- Zuo Zongtang
Infobox Governor
name = Zuo Zongtang
honorific-suffix =
imagesize = 200px
caption = Portrait of General Tso, by Piassetsky, 1875
order =Viceroy of Liangjiang
term_start = 1881
term_end = 1884
predecessor =Peng Yulin
successor =Yulu
birth_date = birth date|1812|11|10
birth_place = Xiangyin,Hunan
death_date = death date and age|1885|9|5|1812|11|10
death_place =Fuzhou ,Fujian
occupation =Politician
spouse =Zuǒ Zōngtáng, 1st Marquess Kejing of the Second Class (zh-t|t=左宗棠;
Courtesy name : Jigao zh-t|t=季高) (November 10 ,1812 -September 5 ,1885 ), spelled Tso Tsung-t'ang inWade-Giles and known simply as General Tso or General Tsuo to Western Europeans, was a Chinese statesman and military leader. He was born inWenjialong , north ofChangsha inHunan province in the waning years of theQing Dynasty . He served with distinction during China's most important (and the world's largest) civil war, the 14 year longTaiping Rebellion , in which it is estimated 20 million people died. The "Tso" in General Tso is sometimes misspelled "Cho" in English, probably due to Cantonese influence. The correct pronunciation of the name in Mandarin is IPA| [ʤuɔ ʤʊŋtʰɑŋ] .Biography
Early career
Zuo's career got an inauspicious start when as a young man he failed the official court exams seven times (~1822-1835).
He decided to abandon his plans to become a civil servant and returned to his home by the
River Hsiang inHunan to farmsilkworms , read and drinktea . It was during this period that he first directed his attention to the study of Western sciences andpolitical economy .Taiping Rebellion
When the
Taiping Rebellion broke out in 1850, Zuo, then 38 years old, was hired as an advisor by the staff of the governor of Hunan. In 1856, he was formally offered a position in the provincial government of Hunan.In 1860, Zuo was given command of a force of 5,000 volunteers (later known as "Chu Army"), and by September of that year he drove the Taiping rebels out of Hunan and
Guangxi provinces, into coastalZhejiang .Zuo captured the city of
Shaoxing , and from there pushed south intoFujian andGuangdong provinces, where the revolt had first begun. In 1863, Zuo was appointedGovernor ofZhejiang and anUndersecretary of War .In August 1864, Zuo, together with
Zeng Guofan , dethroned the Taiping teenage king,Hong Tianguifu , and brought an end to the rebellion. He was created Earl Kejing of the 1st Class for his part in suppressing the rebellion. He,Zeng Guofan andLi Hongzhang were called "Zeng, Zuo, Li", the leaders in suppressing the rebellion.In 1865, Zuo was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of
Fujian andZhejiang . As Commissioner of Naval Industries, Zuo oversaw the erection of China's first modern shipyard and naval academy inFuzhou the following year.Success and appointments
Zuo's successes would continue. In 1867, he became
Viceroy andGovernor General ofShaanxi andGansu andImperial Commissioner of the Army inShaanxi .In these capacities, he succeeded in putting down another uprising, the
Nian Rebellion (捻軍起義) in 1868.After this military success, he marched west with his 120,000 strong army, winning many victories against the rebellious Muslims of
Northwestern China including today'sShaanxi ,Ningxia ,Gansu andQinghai provinces and Chinese Turkestan in the 1870s.In 1878, he successfully suppressed the Yakub Beg's uprising in
Xinjiang and helped to negotiate an end toRussia n occupation of the border city ofIli .For all his contributions to his nation and monarch, Zuo was appointed a
Grand Secretary to theGrand Secretariat in 1874 and elevated to a Marquessate in 1878.Later life and death
Now in his seventies, Zuo was appointed to the
Grand Council , the cabinet of theQing Empire at the time, in 1880. Uneasy with bureaucratic politics, Zuo asked to be relieved of his duties and was appointedViceroy of Liangjiang in 1881. In 1884, upon the outbreak of theSino-French War , Zuo received his fourth and last commission as commander-in-chief and Imperial Commissioner of the Army and Inspector General overseeing coastal defense in Fujian. He died shortly after a truce was signed between the two nations, in Fuzhou (Foo-chow), 1885.General Tso's chicken
General Tso's chicken is a sweet and spicy
deep-fried Hunan Chinese dish that is popularly served in American and Canadian Chinese restaurants. The origins of the dish are unclear. The dish was previously largely unknown inChina and other lands home to the Chinese diaspora.Citation | last = Dunlop | first = Fuchsia | title = Hunan Resources | newspaper =The New York Times Magazine | pages = Section 6, Page 75 | date = February 4, 2007 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/magazine/04food.t.html | accessdate = 2007-04-24 ] One theory is that the dish was a classic specialty from Hunan province, invented by Zuo's wife and served for him and his officers upon every military victory, although this theory is generally considered to be apocryphal.cite web | last = Lukacs | first = Paul | title = Wine With... Chinese Take-Out (General Tso's Chicken) | publisher = Wine Review Online | date =March 6 ,2007 | url=http://www.winereviewonline.com/wine_with_chinese_take_out.cfm | accessdate = 2007-04-24 ] In reality, Zuo is unlikely to have ever tasted the dish.Citation | last = Browning | first = Michael | title = Who Was General Tso And Why Are We Eating His Chicken? | newspaper =The Washington Post | date = April 17, 2002 | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59302-2002Apr16 | access-date = 2007-02-24 ]Notes
References
*Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. "The Ili Crisis: A Study of Sino-Russian Diplomacy, 1871-1881." Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965.
*Hummel, Arthur William, ed. "Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912)." 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.
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