Meaning: If the family maintains the tradition of frugality, it will prosper. People can stay healthy if they stay hardworking. If the family can be diligent and frugal, then life will never be poor.

From - Zeng Guofan's sixteen-character family motto: A frugal family will prosper, and a diligent person will be healthy; if you can be diligent and frugal, you will never be poor.

Explanation: Diligent, frugal, realistic and eager to learn. Zeng Guofan had a very profound understanding of the words "diligence" and "thrift". If a person can succeed, a family can continue. The most important thing to know is: when you are rich, you must not be dissolute, and when you are poor, you must not be degenerate.

Extended information:

Manage the household with frugality. Zeng Guofan has always asked his family to live frugally and stay away from luxury. In the capital, he saw that the children of the aristocratic family were blindly extravagant, corrupt and squandering, so he refused to allow his children to live in the capital. His first wife has been living with her children in her hometown in the countryside, and plaques with the words "Prime Minister's Mansion" or "Hou Mansion" are not allowed to be hung outside the door.

Zeng Guofan demanded that he "lead his subjects with integrity, run his family with frugality, and vowed not to use any military money to support his family." His wife had no money at home, so she cooked and weaved herself.

Be diligent in your studies. In addition to "frugality", Zeng Guofan's other requirement for his children is "diligence". Zeng Guofan insisted on writing letters to his children, correcting poems and essays for them, and discussing various issues in their studies and life. He wrote to his son Zeng Jize, asking him to dress neatly after getting up every day, greet his uncle and uncle first, clean the whole house before sitting down to read, and practice 1,000 words every day.

Zeng Guofan also urged his family to study every day and made strict study plans for the whole family many times.

Attach importance to tutoring. Zeng Guofan had three sons and five daughters. His youngest daughter, Zeng Jifen, lived the longest, living to the age of 91. In 1875, Zeng Jifen married into the Nie family in Hunan. Zeng Guofan stipulated that when each daughter gets married, the dowry should not exceed 200 taels of silver. At the same time, the dowry should also include a homework sheet written by her father. Zeng Guofan wanted to train his daughter to be a diligent and thrifty housewife. In fact, her daughter did better than her father expected.

China Civilization Network—Zeng Guofan’s Sixteen-Character Family Instructions