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ZUO Zongtang Zuǒ Zōngtáng 左宗棠 1812–1885 Chinese military leader and statesman
Zuo Zongtang was a renowned military leader of nineteenth-century China; he led the Chi- nese military in the suppression of the Muslim and Nian rebellions (1868–1880), negotiated with the Russians, and led the war against the French in 1884–1885.
uo Zongtang 左宗棠 (1812–1885) was born to a scholarly family in Hunan Province; in his early years he studied works in the fields of his- tory, classics, geography, and agriculture. In 1852 he joined the military in the campaign against the Taip- ing Rebellion and soon displayed his military ability and wisdom. He was promoted to governor-general of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in 1863 and remained in this position until 1866. Zuo founded China’s first modern dockyard and naval school in Fuzhou dur- ing this period. In 1866 Zuo was appointed governor- Portrait of General Tso (Zuo Zongtang), by Pavel general of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces to suppress Piassetsky, 1875. Zuo Zongtang, a Chinese states- the Muslim rebels there. Between 1868 and 1880, Zuo man, served during China’s fourteen-year-long suppressed Nian rebels in Shandong Province and the Taiping Rebellion. Muslim rebels in the northwestern China and consoli- dated China’s northwestern frontier. He militarily sus- tained China’s negotiation with Russia in recovering of the cotton industry in Xinjiang and the mobiliza- Yili, a Chinese territory occupied by Russia during the tion of soldiers to farm unused land. In 1881 Zuo was Muslim rebellion. He also carried out several impor- appointed to serve in the Grand Council of the central tant economic reforms, including the encouragement government. Later, in 1884, he was once again put in
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The Art of War
The numerous successes in Zuo Zongtang’s military ca- 4 The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it reer show his deep understanding of military knowledge can possibly be avoided. The preparation of and strategy, the foundations of which were laid out by mantlets [a shield used to protect besieging Sunzi (also spelled Sun Tzu) in The Art of War,thought soldiers], movable shelters, and various imple- to date from the fourth centurybce : ments of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more. At t a c k b y St r a t a g e m 5 The general, unable to control his irradiation, 1 Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the will launch his men to the assault like swarming best thing of all is to take the enemy’s coun- ants, with the result that one-third of his men try whole and intact; to shatter and destroy is are slain, while the town still remains untaken. not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture Such are the disastrous effects of a siege. an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a 6 Therefore the skillful leader subdues the regiment, a detachment or a company entire enemy’s troops without any fighting; he cap- than to destroy them. tures their cities without laying siege to them; 2 Hence to fight and conquer in all your he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy battles is not supreme excellence; supreme operations in the field. excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s 7 With his forces intact he will dispute the resistance without fighting. mastery of the Empire, and thus, without los- 3 Thus the highest form of generalship is to ing a man, his triumph will be complete. This balk the enemy’s plans; the next best is to pre- is the method of attacking by stratagem. vent the junction of the enemy’s forces; the Source: Sun Tzu. (2007). The art of war. (Lionel Giles, Trans.). next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in Charleston, SC: Forgotten Books, pp. 7–8. (Original trans- the field; and the worst policy of all is to be- lation published in 1910; original work thought to date from siege walled cities. fourth century bce).
charge of all military affairs of China during the Sino- Further Reading French War (1884–1885). After a settlement between Chu, Wen-chang. (1966). The Moslem Rebellion in North- China and France was reached, Zuo Zongtang died on west China, 1862–1878: A Study of Government Minor- 5 September 1885. Zuo Zongtang’s success in putting ity Policy. The Hague, The Netherlands: Mouton de down rebellions shaped the military prowess and unity Gruyter. of China in the nineteenth century. Wright, M. C. (1957). The Last Stand of Chinese Conserva- tism: TheT’ung- chih Restoration, 1862– 1874. Stanford, CHEN Shiwei CA: Stanford University Press.
© 2009 by Berkshire Publishing Group LLC