Zhu Hongzhang (; 1820? – 1895), born in Liping,

Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...

, was an eminent

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

official and a military general of the late

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

in China. He joined the

Xiang Army 150px, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army The Xiang Army or Hunan Army () was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called '' tuanlian'' to contain the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China ...

to fight against the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...

and to restore the stability of the Qing state. He was one of the nine generals that lead a force of 60,000 troops to occupied

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

in 1864. Zhu was awarded a third-class merit for the recovery Nanjing. Although Zhu was awarded a third-class merit for the recovery Nanjing after Commander

Zeng Guoquan Zeng Guoquan (12 October 1824 – 13 November 1890), courtesy name Yuanfu, art name Shuchun, was a Chinese official and military leader of the late Qing dynasty. He was the ninth brother of Zeng Guofan, a prominent statesman and general, and a d ...

commended Zhu's work to the

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

government, there were dissenting opinions that Zhu should have received the first merit instead of

Li Chendian Li Chenden (; 1838 - 1864) was an eminent military general during the late Qing Dynasty in China. He joined the Xiang Army and fought effectively against the Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or ...

The First-Wave Offensive

During the Battle of Nanjing (1864), on 19 July the attackers detonated explosives in a tunnel under Taiping Gate (), bringing somewhere between 2 and 10 km of the wall down. Zhu led 1800 soldiers through the breach, into the city, but 460 were killed by the bombs of the weakened Taiping defenders. Zhu's troops took Taiping on the following day. This won Zhu the

Imperial yellow jacket The imperial yellow jacket () was a symbol of high honour during China's Qing dynasty. As yellow was a forbidden color, representing the Emperor, the jacket was given only to high-ranking officials and to the Emperor's body guards. Wearing the ja ...

merit.

References

* *Porter, Jonathan. ''Tseng Kuo-Fan's Private Bureaucracy.'' Berkeley: University of California, 1972. * Wright, Mary Clabaugh. ''The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism: The T'ung-Chih Restoration, 1862 -1874.'' Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1957. *

Third Battle of Nanking The Third Battle of Nanking in 1864 was the last major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion in the Qing Empire. With the fall of Nanking (now spelled Nanjing), the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the rebellion came to an end. The Hunan ...

External links

Tang Haoming's Three-Book Trilogy of Zeng Guofan's life 《曾国荃》
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhu, Hongzhang 1820 births 1895 deaths People from Qiandongnan Qing dynasty generals Year of birth uncertain Generals from Guizhou Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion