Zeng Guofan thought: "It's all about Qiang Ming's decision. The doctrine of the mean, which consists of learning, questioning, thinking, arguing and doing, should be attributed to stupidity, and softness must be strong. ..... Everything is not angry, not only bad, but also self-cultivation and family, and it must be based on light and strength. " Clarity is the premise of being strong, and it must be clear before being strong; Strong from the bright, the unknown is not strong. How can I become smart and strong? He believes that one is to become stronger from the winner; The second is to seek strength from self-study. In other words, a person should pay attention to his inner cultivation, strive to improve his quality, and gradually form the moral character of sages through accumulation, so as to be truly bright and powerful.
Clumsy, muddy and muddy means clumsy, sincere and muddy. Zeng Guofan often regards himself as "clumsy", so he advocates abandoning falsehood and worshipping clumsiness, not emphasizing mechanical strength, and breaking "cleverness" with "clumsy sincerity". Stupidity is closely related to ambiguity. Confused, unclear; It also refers to being confused and unreasonable; There are also natural meanings, such as simplicity, integrity and rough jade. Clumsy and muddleheaded are the wisdom of Zeng Guofan's personality traits. Especially in his later years, this political old man who knows the world pays more attention to the word "clumsy". He said, "Hun is not suitable." About arguing with others, you can't justify yourself; White people should not be too arbitrary about right and wrong. This ambiguous word is the most practical. "
As a stoic, Zeng Guofan often locates forbearance in the background of time and space, which makes his perseverance have great tolerance and initiative. It is precisely because of this understanding that when we open Zeng Guofan's works, words such as perseverance, perseverance and perseverance can be seen everywhere. Zeng Guofan believes that persistence requires methods. His method is to solve it at will, regardless of the chest. Is to resolve at any time, don't take it to heart, don't be stupid, and hurt your liver and body. In a word, forbearance and self-denial is a true portrayal of Zeng Guofan's external image and inner world, and it is also an important reason for his rise from a weak scholar.
Plain is plain, which is a seemingly plain but difficult personality trait. Zeng Guofan believed that being a man should be peaceful and realistic. Peace can not only cultivate morality, but also protect our health. "General chest tightness, complaining, wet behind the ears, and no morality; It is not special to improve moral standards, nor is it special to protect yourself. "Seeking truth from facts" means "don't talk big, don't pretend, don't do things that are overhead, and don't talk about lofty truths. Only in this way can we correct the habit of impetuous faking." He dismissed some scholars' boastfulness, pretentiousness and exaggeration, saying that "scholars' self-esteem is too strong and their arguments are too high, which is a common fault." "When he employs people, he prefers to use' rustic' people because they are honest and simple, and they are not so slick.
Respect and forgive Zeng Guofan's spirit of respecting and bowing to others and forgiving others. Why respect and forgive? He believes that respect and forgiveness are the way to be a man and the foundation of virtue. If you can respect, you will be firm and will not be dissolute; If you can forgive, you won't be blinded by your own selfish interests. Because of this, the first item on Zeng Guofan's daily schedule of physical and mental life cultivation in Beijing in his early years is "respecting the Lord", that is, being neat and serious, always careless, doing nothing, and not being distracted, such as the rising sun. Zeng Guofan also listed "forgiveness" as one of the "eight virtues" that future generations must follow, and it is also one of the "three auspicious".
Diligent Zeng Guofan's talent is average, and his achievements in life are largely due to diligence and self-restraint. Diligent work, so it is possible to establish outstanding performance; He studied hard and was able to leave 30 volumes of works; Diligent in self-cultivation, so it can be respected as a model by family descendants; Diligence in teaching children may make the younger generation shady. Zeng Guofan said: "Those who achieved great things in ancient times were mostly out of small things." In his view, diligence is like heaven and earth, and it is up to Yang to keep his place and run the army and be an official. Diligence leads to prosperity, while Sui leads to decline. The so-called diligence means hands and eyes, exhausted and struggling day and night. Diligent kung fu, one is to get up early, and the other is conservative. Therefore, he advocates getting up early, taking getting up early as the first priority, and thinks that running a family should be based on not getting up.
A frugal life is alive, and there are many things to be together. The most important thing to live at home is thrift; The most important thing for an official is honesty. Frugality and incorruptibility naturally became Zeng Guofan's moral standards for restraining his family. He also practiced himself, being a cold vegetarian all his life and living a light life. He said: "Throughout history, the prosperity of a country is caused by diligence and thrift. If it fails, it will do the opposite. " Cheap needs thrift, and frugality leads to cheap life. So he repeatedly stressed that being an official is based on not asking for money. Being an official is not to be rich, but to be an official. Once you decide to go into politics, you must stop thinking about getting rich. Being an official is not greedy for money, and taking money meticulously is Zeng Guofan's creed. Under the historical background at that time, being able to have such a clear understanding and clear explanation reflected Zeng Guofan's persistence in traditional morality.
Modesty means modesty, modesty. How to distinguish modesty from immorality? Zeng Guofan pointed out: "Modesty exists in the unknown, and modesty is outside, which has about four ends: complexion, words, letters and servants." In other words, modesty exists in the heart, which is naturally revealed, and it is revealed in the appearance, mainly in four aspects. One is the complexion. I'm not modest, but I don't want to. As soon as I look at my face, I know that those who are used to being self-righteous and bossing around often have an aggressive and unacceptable face. The second is speech. Speech is the shell of thought. Arrogant people don't write the word arrogance on their foreheads, but the arrogance and domineering between the lines are unacceptable. Therefore, to be modest, we must be gentle. The third is the letter. Once a word becomes a word, it is written in black and white, so be careful when you put pen to paper and use words harmoniously. Not too loud. The fourth is the attache. To be an official, we should not only be modest, but also let people around us learn to be modest. Some of them are quite arrogant, but they don't help and ruin their owners' reputation. Therefore, we should carefully choose waiters and strictly discipline them.
The formation of Zeng Guofan's cultural personality characteristics is representative in the personality of Hunan scholars. On the one hand, the land of Huxiang is far away from the developed areas of the Central Plains, and its geographical and natural conditions are more complicated and changeable than that of the Central Plains. In the hard work of "building blue roads and opening mountains", the stubborn and persistent local character and unique folk customs of Chu people have been cast. The tenacity of modern Hunan scholars, such as daring to do and sacrifice, all came from this, especially Zeng Guofan. On the other hand, after the Song Dynasty, Hunan became a "state of Neo-Confucianism" and Confucianism became the basic belief of Hunan scholars. Zeng Guofan was born in such a cultural environment. After the long-term edification of Confucian culture and hard training of Neo-Confucianism, he also showed elegance, harmony and high education. Zeng Guofan combined the two aspects without any trace, so he had a refined "bloody will" and personality traits that adapted to the specific environment at that time.