Zeng Guo-fan was native of Xiang Xiang village in Hunan Province born in 1811 he was three years older than Hong Xiu-quan . In highlight of his career was to lead a Xiang militia in putting down the Tai Ping rebellion. He once wrote these words. "The sound of wind the sound of rain and the sound of reading aloud are all sounds that enter the ear family affairs state affairs and world affairs all involve the heart". These famous lines were recited and passed on to subsequent generation. 

In January of 1853 the Tai Ping army invaded Hu Pai Province it power was overwhelming and the Ching court order Zeng Guo-fan to assist the governors in Hunan in organizing Province wide peoples militia. His mother had just died and he was supposed to stay at home and mourn for three years. A close friend appealed to the higher ideals of righteousness to persuade him to accept the order. He finally agreed to go to Zhang Sha to take the assignment. 

Zeng Guo-fan, Xiang militia deferred from the official imperial troops it was composed of village toughs he transferred the local force throughout the local Province into an official regiment. Zeng Guo-fan used to be unfamiliar with the training and leading of soldiers. But with much enthusing he unexpectedly trained an optional militia. 

In February 1854 Zeng Guo-fan issued van announcement titled "an urgent call to arms against the Wang tong rebels". Explains that the purpose of the Xiang militia was to protect the Confucian heritage of the Chinese people and to punish the Tai Ping army for its barbaric attempt for trying to destroy China traditional moral order. In hopes that loyal and righteousness men would rise up together to wipe out the Tai Ping army. 

After the Tai Ping army made Nan King its capitol the struggle for power between internal factions broke out and the army's disciplines deteriorated daily. Order depended solely on two general's loyal prince Lee Sha-chen and heroic prince Chen Yu-chen. In 1863 Zeng Guo-fans younger brother Song Gu Chun attacked and captures strategic points outside NanKing. In June of 1864 Hong Xiu-quan saw that he had lost his power and committed suicide by taking poison he was 52 years old. 

Zeng Guo-fan militia was the main factor in defeat of the Tai Ping army as a result it gradually took over the position of the imperial army. Zeng Guo-fan was a cautious man and feared that his glory would alarm those in power so he disbanded the Xiang militia effectively avoiding destructive gossip.