Zeng Guofan has a wise saying: "If you are not a sage, you will be a beast; don't ask about harvest, but about hard work." This is the motto that Zeng Guofan followed throughout his life. In fact, this sentence was not originated by Zeng Guofan, but a sentence sent to Zeng Wenzhenggong by Tang Jian, Qing of Taichang Temple, a great scholar in the Qing Dynasty. In the 21st year of Daoguang's reign, he gave Zeng Guofan his "Jifu Water Conservancy" and his handwritten regular script banner "If you are not a sage, you are a beast, only concerned about farming, not about harvest. Good at transforming Tang Jian". Zeng Guofan highly praised this couplet and hung it in his room. Later, when it was included in Zeng Guofan's diary, it was slightly modified, and it became the eternal truth: "If you are not a sage, you are a beast. Don't ask about harvest, but ask about hard work."

All "fans" of Zeng Guofan like to quote this sentence very much. Liang Qichao is a typical "Zeng fan". He once said this in a letter home to his son: "I have always admired Zeng Guofan the most in my life. Zeng Wenzheng said two words: "Don't ask about the harvest, but ask about the hard work." What will you achieve in the future? What will you do if you worry about him? You can do whatever you want, and you will be able to make a lot of contributions to society. This is what I have learned all my life, and I hope you can all apply this spirit of mine." Mr. Liang Shuming also taught me. Son: "In short, your sincerity in serving the public can be seen everywhere, which means you are suitable for doing things. But you still don't know what you are going to do. Once you have made up your mind, of course you must start with this knowledge. Then you have to do, study, learn while doing, learn while doing, and work hard all your life. As for whether success lies in doing or studying, it seems that you can't control it. You can't care whether you have achieved it or not. The ancients said: 'But. Ask about hard work, not about harvest." In his collection of poems "Red Candle", Mr. Wen Yiduo also quoted "Don't ask about harvest, but ask about hard work" as the last sentence of the preface poem, which not only inspired himself but also inspired the world. It can be seen that this sentence has a very profound impact on future generations. Many heroes regard this sentence as a code of conduct.

Zeng Guofan's motto was "If you are not a sage, you are a beast; don't ask about harvest, but about hard work." In fact, it was a reminder to himself to know that "you can't do what you want, but ask for others." Zeng Guofan once said in his home letter: "If you are too ambitious, you will not be able to do anything, and you will seek others from yourself." Indeed, life requires an open-minded attitude. If everything is about fame and fortune, if everything is about "hard work" , just ask about the harvest." Then such a life will be unable to extricate itself from the whirlpool of fame and fortune, and will not be able to truly achieve anything!

So, Zeng Guofan warned his younger brothers: "As a student, we must be open-minded. When we see people with beautiful talents among our friends, we often rely on our talents and arrogance, and call others inferior to ourselves. When we see the locals being indifferent, we will scold them. If he is not good at calligraphy, he will criticize him for not being good at calligraphy. He will criticize both the room official and the examiner. To be fair, the reason why his poetry is not superior to others is that he is not special. If you are not willing to ask others for help, you will see that others are not good at it. If you scold the examiner and those who get the first pass in the exam, you will never achieve success because of your arrogance. It’s a life of poverty without making any progress.” In Zeng Guofan’s eyes, there is no benefit in complaining about others if there is no gain. Only by continuous efforts can we make progress.

Many times the harvest is like the growth of trees that cannot be seen, but with long-term accumulation, small trees can grow into towering trees. No pain, no gain, this is what we say. Therefore, Mencius said: "Cultivation of the nobility of heaven, and the nobility of human beings will follow it."