Luo Bingzhang

Luo Bingzhang
Viceroy of Sichuan
In office 1860–1867
Personal details
Born	(1793-01-09)January 9, 1793 Xiangxiang, Guangdong
Died	September 1, 1867(1867-09-01) (aged 74)

Luo Bingzhang (Chinese: 駱秉章, courtesy names Yumen 籲門 and Ruzhai 儒齋; Posthumous name: Wenzhong 文忠; (January 9, 1793 – September 1, 1867) was an eminent Han Chinese official, military general, and devout Confucian scholar of the late Qing Dynasty in China.

Luo raised the Green Standard Army and helped create the Xiang Army to fight effectively against the Taiping Rebellion and restore the stability of the Qing Dynasty. He was known for his strategic perception, administrative skill, but also sometimes for his ruthlessness in the execution of his policies, he arrested Shi Dakai.

Early life

Luo was born in Hua County, Guangdong in 1793. In 1832, at age 39, he earned the Jinshi degree, the highest level of the imperial examinations, which led to his appointment to the Hanlin Academy, a body of outstanding Chinese literary scholars who performed literary tasks for the imperial court. Luo served in Beijing for more than 16 years.

Official Ranks

• In 1848 Vice Governor of Hubei
• In 1850–1853 Governor of Hunan
• In 1860–1867 Viceroy of Sichuan

Noted calligrapher

Luo was one of noted calligraphers in Qing Dynasty. Now stored in the Museum of Foshan.

References

• Hummel, Arthur William, ed. Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912). 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.
• Porter, Jonathan. Tseng Kuo-Fan's Private Bureaucracy. Berkeley: University of California, 1972.
• Wright, Mary Clabaugh. The Last Stand of Chinese Conservatism: The T'ung-Chih Restoration, 1862 -1874. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1957.