Editing Li Hongzhang (section)

===Early life and career===
Li was born into a [[Scholar-official|scholar-gentry]] family in Qunzhi Village ({{lang|zh-hant|群治村}}), Modian Township ({{lang|zh-hant|磨店鄉}}), {{convert|14|km|mi}} northeast of central [[Hefei]], [[Anhui|Anhui Province]], China. In 1843, he sat for the entry-level [[imperial examination]] in [[Lu Prefecture (Anhui)|Lu Prefecture]] and obtained a ''yougong'' ({{lang|zh-hant|優貢}}; or ''gongsheng'' {{lang|zh-hant|貢生}}) position. His father, who was serving as an official in the imperial capital [[Beijing]],{{sfn|Liu|1970|p=7}} was eager to see his son succeed, so he encouraged his son to come to [[Shuntian Prefecture]] to take the district-level examination. Li then travelled to Beijing. Along the way, he wrote ten poems under the collection ''Entering the Capital'' ({{lang|zh-hant|入都}}) to express his feelings.

In 1844, Li obtained a ''juren'' ({{lang|zh-hant|舉人}}) position in the district-level examination,{{sfn|Liu|1970|p=7-8}} but failed to make it in the metropolitan-level examination. He then started taking classes under [[Zeng Guofan]].<!--{{sfn|Liu|1970|p=7-8}}--> In 1847, he sat for the metropolitan-level examination again and obtained a ''jinshi'' ({{lang|zh-hant|進士}}) position at the young age of 24, and was admitted to the [[Hanlin Academy]] as a [[shujishi]] ({{lang|zh-hant|庶吉士}}).<!--{{sfn|Liu|1970|p=7-8}}--> At the same time, he also continued taking classes under Zeng Guofan to improve his knowledge. Three years later, he took the ''sanguan'' ({{lang|zh-hant|散館}}) examination in the academy and earned the position of a ''bianxiu'' ({{lang|zh-hant|編修}}; an editor).{{sfn|Liu|1970|p=8}}