re: Another Historical Photos Thread

Zuo Zongtang, Marquis Kejing (also romanised as Tso Tsung-t'ang; [tsw?` ts?´?t????]; 10 November 1812 – 5 September 1885), sometimes referred to as General Tso, was a Chinese statesman and military leader of the late Qing dynasty.[1]


This guy was named after my favorite Chinese dish - General Tso's chicken.




Photograph of Zuo Zongtang, late 19th century


Born in Xiangyin County, Hunan Province, Zuo sat for the imperial examination in his youth but obtained only a juren degree. He then spent his time studying agriculture, geography and military strategy

In 1851, he started his career in the Qing military by participating in the campaign against the Taiping Rebellion.

In 1862, he was recommended by Zeng Guofan to serve as the provincial governor of Zhejiang Province. During his term, he coordinated Qing forces to attack the Taiping rebels with support from British and French forces

For this success, he was promoted to Viceroy of Min-Zhe.

After capturing Hangzhou from the Taiping rebels in 1864, he was enfeoffed as a first class count

In 1866, as part of the Qing government's Self-Strengthening Movement, Zuo oversaw the construction of the Fuzhou Arsenal and naval academy. That same year, he was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Shaan-Gan, where he oversaw industrialisation in Gansu Province.

In 1867, he was appointed as an Imperial Commissioner in charge of military affairs in Gansu.

During his term as Imperial Commissioner in Gansu, he participated in the suppression of the Nian Rebellion.

In 1875, he was appointed Imperial Commissioner again to supervise military action against the Dungan Revolt. By the late 1870s, he had crushed the Dungan Revolt and recaptured Xinjiang Province from rebel forces.

In 1875, the Guangxu Emperor made an extraordinary exception by awarding Zuo a jinshi degree – even though Zuo never achieved this in the imperial examination – and appointing him to the Hanlin Academy. In 1878, in recognition of his achievements, Zuo was promoted from a first class count to a second class marquis.

He was reassigned to serve as the Viceroy of Liangjiang in 1881 and appointed to the Grand Council in 1884, before being made an Imperial Commissioner again to oversee naval affairs.

While Zuo is best known outside China for his military exploits, he also made contributions to Chinese agricultural science and education. In particular, he promoted cotton cultivation to northwestern China as a replacement for cash opium and established a large-scale modern press in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces which published Confucian classics and newer works on agricultural science.[2]

The dish General Tso's chicken in American Chinese cuisine was named in honour of Zuo.

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Beatniks Protest Fire Department Actions

Beatniks Rafio, his wife, Pat, and Judy Foster organize an "Anti-Fire Department" protest at the Bizarre, their coffee shop which had been closed down as a fire hazard.

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Get a fricking job, hippies.

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Elton John, Dodgers Stadium, Los Angeles, CA 1975

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man, wish i could have been there

whut?

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After capturing Hangzhou from the Taiping rebels in 1864, he was enfeoffed as a first class count

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1) I had no idea that there was a word "enfeoffed".

2) I've known plenty of first class counts.

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enfeoffed

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not worth much in scrabble

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

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When a railway line was being constructed in Uganda in 1898, two lions were responsible for curbing its progression by killing the construction company’s employees at night.
The final casualty count was found to be 135.

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The movie The Ghost and the Darkness was based upon these events

Yep. Training for Apollo 1. Gus Grissom, Roger B. Chaffee and Ed White can be seen in this photo. All three later killed in flash fire on the pad at the Cape. It lead to massive redesign of the Apollo capsule to block 2 version, which was much safer.

Lenin's eyes pop out of that photo. Scary