General Tso and His Muskteers

Although Tso Tsung-t’ang¹ failed the imperial exam seven times and never earned the title of jinshi², he still rose to the rank of general—thanks largely to the support and promotion of one man: Zeng Guofan³. Zeng Guofan⁴, born Zeng Zicheng⁵, courtesy name Bohan⁶, literary name Disheng⁷, was born on November 26, 1811(the eleventh day of the tenth lunar month in the sixteenth year of Emperor Jiaqing⁸’s reign). His hometown was Lianshui Township⁹, Xiangxiang County¹⁰, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province—present-day Heyetang, Shuangfeng County¹¹, Hunan.

Located in the hilly, rice-terraced interior of central-western Hunan, Xiangxiang¹² was historically an agricultural heartland. In the Qing dynasty¹³, it was known for its cultural flourishing—since the Ming period¹⁴, it had produced numerous scholars and examination candidates. The people were known for their plain diligence, and local families passed down the tradition of “farming and studying” as a way of life.

Xiangyin¹⁵, by contrast, lies in northern Hunan, on the southeastern shore of Dongting Lake¹⁶, and today falls under Yueyang City¹⁷. The two counties are about 150 kilometers apart on a modern map. In the Qing dynasty, the journey would have taken three to five days on foot or horseback. Though not close by contemporary standards, such a distance was not considered far within the social world of Hunan gentry and literati¹⁸, especially for those pursuing the civil service exam or studying in provincial capitals like Changsha¹⁹, where scholarly networks were dense.

Tso Tsung-t’ang was ten years younger than Zeng Guofan, born in 1812, but his precocious talent²⁰ and reputation for brilliance meant the two were aware of each other early on. However, they were not friends in the beginning. On the contrary, Tso reportedly looked down on Zeng in his youth, criticizing his essays as dry and lifeless while Zeng dismissed Tso as an arrogant young man. Tso never followed the conventional path of officialdom; despite his astonishing intellect, he repeatedly failed the examinations, and eventually withdrew to the countryside²¹, farming by day and teaching Confucian texts behind closed doors. This retreat from the exam system contributed to his skepticism—if not disdain—for the bureaucracy and its officials²².

In the 1850s, Zeng Guofan was ordered by the Qing court²³ to raise a militia to fight the Taiping Rebellion²⁴, leading to the formation of the Xiang Army²⁵ (Xiangjun). He began recruiting talented men across Hunan²⁶, and by then, Tso had already been living in reclusion for years, studying the Spring and Autumn Annals²⁷ and researching agrarian policy. His reputation in local circles was strong.

Hunan had long held a cultural ethos that revered scholarship and honored righteousness²⁸, blending the moral austerity of Neo-Confucianism²⁹ with the fierce passion of Chu culture³⁰. In this environment, the Zeng family’s code of conduct³¹ emphasized loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and literary learning. Though they were not wealthy or noble, the family placed great importance on education and moral cultivation³².

Zeng’s family had been farmers for generations, belonging to the “cold and plain gentry³³”, a class of rural scholars not quite landed gentry nor commoners. They possessed cultural capital and a tradition of reading and study. His grandfather Zeng Yuping³⁴ was a bookish man; his father Zeng Linshu³⁵ was a typical country gentleman—never passing the exams himself, but held in esteem in the local community.

Zeng Guofan was the eldest son in his family. His mother, Madame Qu, was a strong-willed and capable matriarch who had a profound influence on him. In his own recollection, maternal discipline outweighed paternal instruction. He once said, “My diligence and cautious nature came from my mother.” Her stern guidance and quiet encouragement became a formative force in his early moral development. There were six younger brothers and one sister, and as the eldest son, Zeng bore the lifelong duty of “upholding the family name.” This early burden instilled in him a lifelong habit of self-discipline and the conviction that self-cultivation was the foundation of all achievement.

By his own account, Zeng was not an especially gifted child. He memorized slowly and often said he could recite ten pages one day and forget seven the next, lagging far behind his peers. He was not a boy of talent but a man of willpower. He often described himself as zhuo cheng—awkward in ability but sincere in intent.³⁷

In his teens, he went to Changsha to study, failed the provincial examination multiple times, but remained incredibly self-disciplined: rising before dawn and reading into the night. He once wrote, “What I have relied on all my life is a single thought of sincerity.” He did not pass the highest exam and become a jinshi until the age of 27, at which point he was appointed to the prestigious Hanlin Academy, marking his formal entry into the imperial bureaucracy and into the Qing court’s political horizon.

This background, while seemingly modest, proved pivotal. Neither noble nor destitute, Zeng combined the moral resilience of a Confucian scholar with the pragmatic stamina of a farmer. His “middle station” in society gave him both the hunger to rise and the absence of vested interests, out of which he forged a faith in personal virtue as the route to public success.

It was Hu Linyi who co-authored a petition to bring Tso Tsung-t’ang out of reclusion to assist in military affairs. Zeng hesitated at first, remembering their old disagreements. But after reading Tso’s writings, he was astonished and said,“This is a man not to be ignored.”³⁸ After reading Tso’s Eight Strategies for Foreign Affairs, Zeng wrote: “What I have read is overflowing with talent and sharp judgment—truly the work of an extraordinary man.” His former low opinion of Tso vanished, and he personally wrote to invite him to serve in the campaign. He later remarked “Tso possesses courage, insight, and strategic acumen far beyond mine. Yet his temperament is fierce and not easily governed.”³⁹ In a letter to Hu Linyi, Zeng noted both his admiration for Tso and his concern. Even near the end of his life, according to the Chronicles of Zeng Guofan, he said: “Tso is a pillar of the state; I am not his equal.”⁴⁰

Tso eventually joined Zeng’s headquarters as an advisor, working out of the Xiang Army’s military camps. Though he held no formal rank at the time, he was frequently involved in major strategic and political decisions.

The founder of the Xiang Army was Zeng Guofan. Guided by Confucian principles of loyalty, self-cultivation, household management, and state governance, he trained his troops with moral rigor. In selecting officers, he bypassed the old military establishment, instead prioritizing local gentry youths of upright character and both literary and martial ability. He believed that “the value of a soldier lies in sincerity”—that is, a soldier must be loyal, not merely obedient.

He recruited village militias and trained local defense corps (tuanlian), initially forming a military force within Hunan that later expanded across several provinces. At first, they were called “Xiang Braves”; later generations referred to them as the Xiang Army.

Unlike the Eight Banners or Green Standard troops under the Qing central government, the Xiang Army was an “extra-bureaucratic military”, built and financed by provincial governors. Officers were appointed by local commanders, not the imperial court. Its leaders owed allegiance not to the throne, but directly to Zeng Guofan, Hu Linyi, and Tso Tsung-t’ang, the founders of the force. Funded by local revenues and commanded through an independent chain of authority, the Xiang Army was a semi-official, semi-private military force. This became the basis of what was later known as the “soldiers belong to their commanders” system, in which military power was attached to individuals rather than the state. Though flexible and effective during wartime, it also laid the institutional groundwork for the warlordism that plagued the late Qing and early Republican era.

The Xiang Army’s principal campaign—and its greatest “achievement”—was the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion. Although its early engagements ended in defeat—Zeng Guofan twice attempted suicide by drowning—he eventually regained control through training, land-based logistics (military colonies), and strict discipline. Over the course of a ten-year bloody campaign, he worked in close coordination with generals such as Hu Linyi, Peng Yulin, and Tso Tsung-t’ang. In 1864, the Xiang Army captured Tianjing—modern-day Nanjing—marking the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

Other notable campaigns included working alongside the Huai Army to suppress the Nian Rebellion, assisting in Shaanxi and Gansu, and helping put down unrest in the northwest. The final western campaigns, including the reconquest of Xinjiang, were continued by Tso Tsung-t’ang. By this point, the Xiang Army had become the most formidable and disciplined military force of the late Qing.

Footnotes:

1. Tso Tsung-t’ang: The Wade-Giles romanization of 左宗棠, widely used in 19th–20th century English texts.

2. jinshi (进士): The highest degree in the imperial examination system, required for access to top official positions.

3. Zeng Guofan (曾国藩): Qing statesman and military leader, founder of the Xiang Army, major figure in suppressing the Taiping Rebellion.

4. His official name used in history books.

5. Zeng Zicheng (曾子城): His birth name before adulthood.

6. Bohan (伯涵): His courtesy name, used in literati circles.

7. Disheng (涤生): His literary or self-styling name, often expressing personal ideals.

8. Jiaqing (嘉庆): Reigned 1796–1820, seventh emperor of the Qing dynasty.

9. Lianshui Township (涟水乡): The rural place where Zeng was born.

10. Xiangxiang County (湘乡县): A county in central-west Hunan.

11. Shuangfeng County (双峰县): The modern administrative unit incorporating Zeng’s birthplace.

12. Xiangxiang: Known historically for its scholarly culture.

13. Qing dynasty (清朝): 1644–1912, the last imperial dynasty of China.

14. Ming period (明朝): 1368–1644, the dynasty before the Qing.

15. Xiangyin (湘阴): The hometown of Tso Tsung-t’ang.

16. Dongting Lake (洞庭湖): A major lake in northern Hunan, historically and economically important.

17. Yueyang City (岳阳市): The modern city governing Xiangyin today.

18. Hunan gentry and literati: The educated elite of Hunan who often had inter-county networks.

19. Changsha (长沙): Capital of Hunan and a major intellectual center.

20. Precocious talent: A reputation for brilliance at a young age, particularly in literary or scholarly ability.

21. Withdrew to the countryside: Retreated from the exam-centered official route, living as a private scholar.

22. Skepticism for bureaucracy: Tso had a lifelong suspicion of officials who relied solely on exam credentials.

23. Qing court: The imperial government based in Beijing.

24. Taiping Rebellion (太平天国): A massive civil war from 1850–1864 led by heterodox Christian rebels.

25. Xiang Army (湘军): A militia raised by Zeng Guofan, composed largely of Hunanese soldiers.

26. Recruiting across Hunan: Zeng tapped a regional network to form his forces.

27. Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋): A Confucian classic often studied by reform-minded scholars.

28. Revered scholarship and honored righteousness: A local ethos blending moral and intellectual ideals.

29. Neo-Confucianism (理学): A Song-Ming synthesis of Confucian ethics and metaphysics.

30. Chu culture (楚文化): An ancient culture known for its passion, poetry, and mysticism, centered in the Hunan-Hubei region.

31. Zeng family’s code of conduct: Reflects the Confucian domestic ideals of ethical behavior.

32. Importance on education and cultivation: Characteristic of rural Confucian gentry families.

33. “Cold and plain gentry” (寒素之族): Poor but literate rural elites without land or title.

34. Zeng Yuping (曾玉屏): Zeng’s grandfather, known for his scholarship.

35. Zeng Linshu (曾麟书): Zeng’s father, a respected rural patriarch though not an official.

36. Zhuo cheng (拙诚): A term Zeng used to describe himself—“clumsy but sincere”—emphasizing moral willpower over innate talent.