Zeng Guofan

Chinese imperial official who played a crucial role in crushing the Taiping Rebellion. He raised the Hunan army in 1852 to organize resistance to this revolt, eventually capturing Nanjing in 1864. The regional influence he acquired made him in some ways a forerunner of the 20th-century Chinese warlords.

Fearful that Zeng's provincial army might grow too powerful, the government refused him money, forcing him to extract local financial support. He became a supporter of the Self-strengthening movement for military modernization, and was governor general of Liangjiang in eastern central China 1860–65, setting up the Jiangnan Arsenal in Shanghai for the manufacture of modern weapons and the study of Western science and technology.