] Each evening, thousands of Americans drift into Chinese
] restaurants or, if they are too lazy to go out, pick up
] the phone and order one of the most popular dishes on the
] menu: General Tso's Chicken, a sugary-spicy melange of
] dark-meat tidbits, deep-fried then fired up with ginger,
] garlic, sesame oil, scallions and hot chili peppers.
]
] Not one in 10,000 knows who General Tso (most commonly
] pronounced "sow") was, nor what terrible times he lived
] through, nor the dark massacres that distinguished his
] baleful, belligerent career. Setting their chopsticks
] aside, patting their stomachs, the satisfied diners spare
] scarcely a thought for General Tso, except to imagine
] that he must have been a great connoisseur of hot
] stir-fried chicken.
]
] Who was he?

Who Was General Tso And Why Are We Eating His Chicken? (washingtonpost.com)