Zeng Guofan was born in Xiangxiang County (now Shuangfeng County), Hunan Province. In the 16th year of Jiaqing in Qing Dynasty (18 1 1), he was born in a farming family in a remote valley. He is diligent and studious all his life, inspiring himself with the words "diligence" and "constancy" and educating his sons and nephews. As the saying goes, "all diseases are born of laziness, and laziness makes everything slack." He seized every opportunity to study, and he couldn't put it down until the day before his death.
In the winter of the 22nd year of Daoguang (1842), Zeng Guofan made himself twelve rules of reading every day. They are:
First, the main respect: neat and serious, clear and clear, such as rising;
Second, sit still: sit still for four hours at any time every day and stay in a suitable place, such as Zhending;
Third, get up early: get up at dawn, and don't fall in love after waking up;
Fourth, reading is the only way: if you haven't finished reading a book, don't read his book;
5. Reading history: reading twenty-three histories, circling ten pages every day, although something is uninterrupted;
Sixth, be careful: pay attention to the moment, the first time;
Seven, nourishing qi: gas storage demonstration, nothing to say to people;
Eight, protect yourself: save labor, abstinence, diet;
Nine, heaven knows the earth: read books every day and record your thoughts;
Ten, the month does not forget what it can: write a few poems every month to test the amount of accumulation and nourish the spirit;
XI。 Writing: write for half an hour after meals;
Twelve, don't go out at night.
Of Zeng Guofan's twelve reading rules, the first three are to prepare for reading. Articles 4, 5, 9, 10, 1 1 are reading methods; Rules 6, 7, 8 and 12 seem to have little to do with reading, but in essence they require you to concentrate on reading well, so these seemingly unrelated rules are important means to ensure reading quality.
In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), Zeng Guofan was busy with military affairs and decided to review old books, read new books, pay off foreign debts (referring to poetry debts and word debts) and write notes. In the first year of Tongzhi (1862), he served as governor of the two rivers. He was busy with military and political affairs during the day and still read poetry at night. He kept a diary from the first day of the first month in the 19th year of Daoguang (1839) to the second day of February in the 11th year of Tongzhi (1872), which lasted for several decades.
He is not only diligent in reading, but also good at reading and getting to the point. He once said: "Although there are many volumes, only a few words are mentioned." His views are extremely incisive. Zeng Guofan paid attention to digestion and induction in reading, thus putting forward his own accurate opinions.
He attaches great importance to taking reading notes. Besides history, he often takes notes at will, which makes his reading both profound and useful. Zeng Guofan once said, "You can't remember uncommon words and elegant lessons unless you copy them by hand." Zeng Guofan likes reading history and has written several volumes of memorabilia of past dynasties as an important reading method.
Zeng Guofan's reading characteristics are: there are courses in daily classes and perseverance; Seek to keep promises, regardless of doors; Good at generalization; Learn from each other's strengths and keep pace with the times. Zeng Guofan's reading experience still has positive reference significance for today's scholars.