曾國藩과 그의 思想

Abstract

Tseng Kuo-fan(曾國藩 , 1811-1872 ) was a great scholar and a statesman in the later part of the Ch'ing dynasty. As a son of scholar lineage at Hsiang-hsiang ( 湘 鄕 ) in Hunan ( 湖 南 ), he became a government official by being the first member of his family to pass the Chin-shih ( 進 士 ) agree. At first, he studied only for the examination. But while he lived in Peking as a civil official, he studied Neo-Confucianism of the Sung and Old classical school literature (Ku-wen, 古 丈 ) to harden his base as a scholar. But his opinions tended to be conservative in keeping the old order instead of knowledge for the modernization of China. In 1850, the T'ai-p'ing rebellion had brocken up. It would have been a great achievement if the revolutionary introduced of western ideas of modernization, could have driven out the Manchu dynasty, seeking after national power, bringing equality by Christian doctrines and introducing an average distribution economy by putting a land reform system in operation had all been allowed to occur. But Tseng Kuo-fan had different ideas. According to the special command of the central government, Tseng Kuo-fan extended Hsiang-yung's duty for local self-defense by organizing Hsiang-ch?n ( 湘 軍 ). And than, standing and fighting at the head of his troops, he conquered the T'ai-p'ing ( 太 平 ) army maintaining loyalty to the ch'ing government and the protection of the Confucian order. It was a bloody battle between the revolutionary army and their defenders. The staffs of the Hsing-ch?n consisted of Confucianists who came from Tseng Kuo-fan's native town. The landlords and the rich men of his home furnished the Hsing-ch?n with money. The soldiers were native farmers who were subordinated to the landlords and also paid good wages which were ten times that of the general hired peasants. This Hsing-ch?n had been organized in order to keep the existing power of the gentry class seperated from the people. Finally, the T'ai-p'ing army fell and Tseng Kuo-fan became the noterious retainer of the sovereignity of the of the Ch'ing dynasty. But these facts seemed to be resulted in preventing the modernization of China in the historical point of view. He also had compromised with the French to manage Tien-tsin Massaere, But it was a mean conclusion that ignored the rights of the Chinese people. He managed in the end to thwart progressive notions in order to succeed in his personal life and keep his profits. Therefore, it is the task for students who are majoring in history to correct the old opinions. We should not overestimate Tseng Kuo-fan as a great man, and must analyze his career on the basis of his thoughts as has been done in this essay.