Chapter 05: Reassessing Zuo Zongtang — A Great Achievement in the Recovery of Xinjiang

Zuo Zongtang (1812–1885), a native of Xiangyin, Hunan, courtesy name Jigao, was a renowned Hunan general and a high-ranking minister of the Qing dynasty. Over the course of his life, he fought against Hong Xiuquan and achieved monumental success in recovering Xinjiang. While serving as Governor of Zhejiang, he captured Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and other cities, wiped out the remaining Taiping forces in the southeast, and also participated in the suppression of the Nian Rebellion.

1. Li Hongzhang: Military strength and financial resources could never suffice

In 1875, Zuo Zongtang was ordered, as an imperial commissioner, to take charge of military affairs in Xinjiang. Obeying the command, he led the western expedition, which lasted three years. Through extreme hardship, he successfully recovered Xinjiang and established it as a province. At that time, a pro-Russian Muslim leader, taking advantage of the chaos caused by Hong Xiuquan’s Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, had taken control of most of Xinjiang and brought it into Russia’s sphere of influence. The territory involved was larger than the combined lands of Britain, France, and Germany. Russia had also occupied Ili, the most important city in Xinjiang. The proposal to recover Xinjiang met strong opposition at court, where many considered it too difficult. Li Hongzhang argued: “In terms of military strength and financial resources, it can never be achieved.” But Cixi realized that delay was intolerable. Russia had already occupied Ili for four years; if postponed further, Russian possession of Ili would become a fait accompli.

2. Advance slowly, decide quickly: one and a half years of preparation, one and a half years of swift resolution

Zuo Zongtang decided to adopt a strategy of “slow advance, swift decision.” By “slow advance,” he meant first focusing on building and training the army—spending a year and a half raising funds, stockpiling fodder and grain, and reorganizing the troops. Once the campaign began, he aimed to achieve a decisive victory within another year and a half and withdraw in full triumph. He calculated that an army of 80,000 men would require about 8 million taels of silver for a year and a half. Allowing for contingencies, he reported a budget of 10 million taels to the court, proposing that 5 million taels come from the treasury and 5 million be borrowed from abroad.

Zuo Zongtang first advanced to Lanzhou, where he established a manufacturing bureau to produce firearms and artillery for the western expedition. Experts and skilled workers were transferred from Guangzhou and Zhejiang to Lanzhou, where large quantities of weapons were manufactured and troops trained. German observers watched the drills and, seeing the strict discipline of the Hunan Army, its effective training, and its modern weaponry, remarked: “If Qing troops were to fight Russia, they would certainly achieve a complete victory.”

3. Three routes into Xinjiang

To transport military provisions, Zuo Zongtang established three routes. One went through Jiayu Pass, past Yumen, to Hami in Xinjiang; the second ran from Baotou across the Mongolian grasslands into Xinjiang to Qitai; the third went from Ningxia across the Mongolian grasslands into Xinjiang. When troops were dispatched in 1876, there were a total of 150 battalions of cavalry, infantry, and artillery, nearly 80,000 men. More than 50 battalions, over 20,000 troops, advanced to the front lines. Because the march required detours around vast deserts and water for men and horses was difficult to secure, the advance had to proceed in stages. In May, two columns converged, captured Dihua, pacified the northern route, and then turned south. In the second year, Turpan was recovered, and the remnants of Yaqub Beg’s forces fled to Kashgar. In just over a year, Zuo Zongtang recovered eight cities in southern Xinjiang and regained all Xinjiang territory except Ili. Leftover regions across Xinjiang built shrines to Zuo Gong, burning incense and paying homage.

4. Russian occupation of Ili and extortion

In 1871, Russia took advantage of the Yaqub Beg rebellion to send troops into Xinjiang and occupy Ili, declaring that “Ili shall forever be under Russian administration.” At the same time, it claimed this was merely to “stabilize border order” and that, since the rebellion had not yet been suppressed, Russia was temporarily restoring order on China’s behalf and would return the territory once Dihua and other cities were recovered. Unexpectedly, the Qing army did indeed retake Dihua. Zuo Zongtang seized upon this justification, emphasizing that Russia had previously promised to return Ili, and therefore insisted that the issue be resolved through diplomacy.

5. Russian troop movements; Zuo Zongtang prepares coffins

Russia, however, declared that Ili would only be returned after China ceded territory, paid indemnities, and opened trade. Zuo Zongtang memorialized the throne: “In these negotiations, the Russians seek extortion. We must first employ courtesy, then force. If Tsarist Russia persists in its obstinacy, we should resort to arms.” Cixi sent Zeng Jize as envoy to Russia to renegotiate the treaty. Zuo Zongtang stationed his forces in Hami as rear support, claiming a royal army of 40,000 men, providing strong backing for the Sino-Russian negotiations. At the same time, he transported coffins to Hami, demonstrating his determination to fight to the death to recover Ili.

6. The signing of the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty

Upon hearing this, Russia hurriedly reinforced its troops in Ili and dispatched naval fleets to patrol at sea. Ultimately, however, Russia yielded at the negotiating table, returned Ili, and concluded the Sino-Russian Ili Treaty. Only territory west of Ili was ceded, and China paid an indemnity of 5 million taels of silver, while recovering nine cities in Ili. Zuo Zongtang expressed satisfaction with the treaty: “Ili is fully returned; boundary affairs suffer no loss.” He then seized the opportunity to memorialize for the establishment of Xinjiang as a province, restoring vitality, improving administration, and moving the political center to Dihua. In 1884, Xinjiang was formally established as a province, with Dihua as its capital.

7. Three years to recover Xinjiang; establishment of the province with Dihua as capital; effective governance

After three years of extraordinary hardship, Zuo Zongtang regained Xinjiang. Liang Qichao praised him as “the greatest man in five hundred years.”

During his western expedition, Zuo Zongtang built armies while also constructing bridges and roads along the way. He ordered willow trees to be planted along the routes; within a few years, the “Willows of Zuo Gong” stretched endlessly. A poem says:

“Ten-foot pines line ten thousand miles of mountains;
Three thousand miles of newly planted willows,
Drawing the spring wind beyond the Jade Gate Pass.”

When suppressing Hong Xiuquan’s Taiping forces, Zuo Zongtang often differed sharply with Zeng Guofan. The two had many frictions, and Zuo would scold even Zeng’s old subordinates without restraint. One such subordinate, irritated, said: “His reasoning is unsound, his arguments incomplete; my ears have grown calloused from hearing him.” Zeng Guofan knew he was often scolded by Zuo, yet he “neither saw nor heard, neither arose nor perished,” and did not take it to heart.

8. Li Hongzhang’s elegiac couplet: “Thirty years of engagement, for the sake of the realm we mourn you”

Li Hongzhang had opposed the western expedition to Xinjiang and differed politically from Zuo Zongtang. After Zuo’s death, Li wrote an elegiac couplet: “For thirty years we contended, harmonious yet different, proud yet not boastful—only you truly understood me;

Illuminated by imperial edicts from the Nine Heavens, civil in governing within, martial in governing without—for the sake of the world, we mourn you.”

9. Zeng Guofan: “The state is fortunate to have Zuo Zongtang”

Zeng Guofan said: “In matters of warfare, I am not the equal of Zuo Zongtang. In loyalty to the state, Jigao stands foremost. The state is fortunate to have Zuo Zongtang.” Zeng was one year older than Zuo. In cultivation of character, he may have been superior; in combat, both were extraordinarily brave, though their methods differed.

Zuo Zongtang composed a couplet for himself: “With not half an acre to my name, my heart worries for the world; Having read through ten thousand volumes, my spirit communes with the ancients.”