Zeng Guofan (181-1872), formerly known as Zicheng, Bo Han and Sheng Di, is one of the most influential figures in China history. His life, his wisdom and his thoughts have deeply influenced generations of China people, so that people still talk about Zeng Guofan even though he has been dead for more than one hundred years. Some critics say: Zeng Guofan is the last person in China's ancient history, and the first person in modern history, if dating by numbers. This sentence summarizes Zeng Guofan's personal role and influence from a certain angle. He is also the most prominent and controversial figure in modern China. Zeng Guofan was born in a landlord family in the Qing Dynasty. Although he is stupid since he was a child, he is diligent and studious. He entered this school at the age of six. At the age of 8, I can read stereotyped writing and recite five classics; 65,438+04 years old, able to read Selected Works of Zhou Li and Historical Records; In the same year, I took the boys' exam in Changsha and got excellent results. He lived in a turbulent time when the Qing Dynasty was from prosperity to decline, with internal troubles and foreign invasion. He is homeless and has no foundation. However, with his own efforts, he gained fame under the feudal imperial examination system and embarked on his official career. He successively served as a lecturer in Jishi Shu, imperial academy, a bachelor in Wen Yuan Pavilion and a bachelor in Cabinet, and inspected China Affairs, Assistant Minister of Rites, Ministry of War and Ministry of Industry. Throughout his life, he pursued patience first, advocated thrift in everything and was not proud of being an official. He cultivated self-discipline, sought officials by virtue, put courtesy first, and sought politics by loyalty, and achieved great success in officialdom. The rise of Zeng Guofan had a far-reaching impact on the politics, military affairs, culture and economy of the Qing Dynasty. Zeng Guofan was the first person who really "opened his eyes to see the world" and actively practiced it in the history of China. At Zeng Guofan's initiative, he built the first ship in China, founded the first ordnance school, printed and translated the first batch of western language books, and arranged the first batch of students studying in the United States. It can be said that Zeng Guofan was a pioneer of China's modernization. Zeng Guofan ruled the army with Confucianism, respected benevolence and righteousness, raised the Xiang army alone and established another discipline. He wrote love folk songs, which made the soldiers of Xiang army make a difference. His article "Begging Guangdong Bandits" encouraged many intellectuals to take off their robes and join the battle with Taiping Army voluntarily. He suppressed the peasant uprising in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and made the Qing Dynasty survive. He studied western culture, purged the political style, "saved the disadvantages of the times" and was ambitious, which contributed to the emergence of "Tongzhi Zhongxing" in the late Qing Dynasty. He is sincere in convincing others, avoiding disasters, paying attention to etiquette and being cautious, and weaving the strongest network of relationships. He knows how to make good use of people's abilities and talents, and recommended as many as 1000 subordinates, including more than 40 from the official to the governor. He realized the great cause of Confucianism's self-cultivation and ruling the country, made great achievements and made the words of "three immortals". His official position rose the fastest. Within ten years, he jumped seven levels in a row. At the age of 37, he was promoted to the second grade. Only Zeng Guofan of the Qing Dynasty can have this honor. He is the most stable official. He has served three generations of kings, Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi, for 34 years, and his trust remains unchanged. He is the best official, with outstanding political voice. He has a saying of governing the country and reassuring the people, so he has the reputation of "Zeng Guofan in politics and Hu Xueyan in business". He is a gentleman who studies, while Ming Dow is a scholar, quiet and far-reaching, who looks down on gains and losses. His father is kind and filial, his brother is respectful and has a good family education. His letters from home are a model of family education in ancient China.
As an outstanding figure of his time, he also has his own human side. After being defeated by Taiping Army, he committed suicide by jumping into the river twice. When he failed, he was laughed at by the people of the current dynasty and his self-esteem was greatly hurt. His later success was accumulated on the basis of previous failures. As a man, he is also lewd, which is recorded in his diary. When he heard that his friend had married a beautiful concubine with a pretty face and peach blossoms, he insisted on meeting her even though his friend was very unhappy. After seeing her, he was even more frivolous in person. After returning home, he regretted it very much in his diary. This also shows the true side of Zeng Guofan's human nature.
The theoretical system of Zeng Guofan's family education is: taking the Eight Classics as the classics, taking the Eight Treasures as the latitude, interspersed with four key words, three auspicious words and three unbelievers, the latitude and longitude are coherent, and the context is connected, forming a complete theoretical system of family management; This theory is different from China's traditional core idea of educating future generations, and it opposes the theory that famous family trainers such as Confucius, Mencius, Zhu Xi and Yan Shi have always adhered to and put into practice. It is of great practical significance to the educational confusion faced by almost every family in today's society.
Zeng Guofan is quite insightful about the way of making friends. He believes that it is important to be generous to make friends, and to "be honest and upright, compromise and be tolerant, but be selfless and suspicious." "Don't take advantage of people. Don't take other people's money seriously. " Brainstorm, listen without being deaf. "The way to observe people is to be ethical but not bureaucratic, organize more and talk less." In terms of life, Zeng Guofan believes that "in this troubled times, the poorer the better." As a senior official, "it is always good to have less money and less production." "forbearance is the first priority for officials", "virtue is damaged by fullness, and happiness is reduced by arrogance". Men must be careful with the word "light". "It is not particularly rich and famous. The prosperity of his family name is determined by heaven, that is, whether the virtue of learning is established is mostly related to heaven. Just laugh it off." "Don't do your own work, don't do your own fame", "The sooner you retire, the better". Zeng Guofan wrote twelve proverbs, which basically summarized his way of making friends in life.
well-known saying
1, doing good is the happiest thing, as Dont Ask For Help knows. The worst thing is fear of being known. 2, life is stupid, and you can't listen well. The worst thing in life is talking about others. 3. The best thing in the world is nothing more attractive than good. The reason why sages are sages is just to attract people from all over the world to do good. 4. Don't be patient when things come, and be prepared when you don't want to move. Is to think about hiding, is to think about prevention, such as fire overflow, obstacles are difficult. 5, high-skilled articles, good students, enough to become famous, not good students, enough to get into trouble. 6. Being sheltered is an adult, being sheltered is a villain. 7. Or how proud a talented person is and how incompetent Yu Yueao is. 8. A gentleman is full of justice, so he enjoys it. Little people are full of human desires, so they take pleasure in getting them. You can't stop wanting, so you can't stop worrying. Reason is everywhere, so it's fun to be present. Be happy and be reasonable. Indulge in pleasure and trouble will follow.
[Hobbies: smoking and playing Go.