When it comes to family tradition, Zeng Guofan has to mention it. Zeng Guofan once left a sixteen-character motto about family tradition: Being frugal at home will make you rich, being thrifty at home will make you healthy; being frugal and thrifty will never make you poor. Diligence, thrift, learning, and pragmatism have always been passed down by the descendants of the Zeng family.

Zeng Guofan has always asked his family to live frugally and stay away from luxury. In Beijing, he saw the extravagant, corrupt and extravagant children of aristocratic families and refused to let their children live in Beijing.

His first wife has been living in her hometown in the countryside with her children, and she is not allowed to visit the Xiang Mansion and the Hou Mansion outside the door. Zeng Guofan asked him to be honest and be thrifty. He vowed not to send money to his family in the army. My wife’s family has no money, so she cooks and weaves by herself.

In addition to frugality, Zeng Guofan’s other requirement for his children is diligence. Zeng Guofan insisted on writing letters to his children, changing poems for them, and discussing various issues in study and life.

He wrote a letter to his son Zeng Jize, asking him to dress neatly after getting up every day, greet his uncles and uncles first, clean all the houses before sitting down to study, 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: My family man is indispensable for reading, reading, writing, and writing. Women's clothing, food, coarse and fine are indispensable.