錢穆《中國近三百年學術史》對於曾國藩推崇備至。對此，現有研究多歸因於曾氏傳承程朱理學，與錢穆「崇宋尊朱」的門戶之見，同聲相感。此固言之有據，但或有更能呼應時代脈動的意涵。因此，本文指出錢穆認同曾氏之宋學傾向，不僅只是門戶偏私之情，更著眼於宋代「明體」與「達用」合一，「盛德」與「大業」不二的政治理想。異於中國傳統政治思想，西化憲政制度背後的預設，是對執政者道德的高度懷疑，在孔門四科的「德行」之外，另有一套訴諸法律的「專業政治學」。錢穆難免將當身時代意識，投射於曾國藩身上，並藉此質疑：西方政治尚法律，但仍有宗教擔負修身成聖的使命，在宗教氣氛較淡薄的中國，政治能否全盤西化？最後，本文並對錢穆政治觀點之得失，稍作評論。

Current studies have pointed out the reason why Qian Mu (1895-1990) showed admiration for Zeng Guofan (1811-1872) in his Chinese Academics History of the Recent 300 Years (Zhongguo Jin Sanbainian Xueshushi) was that Zeng’s academic tradition followed Cheng Zhu Lixue (Cheng-Zhu Learning). Such tradition coincided with Qian’s standpoints about the “Han Song Men Hu Zhi Jian” (Han-Songs factions). This explanation is credible, but has not taken into account the historical context of Qian’s contemporary scholarship. This article demonstrates that Qian’s admiration originated not only from his favor on Zheng’s training of Song Xue (Song Learning), but also from the political ideal of the two unions of Ming Ti and Da Yong and Sheng De and Da Ye in the Song Dynasty. Unlike the traditional Chinese political thought, the rationale of the western constitutionalism implied strong suspicion of rulers’ morality. In China, “Professional Political Principles” could be a solution on a matter of laws in addition to “Morality (one of the four branches of Confucian scholarship).” It was unavoidable that Qian Mu had projected the historical context of his own time into his comments on Zeng Guofan’s work and raised questions accordingly. The western politics valued laws. Additionally, religions functioned as a device to enhance morality. On the contrary, China was less religious. How could the politics of China be completely westernized? At the end, this study made comments on the strengths and weaknesses of Qian Mu’s political viewpoints.