Background
Tseng Kuo-fan was born on November 26, 1811 in Hsianghsiang, Hunan, China.
Tseng Kuo-fan was born on November 26, 1811 in Hsianghsiang, Hunan, China.
In 1832, Tseng Kuo-fan passed the first of the official examinations a year after his father had done so, and in 1838 obtained a chin-shih (the highest academic degree) and became a member of the Hanlin Academy.
Between 1850 and 1864 China was racked by the Taiping Rebellion, which threatened to topple the Ch'ing dynasty and to destroy Chinese traditional culture.
Because the regular armies of the Ch'ing proved to be totally incapable of stopping the rebels, the burden of resistance fell upon local militia groups.
He also served as an acting vice president on several other boards.
The Taiping rebels in their northward sweep in 1852 had layed siege to Changsha, the capital of Hunan, but had been forced to withdraw due to the efforts of the local militia.
Because he was in mourning, Tseng felt that he could not accept, but after much persuasion from the Emperor and friends, he finally agreed and swore to himself that he would not "covet wealth nor fear death.
"In keeping with his already established habits of thorough planning, Tseng carefully worked out the training of his troops, their discipline, and their organization.
The army he created came to be known as the Hsiang Army and was founded on the Chinese custom of personal loyalties.
Tseng had seen the soldiers of the regular armies of the Ch'ing refuse to fight for their commanders because they were strangers.
Tseng insisted that each unit commander personally recruit his own soldiers and, preferably, that the commander and the troops come from the same local region.
Tseng was using local affinities to give cohesion to his army.
If for any reason a commander was removed, then his unit was to be disbanded, and the new commander would recruit a new unit.
There had been too many instances where the imperial troops had fled before the approaching Taiping forces.
Despite repeated entreaties from officials in beleaguered areas and even from the Emperor himself to commit the army, Tseng refused until he felt the men were ready. Tseng's forces were not an immediate success, however.
In two battles in 1854, his forces were defeated, and Tseng was so discouraged that he attempted suicide.
However, a victory soon encouraged him, and his forces were finally able to stop the Taiping drive in Hunan.
Tseng's efforts were also aided in 1856 by the elimination of most of the capable Taiping leaders through a bloodbath in Nanking.
Despite repeated calls for aid from other areas, Tseng concentrated his forces on the job of recapturing the Taiping capital at Nanking.
It was only through the aid of staunch friends, who held high provincial rank, as well as his own persistent pleas that Tseng was able to keep his army going.
His troops were well aware of the situation, which further strengthened their loyalty to Tseng and their unit commanders.
Li's Huai Army was stationed at Shanghai in 1862 and during the next 2 years cleared most of Kiangsu of the Taiping rebels.
Tseng's tactics resulted in the fall of the Taiping capital on July 19, 1864.
With the rebellion over, Tseng's immediate task as the governor general of Kiangnan was to restore peace and order to the war-ravaged area and to promote the revival oflearning in South China.
During the war years he had gained the respect and admiration of many of the leading scholars and officials of the empire.
Tseng Kuo-fan had disbanded his Hsiang Army at the conclusion of the Taiping Rebellion because his troops were war-weary and because his power, based on this army, might be considered a threat to the dynasty.
In June 1865, when Tseng was ordered to take command of the fighting against the Nien rebels in the North, he felt he could rely on Li Hung-chang's Huai Army.
Tseng realized that this was contrary to all his teachings about personal recruitment but felt that since Li was his longtime pupil and friend it might work.
After a year of unsuccessful campaigning he recommended Li as his successor and returned to his former post as the governor general of Kiangnan.
Li brought the Nien Rebellion to a successful conclusion in 1868.
When the people of Tientsin attacked the French missionaries in 1870, in what has been called the Tientsin Massacre, Tseng, as the governor general of Chihli since 1868, was called upon to investigate the case.
The case was nearly settled, however, when, old and ill, Tseng was transferred back to his former post in Nanking.
His high moral character, his devotion not only to the imperial cause but also to the ideals of Confucianism, his own sound scholarship, and his military successes drew these men to his side.
