Zeng Guofan, a native of Hunan, was a modern politician, strategist, philosopher and writer in China, the founder and commander-in-chief of Xiang Army, and also a strategist. Zeng Guofan was born in a landlord family. He has been smart and studious since he was a child. He entered a private school at the age of 6, read four books and recited five classics at the age of 8, and read Selected Works of Zhou Li and Historical Records at the age of 14. 65,438+06 years old is a scholar and 24 years old is a scholar. He is an important historical figure in China, known as the "first minister" in the late Qing Dynasty, and also praised by later generations as "eternal perfection" and "official model". After the Opium War, during the Xianfeng period, the national treasury was empty, military equipment was abandoned, bureaucrats were corrupt, and natural disasters continued. Among them, the peasant rebels of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom swept Yusheng for more than ten years. Zeng Guofan organized and led the Xiang army to fight against the Taiping rebels and won, finally putting down the Taiping rebels uprising.

Zeng Guofan's official career was very uneven, but politically he was very wise and handled it properly. In the sinister officialdom of the Qing court, he repeatedly saved the day, reflecting his superb political skills and political art, and the government politics in the late Qing dynasty was very dark. In the face of western ships and guns, the country is weak and the people are devastated. The powerful faction represented by Zeng Guofan put forward the concept of "learning from foreigners to control foreigners", advocating learning from the west and trying to resist foreign aggression. He actively set up factories and schools, translated science books and sent overseas students. He was a pioneer of Westernization Movement and initiated "Tongzhi Zhongxing".

Zeng Guofan inherited and carried forward the traditional culture with Confucianism as the core. He was keen on Zhu Cheng's Taoism and pragmatism, and devoted his life to "filial piety and faithfulness". He has written hundreds of books, such as Letters from Home, Bing Jian, Collected Works of Qiu Quezhai, Commemoration, Miscellanies of Classics and History. Later generations commented that he was "knowledgeable and virtuous". After Zeng Guofan's death, the Qing government praised him for "learning to be an official, achieving greatness, being loyal to the body and saving money." During the Republic of China, famous figures such as Sun Yat-sen, Zhang Taiyan and Liang Qichao spoke highly of Zeng Guofan. (Yao)