Mo Wen reaps, but asks for hard work.
-this is Zeng Guofan's motto all his life. In fact, this sentence was not initiated by Zeng Guofan, but was given to Zeng Wenzheng by Tang Jian, a master of Neo-Confucianism in Qing Dynasty. In the twenty-first year of Daoguang, he wrote "Ji Fu Water Conservancy" and handwritten regular script banner "If you are not a sage, you are an animal, only asking about cultivation, not asking about harvest. Good Tang Jian "was given to Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan highly praised this couplet and hung it in the living room. Later, when I made a slight change in Zeng Guofan's diary, I had "if it is not a sage, it will be an animal." Mo Wen harvested, but asked for cultivation. " The eternal absolute.
"If you are not a sage, you are an animal", which sounds extreme, but in fact, Mr. Zeng Guofan is strict with himself, asking him to establish a good character and can't tolerate a little bit. Otherwise, once you regress, you will become an animal.
"Mo Wen reaps, but asks for cultivation". Warn people, don't just think about harvest, if there is no hard work, then autumn will be fruitful. The analogy of doing business and learning is the same. You should have a rich accumulation, and you will naturally be ripe when the time comes.
This couplet was written on July 12th, the first year of Xianfeng, that is, in 1851. At this time, Zeng was the right assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites and a second-class official of the court. As always, he was strict with himself. It is difficult for people today to understand Zeng Guofan at that time. At first glance, the couplet seems absolutely ridiculous. Why can't you be a sage, but you must be an animal? Isn't there a chance to be an ordinary person who is not a holy animal? In fact, this couplet shows Zeng Guofan's resolute attitude of cross the rubicon, and his ambition of not being vulgar: "What's going on in the world is exciting and forced is half of it." Only by being a sage can we go, otherwise we will degenerate into an animal! It has been praised and quoted for 2 years, and it is precisely with this ambition that if you are not a sage, you will be an animal. Zeng Guofan has been able to jump from an unknown peasant son to a famous government official and a famous official in history, and has achieved his extraordinary life and the achievements of "being a saint inside and being a king outside".