Zuo Zongtang - Loyal and Righteous Life

Author: Li Xiaofeng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-11-01
Features: The world's affairs are vast, but we stand aloof and watch; who will use Confucianism to govern and maintain peace. Without harsh policies, the poor remain idle; with hunger in their hearts, comforting them is difficult. The world's military stores trouble the sage's thoughts; harmonious music gathers the officials. The scholar in green robes does not understand current affairs, but sighs as he rolls up his books. This book discusses the importance of setting one's goals in reading and being a person, the usefulness of studies for governing the world, prioritizing the benefit of the people in politics, the necessity of frugality for spreading blessings, learning from the barbarians to restrain them, and the wisdom of military governance, among other main ideas of Zuo Zongtang. This book is part of the "Series of Life of Chinese Sages."
Zuo Zongtang (born 1812) was from Xiangyin, Hunan. At the age of 20, he passed the imperial examination. From a young age, he was ambitious, often boasting, "Without a single acre of land, yet I worry about the world; having read ten thousand books, I commune with the ancients in spirit." Zuo Zongtang experienced two Opium Wars, the Taiping Rebellion, the Self-Strengthening Movement, border crises, and the Sino-French War in his lifetime. This was a period in Chinese history when the semi-colonial and semi-feudal society began to form and deepen. His main activities included:
1. Suppressing the Taiping Rebellion, the Western Hui Uprising, and the Northwest Muslim Uprising.
2. Engaging in the Self-Strengthening Movement. Although Zuo Zongtang's fundamental purpose in pursuing modernization was to maintain the rule of the landlord class, his focus was on resisting foreign aggression. This was starkly different from Li Hongzhang's policy of subservience and compromise. At the same time, he admired Western capitalist business practices like "private management with state taxation" and proposed that "competing with the people for profits is better than teaching the people to develop profits," showing his awareness of developing national economy.
3. From 1875 to 1878, he led troops to Xinjiang, defeated the Aga Khan-supported invaders, and recaptured most of Xinjiang except Ili. In 1880, at the age of 69, he crossed the border to fight the Russian Empire to the death in support of Zeng Jize's efforts to recover Ili, a spirit and action that deeply moved people. During the Sino-French War, whether overseeing military affairs in Zhejiang or Fujian, he strongly advocated resisting aggression.
4. Zuo Zongtang was an outstanding statesman. During his five years in Xinjiang, he not only proposed the necessity of establishing a province in Xinjiang and setting up prefectures and counties to abolish the military-fief system but also paid great attention to rectifying local governance and developing production while commanding military operations. For example: building water conservancy systems, constructing fortresses, reclaiming wasteland, measuring land, correcting taxes, unifying currency, improving sericulture, establishing schools, and afforestation. In consolidating the northwest border, building Xinjiang, and furthering the development of China's unified multi-ethnic nation, Zuo made significant contributions. Later generations praised him with the poem: "The great general went to war, leaving his people behind; the sons of Hunan and Hunan marched across the sky to Xinjiang. Three thousand miles of new willows were planted, and the spring wind carried them past the Jade Pass."