Born Nov. 26, 1811, in Hsianghsiang District, Hunan Province; died Mar. 12, 1872, in Nanking. Chinese political and military figure.
At the government’s behest, Tseng Kuo-fan created the Hunan Army in late 1852. The army, which he commanded, was composed of local landowners and their feudal military bands. It soon became the most important strike force of the feudal reactionaries in their struggle against such popular uprisings as the Taiping Rebellion.
Tseng Kuo-fan was governor in Nanking from 1860 to 1865, again from 1866 to 1868, and a third time in 1871 and 1872. In 1865 he was designated imperial plenipotentiary for the suppression of the Nien Rebellion. Between 1868 and 1871, Tseng Kuofan served as governor of Chihli (now Hopeh), the province in which China’s capital was located.