recommended by Zeng Guofan to serve as the provincial governor of Zhejiang Province. During his term, he coordinated Qing forces to attack the Taiping rebels with support from British and French forces. For this success, he was promoted to Viceroy of Min-Zhe. After capturing Hangzhou from the Taiping rebels in 1864, Zuo Zongtang was enfeoffed as a first class count. In 1866, as part of the Qing government's Self-Strengthening Movement, Zuo oversaw the construction of the Fuzhou Arsenal and naval academy. That same year, Zuo Zongtang was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Shaan-Gan, where he oversaw industrialisation in Gansu Province. In 1867, he was appointed as an Imperial Commissioner in charge of military affairs in Gansu.
During his term as Imperial Commissioner in Gansu, he participated in the suppression of the Nian Rebellion. In 1875, he was appointed Imperial Commissioner again to supervise military action against the Dungan Revolt. By the late 1870s, Zuo Zongtang had crushed the Dungan Revolt and recaptured Xinjiang Province from rebel forces. In 1875, the Guangxu Emperor made an extraordinary exception by awarding Zuo Zongtang a jinshi degree – even though he never achieved this in the imperial examination – and appointing him to the Hanlin Academy. In 1878, in recognition of his achievements, Zuo Zongtang was promoted from a first class count to a second class marquis. He was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Liangjiang in 1881 and appointed to the Grand Council in 1884, before being made an Imperial Commissioner again to oversee naval affairs. Zuo Zongtang died in 1885 in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, and was given the posthumous name Wenxiang.
While Zuo Zongtang is best known outside China for his military exploits, he also made contributions to Chinese agricultural science and education. In particular, he promoted cotton cultivation to northwestern China as a replacement for cash crop opium and established a large-scale modern press in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces which published Confucian classics and newer works on agricultural science.
In 1832, Zuo Zongtang married Zhou Yiduan (周詒端; 1812–1870), a woman from Paitou Township, Xiangtan County in Hunan Province. They had four daughters and four sons.
