Zeng Guofan (November 26, 1811 - March 12, 1872), originally named Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, and nickname Disheng, was a native of Xiangxiang, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan, and the 70th ancestor of Zengzi. Sun. A famous statesman, strategist, Neo-Confucianist, writer, calligrapher in modern China, and the founder and commander-in-chief of the Hunan Army. Together with Hu Linyi, he is known as "Zeng Hu", and together with Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang and Zhang Zhidong, he is known as "the four famous ministers of the late Qing Dynasty and Zhongxing".
I once studied Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism from the Neo-Confucian masters Tang Jian and Wo Ren.
In the 18th year of Daoguang's reign (1838), he became a Jinshi and entered the Hanlin Academy, where he was the student of the Minister of Military and Aircraft Mu Zhang Amen. Together with Hu Linyi, he is also known as "Zeng Hu"; together with Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, and Zhang Zhidong, he is also known as the "Four Famous Officials of the Late Qing Dynasty". He was awarded the rank of Bachelor of Wuyingdian, Governor of Liangjiang, Governor of Zhili, and was awarded the first-class title of Yiyong Marquis. . In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), Zeng Guofan issued the famous "Complaint to the Cantonese Bandits" and led the Hunan army to suppress the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, becoming the main force in the Qing government's suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
Zeng Guofan was also one of the leaders of the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. He actively introduced Western military equipment, science and technology, and production machinery. He successively established the Anqing Ordnance Institute, Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau, etc., and requested the dispatch of young children. Study abroad in the United States. The rise of Zeng Guofan had a profound impact on the politics, military, culture, economy and other aspects of the Qing Dynasty. He was a pioneer in China's modernization construction.
In the eleventh year of Tongzhi (March 12, 1872), Zeng Guofan died of illness at the governor's gate in Jinling at the age of 61. The Qing government posthumously awarded him the posthumous title Wenzheng.