Page:Tseng Kuo Fan and the Taiping Rebellion.djvu/161

 CHAPTER VII

THE EMERGENCE OF TSÊNG KUO-FAN AND ORGANISATION OF A NEW FORCE

Tsêng family, from which the hero of the Taiping Rebellion sprang, is one of the half-dozen great families of China, for it had its origin in the philosopher Tsêng, who was one of the greatest disciples of Confucius. During the seventy generations which lay between Kuo-fan and his illustrious ancestor, his own immediate forbears had become farmers in the district of Siangsiang, Hunan, about sixty miles from Changsha. His family were in very poor circumstances financially, but their proud lineage entitled them to rank among the gentry of their countryside, and they aspired to continue the scholarly traditions of their ancestors by studying the classics in order to secure enrollment in the aristocracy of letters. Tsêng's grandfather was a practical man of affairs with a mind fixed on realities; his influence was powerful in the formation of the boy's character. His father was inclined to study, but without early success. He only secured the coveted B.A. degree in the year in which it was awarded to his eldest son — not an unusual occurrence, perhaps, and one that goes to show how great was the desire on the part of the Chinese for a literary degree.

Amid happy dreams and lucky omens Tsêng Kuo-fan was born in this poor country home on November 26, 1811. At the age of four he was set to work on his studies. Before his eighth birthday he had already studied the