The sixteen words of Zeng Guofan's famous family motto are as follows:

1. A frugal family will prosper, and a diligent person will be healthy; if you can be diligent and frugal, you will never be poor. His education and admonitions to his family have benefited his family a lot, and later generations also greatly appreciated his family management strategies. Until now, many families are still learning and practicing his family mottos.

Because Zeng Guofan gradually entered the official career through diligence from a civilian and has been steadily rising. He knew that the atmosphere of diligence was extremely important for his own development and the prosperity of his family. Therefore, he particularly emphasized "diligence to manage the household". The "diligence" here refers to both thrift and diligence.

2. Adhere to sincerity and uprightness, tolerate humiliation and magnanimity, and have the disadvantage of being selfless and suspicious. Zeng Guofan, who is a high-ranking official, believes that it is better for officials to have less money, because it is absolutely undesirable to make profits from being an official. He also believes that the first important thing for being an official is patience. Being able to work calmly and not being impetuous is the key to seeking an official position. Principles that officials must abide by.

The relevant brief introduction of Zeng Guofan is as follows:

Daoguang Jinshi, once served as cabinet bachelor, and became minister in the late Daoguang years. He was good at talking about "morality" and "benevolence and righteousness", and he highly praised Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. When the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom marched into Hunan, he was appointed as the assistant minister of regiment training and organized group training in Hunan. Later, a landlord armed regiment with the size of a regular army was formed - the Hunan Army.

In the fourth year of Xianfeng's reign, "An Appeal to the Cantonese Bandits" was released. He led the Hunan army to fight out of the province and regain lost territory for the Qing government. In order to strengthen the repressive force, he advocated the introduction of advanced Western technology and the establishment of an ordnance factory in Anqing to manufacture new guns. In the 10th year of Xianfeng (1860), he served as governor of Liangjiang and imperial envoy, supervising military affairs in the south of the Yangtze River.