Original text:

Yu Tong has been an official for more than 30 years, but his studies have been successful, and his virtue is not allowed. His eldest brother was injured again and he was ashamed. I want to say goodbye to you now, and I want to teach you four things.

I am cautious and independent. Self-study is not difficult to cultivate the mind; It is difficult to raise your heart, but you should also be cautious. You can be cautious, introspective and innocent, and you can geological ghosts and gods. No one is ashamed, then the heavenly king will be calm. This heart is always agile and broad-minded, which is the first way to strengthen yourself, to have fun and to keep fit.

Two days of worship will make you strong. The interior is quiet and pure, and the exterior is neat and serious. When you respect it; When you go out, you will see the distinguished guests and let the people bear the big sacrifices and respect the sky; It is also effective to repair and protect the people, and the world is peaceful and respectful. Smart and wise, all from this. Zhuang Jing is strong every day, and Anse steals every day. There are many people, no matter how big or small,-respect, dare not neglect. If you are strong, why do you doubt it?

Third, seeking benevolence makes people happy. Every mortal's life is shaped by the principle of heaven and earth and the qi of heaven and earth. I have the same roots as the people. If you know yourself but don't know what others love, it is wrong to do the same thing. As for respecting officials and being generous, saving the people's lake and saving the people from hunger, this is the responsibility. Never forget the past, the teacher of the future has both the responsibility of perception and the responsibility of perception. Confucius taught people that benevolent people are extremely hard, and the most important thing is not to try to establish people and talk a lot. Who is not happy to return home when he has become a great event?

Fourth, learning to work is a god. What a person wears in a day is commensurate with what he does in a day, so others will do it, and ghosts and gods will allow him to think that he is independent. If farmers weave girls all the year round and work hard to make a few feet of cloth, and rich families are happy all the year round and don't run businesses, but the food will be delicious and the clothes will be gorgeous, the world will be the most uneven, and ghosts and gods will not allow it. Can it last? The ancient sages always encouraged themselves. For a plan, you must practice your skills, hone your bones and muscles, walk in difficulties and worry about dangers, so that you can increase your wisdom and knowledge. If you plan for the world, you will be starved and drowned, and you will not get a husband, which will lead to ancient jade. Dayu and Mozi were extremely frugal in serving themselves and saving the people. Diligence leads to longevity, and evasion leads to death. Diligence leads to the use of material, and evasion leads to the abandonment of hard work. Diligence leads to people's learning and admiration, while evasion does not help people, and ghosts don't care.

These four articles are the fruits of ten years in other parts of the world. If your brother remembers the trip and passes it on to his children and grandchildren, Yu Zeng's family will live forever and have talents.

Translation:

I have been an official for more than 30 years, and my official position has reached the highest level. However, I have made no achievements in my studies, and my virtue is nothing to boast of. When I get old, I will only be sad, frightened and ashamed. Now I want to say goodbye to you forever, and I want to teach your brothers the following four things.

First, when a person is alone, his thoughts, words and actions are cautious, so that he can feel at ease and take his time. The most difficult thing to cultivate one's morality is to cultivate one's mind. The most difficult thing to cultivate one's mind is to think carefully, speak carefully and act cautiously when one is alone. If you can be careful in your thoughts, words and actions when you are alone, you can have a clear conscience and live up to the conscience of heaven, earth and ghosts. Question. If a person doesn't do anything guilty when he is alone, then he will feel very stable, and his mood will often be very happy, satisfied, relieved and safe. Think, say and do carefully (when you are alone) is the best road to self-improvement, the way to find happiness in life, and the basis to remain honest.

Second, subjective respect for people and things can make you physically and mentally strong. Being single-minded, quiet, neat in appearance and strict in attitude is a respectful way to treat people, things and things: going out is like visiting a distinguished guest, just like the respectful way shown by ordinary people when they worship their ancestors. This is an atmosphere of respect for people and things. If you want to appease the people with your own knowledge, you must be meticulous and respectful to convince the people. This is the effect of being respectful to people and things. Smart people and witty people can always leave a good impression on others, because they can be respectful to people and things. Subjectively, serious respect for people and things will become stronger every day. Subjectively, arrogance and rudeness towards people, things and things will disappear every day. Kill yourself. If you can be respectful to a person or a group of people, big or small, and dare not relax or neglect at all, is your physical and mental strength still questionable?

Third, paying attention to kindness can convince people. People's life in the world is based on the mechanism of heaven and earth to achieve their own character, and it is based on the breath of heaven and earth. In order to achieve my own image, I (referring to Zeng Guofan) have the same meaning to the endless life compared with ordinary people. If I (referring to Zeng Guofan) only know selfishness, but I don't know how to care for the people and cherish things, then I will violate or even abandon the infinite meaning of life. As for those high-ranking officials who enjoy generous salaries, they are above all others, so they should assume the responsibility of saving people from drowning and hunger. After reading ancient books and learning the thoughts of the ancients, you have the responsibility to vigorously publicize the correct thoughts of the ancients that you have learned in ancient books. Confucius' Confucian education requires children to be kind, and the most fundamental thing to be kind is achievement. You must achieve others first. If you want to be rich, you must be rich first. Can make others rich. Man, how can you make people submit to him without persuasion?

Fourth, hard work and Schiller's labor can make the gods admire. If a person's clothes and food can match the intensity of what he does during the day, he will be recognized by others and ghosts and gods. Great, this is because he is eating it himself. If ordinary men plow fields and women weave fabrics, they will earn a few loads of grain and pieces of cloth all year round, while rich young masters are carefree and do nothing all year round, eating delicacies and wearing brocade. He slept like a pig after being drunk. When he wakes up, people will passively meow at him. This is the most unfair thing in the world. Even ghosts and gods will not allow him (a rich man) to behave like this. Can a rich family be so comfortable and happy for a long time? In ancient times, wise emperors and ministers all took hard work as their motto and always inspired themselves. From the point of personal consumption, we should make great efforts to practice the machine >: technical skills, actively exercise, redouble our efforts to study knowledge when we feel that we have too little knowledge, be prepared for danger in times of peace, and increase our talents by increasing our knowledge. For the sake of the common people in the world, we should feed and clothe them, make them no longer in dire straits, let them receive education, and stop having their own opinions like wormwood by the water. These are all our responsibilities. Dayu and Mozi mostly advocate that personal life should be very frugal, but they should work very hard and make themselves well fed. Those who work hard live longer, and those who enjoy leisure live shorter. Hard-working people can come in handy because they often take part in social labor and learn talents. People who enjoy leisure will be eliminated by society because they never take part in social labor and have no talent. A hard-working person can create wealth for the society and bring benefits to others, so that all gods admire and admire his behavior. A person who loves leisure and enjoyment cannot create wealth for society and bring benefits to others, so that ghosts and gods are disgusted with his behavior.

These four articles are accumulated from my decades of life. Your brothers should remember, carry it out and pass it on to future generations. In this way, our Zeng family can last forever and have talents from generation to generation.