The evaluation of historical figures has always been a very complicated issue, and different people have different views. The differences on Zeng Guofan's evaluation are more prominent. Zeng Guofan had both the title of "the first minister of ZTE" and the emblem of "shaved his head", "increased butcher" and "traitor" before his death. After Zeng Guofan's death, the Qing government called him "learning from time to time, achieving great things, serving the country faithfully and saving energy in first frost"; However, some people say that he advocates the "on-the-spot justice system" and promotes the trend of "pulling away the accumulated disadvantages", "controlling foreigners with foreigners", "killing people to cede territory" and pleasing foreigners, which is actually the "chief culprit" that brings disaster to the country and the people. The reason for these one-sided comments is that people evaluate Zeng Guofan with their own eyes and do not put themselves in Zeng Guofan's position.

Zeng Guofan (1811-1872) is one of the most influential figures in the history of China. He lived in a turbulent era when the Qing Dynasty changed from prosperity of Ganjia to decline, and domestic troubles and foreign invasion followed. Thanks to the efforts of Zeng Guofan and others,

Under the situation of "rejuvenating the country with the same governance", Zeng Guofan was the focus of this transitional period and had a significant impact on politics, military affairs, culture and economy. This influence not only played a role at that time, but also continued to this day. Thus making him the most prominent and controversial historical figure in modern China.

Do you offer more things than before? This is a very important criterion for evaluating historical figures. There is no doubt that Zeng Guofan has high attainments in academic and moral articles. The question is, have these achievements surpassed our predecessors? In what way did you surpass your predecessors? This is worthy of serious study.

Therefore, only by realistic analysis of the above three key issues can we have a clear understanding and identification of this controversial figure who has both the reputation of "the first minister of ZTE" and the notoriety of "traitor".

A person's historical role and position are various, even in an event and a movement. From different angles, it will show different colors and have different meanings in the eyes of future generations in different times. There will be different Zeng Guofan in the eyes of different people in different periods.

Next, according to the sequence of Zeng Guofan's activities on the historical stage, this paper analyzes several major historical activities of Zeng Guofan and their functions.

First, the merits and demerits of suppressing the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

The plaintiff said that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement suppressed by Zeng Guofan was the first bourgeois national democratic revolutionary movement in China's modern history, which represented the political demands of the people of China against feudalism and foreign aggression, and its general direction was progressive and its nature was just. Therefore, Zeng Guofan committed a great crime.

The speaker said, "Zeng Guofan defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and avoided the retrogression of China's history to the dark period of theocracy", which should be affirmed.

Xiang Army, represented by Zeng Guofan, realized the historical task of unifying and rebuilding the social order in China and restoring and developing the social productive forces in China. Its historical merits are self-evident.

Second, Zeng Guofan was the enlightener of China's modernization.

I think the Westernization Movement is the earliest modernization movement in the history of China. Zeng Guofan was the initiator, advocate and earliest practitioner of the Westernization Movement.

(1) He led the establishment of the first modern military factory in China-Anqing Inner Ordnance Institute.

(2) Zeng Guofan was not satisfied with making modern ship guns by hand. 1865, the first batch of machines directly purchased by China from the west were bought back from the American Park Denan Company.

(3) Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang * * * founded Jiangnan Machinery Manufacturing Bureau, and established the first large-scale modern factory using machines in China, which laid the foundation for modern industry in China.

(4) Zeng Guofan promoted the development of science and technology and the modernization of education in China.

(5) Zeng Guofan promoted China's naval construction.

At this point, we can see that Zeng Guofan not only started China's modernization movement, but also made China take a very important step on the road to modernization.

Zeng Guofan made great achievements in literature and Neo-Confucianism, and enjoyed a high reputation and status in the literary world of the Qing Dynasty. He has made great contributions to academic research and family management and can set an example for future generations. He also made achievements in running the army, which influenced later generations. Even Mao Zedong said, "Only serve Ceng Wenzheng". These are all known, needless to say.

In short, Zeng Guofan stepped onto the historical stage from the last performance that angered Emperor Xianfeng, showing a feeling of worrying about the country and the people. He suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and made meritorious deeds. Under the guise of his hand, history made a choice between the two feudal regimes in the north and the south. Zeng Guofan initiated the Westernization Movement, which integrated China's historical movement with the world modernization movement. The history of China has thus entered a new stage. No matter how hard the pace of history is, history is not retrogression, but progress. Zeng Guofan started modernization and promoted historical development, which was his progress. Zeng Guofan did not advocate using foreigners to help suppress, but strongly advocated the dissolution of the poplar fleet. In the process of dealing with Tianjin religious plans, he not only advocated maintaining peace and avoiding new war disasters, but also stood on the position of national justice, which is his patriotic side. Therefore, although Zeng Guofan has certain historical sins, his historical position should be classified as a progressive patriot in modern times, and his importance was almost unparalleled in the first 60 years of China's modern history.

Regarding Zeng Guofan's overall evaluation, someone once said, "Zeng Guofan's great achievements are known as the' Zhongxing famous minister' in the late Qing Dynasty, and he founded Westernization. He deserves to be the leader of the Westernization School, and his works are rich. He can be regarded as a scholar, studying ancient literary works, managing the army well and deploying properly, comparable to ancient military strategists, supporting troops without self-respect, being flexible and modest, and taking retreat as progress. Being honest in politics, applying what they have learned, loving their jobs and setting an example, is worthy of being a blue sky, managing their families and caring for their children, and is a model for future generations. " It can be seen that Zeng Guofan's position in the hearts of future generations.