清代中興名臣曾國藩、左宗棠與李鴻章，大多被合稱為「曾左李」。曾、左、李三人對推動中國近代化的努力無以否定，故本文無意冗贅介紹。惟有關「曾左李」這簡稱的由來與其內容涵義之演變則尚未見有專文詳加探討。本文旨在梳理可見的清人文本，審視「曾左李」何時見於記載，清代學人何以並連三者，以及民初知識份子對這簡稱作出何種申述等議題。本文希望透過說明「曾左李」的出現與流播，進一步展示時代、歷史文化與名詞源流發展的互動情況，並分析「曾左李」這辭彙怎樣演變成為一個時代「話語」，藉此解構不同權力怎樣爭取和掌握這話語的闡釋權。事實上，「曾左李」在不同時空下所呈現的各種評介，確能引證一些簡稱、詞組不時會隨著世局的更變而被塑造成為一些或正或負的社會標誌，甚至是鼓動民心的政治工具。從「曾左李」發展成為時代「話語」的一段歷史來看，不同政客均曾著力掌握話語的闡釋權，並嘗試主導歷史記憶，這均可彰示時代發展與話語闡釋權之間所潛在的複雜關係。

“Zeng-Zuo-Li” is an abbreviation frequently employed to categorize
three significant late Qing (1644-1912) officials, Zeng Guofan (1811-
1872), Zuo Zongtang (1812-1885) and Li Hongzhang (1823-1901). This
paper attempts to trace the provenance of the abbreviation in a variety of
historical sources. Apart from presenting a documentary survey, this study
also discusses the ideologies of using the abbreviation across scholars in
different eras and the value-judgment embodied.Simply put, after the Taiping Rebellion was wiped out by the Qing force in 1872, “Zeng-Zuo-Li” emerged as a positive and extolling expression,which symbolized “a galaxy of extraordinarily able officials” bailing the Manchu ruling house out of crisis. Not only did they put down the rebellions, but also attempted to advance the bureaucracy and restore order.Their lives, achievements, and careers were recognized as an integral part of the late Qing self-strengthening experience.However, when the Qing Empire was invaded by both Euro-American and Japanese imperialism, the meaning of the abbreviation was interpreted and construed in contradicting ways by cultural elites holding diverse,or even polarized, political biases. Contrary to the situation in the midnineteenth century, “Zeng-Zuo-Li,” in the last two decades of the Qing rule,became the metonym of a weak, corrupted and backward China. Hence, this paper argues that the evolution of the attributes and functions of “Zeng-Zuo-Li” is closely related to the study of contextualization in late imperial China.