Zeng Guofan's great-grandfather Zeng Jingxi was born in an ordinary peasant family. He made a living by doing long-term jobs at a young age. In order to change the fate of his family, he worked hard and thrived. Zeng Jingxi only uses a bowl of rice and a pepper to satisfy his hunger every meal. After saving money, he bought the first small piece of land. As a result of well-run and out of control, the land of the Zeng family is increasing and the family resources are becoming more and more abundant. When Zeng Yuping, Zeng Guofan's grandfather, was called "ignorant" by an accidental opportunity, Zeng Yuping suddenly woke up and vowed to train people and study for the Zeng family. To this end, Zeng Guofan's father, Zeng Linshu, took part in the imperial examination since he was a teenager, but his talent was too poor. At the age of forty, he still lost and fought, but he still lost and fought. Zeng Guofan began to participate in scientific research with his father at the age of fourteen and failed six times. Heaven will eventually repay those who help themselves. Zeng Guofan is a seven-product scholar and a 27-year-old scholar. Since then, he has started his own career path. Since then, the Zeng family has become a famous student, and within 50 years, it was once a scholar, with more than 20 people as juren, excellent tributes and scholars. Zeng Guofan is a legendary historical celebrity who revived the late Qing Dynasty. In order to get to know him better, in the winter of 20 16, my family and I visited Fuhoutang, Zeng Guofan's former residence in Shuangfeng County, Loudi City, Hunan Province. Let's carefully trace the history of this famous person, go to Zeng's old house and feel the legendary Zeng's family style and cultural background, hoping to get some unique life insights.
Fuhou Hall, also known as Ihou Yongdi, is a rectangular building with an area of about 40,000 square meters. According to relevant data, Fuhoutang has been repaired several times in history, and the original appearance of Zeng Guofan's period has been preserved as much as possible. The main building of Fuhoutang is made of ordinary blue bricks, and the materials are very simple and simple. I haven't seen many styles of painting buildings and bridges in ancient houses in the south of the Yangtze River, which accords with Zeng Guofan's frugal and low-key style of dealing with people all his life. However, during my short visit, I had to stop for a long time and take a closer look at two places.
The first place is the first hall after entering the main entrance. I saw picture frames hanging on the walls on the left and right sides, and the words inside listed the celebrities who had appeared in the descendants of the Zeng family and their related deeds. The number of characters and the richness of deeds completely occupy the whole wall. The characters experience listed in it covers many historical periods, including the late Qing Dynasty, modern times and modern times. Celebrities are not only loyal ministers in the Xiang army in the late Qing Dynasty, but also leaders in various industries in modern times. There are politicians, business entrepreneurs and famous professors and scholars; The descendants of the Zeng family can be described as blooming everywhere, with footprints all over the world, and most of them are outstanding figures in the field.
The second is deep ao. I saw two large plaques hanging high above my head, which read "Wu Yingtang University Scholar" and "imperial academy Jishi Shu" respectively. The hanging position is very high, so I need to look up and wait. "The Great Scholar of Wuying Temple" and "Jishi Shu of Hanlin Academy" are the two most proud portraits of Zeng Guofan in his life. They are the highest-level honorary positions in the Qing Dynasty, which is equivalent to the current academician title of our country. These two plaques are hung high in the main hall, which shows that Zeng Guofan is very proud of these two titles. Zeng Guofan also has a better title called "Prince Taibao". Unfortunately, the "Prince Taibao" in the Qing Dynasty did not give plaques, but the emperor only gave yellow jackets. Think about it 100 years ago, the yellow jacket is estimated to have rotted long ago, and it is not surprising that it has never been seen.
There are many other rooms with different furniture. But unfortunately, my level is limited, and the words on some plaques are obscure and I don't fully understand them. But think about these words should be supported by historical allusions, or epigrams summed up by Zeng Guofan's epiphany. After a cursory glance, many contents were quickly forgotten.
On the way back, I fell into a long meditation. In the history of China, a family like Zeng Guofan has a long history, and there are few celebrities in later generations. Moreover, the descendants of the Zeng family have gone through many different historical periods and are geographically distributed all over the world. It is really rare for them to survive tenaciously and achieve fame and achievements. How to understand this social phenomenon?
Modern people attach great importance to studying Zeng Guofan's thoughts, and various books introducing Zeng Guofan are also very popular. One of the most important books is a letter from Zeng Guofan, which is of great academic value for studying Zeng Guofan's life story and thoughts. Zeng Guofan's life and career have experienced ups and downs, and he almost died in the battle with Taiping Army. Finally, he died in Tianjin because of pacifying the Boxer Rebellion. These letters were well preserved with his family, and later generations sorted out Zeng Guofan's letters. What is his purpose and motivation? When he wrote home, did he ever think that modern people would be so keen on studying his thoughts?
I guess he might have two purposes at that time. The first is to express your wishes to the emperor through letters. After all, Zeng Guofan put down the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement and the military power was in hand. The Xiang army in his hand was a real threat to the Qing government at that time. Zeng Guofan has been an official for many years, and it is impossible not to understand that the rabbit is dead and the dog is cooked. Zeng Guofan showed his loyalty to the Beijing authorities in the form of letters to protect himself, which should be one of the main purposes. Secondly, sorting out family letters, as the basic principles and ideas of the descendants of the Zeng family, has been passed down from generation to generation, forming a good family style. Zeng Guofan should think so, but he probably didn't expect future generations to be so keen and fascinated by his letters from home. Judging from these two motives, Zeng Guofan's goal has been achieved, and the letter from home can be described as rich in thought and very successful. Chairman Mao once commented on Zeng Guofan in his early days: "Fools kiss their own people and obey Ceng Wenzheng", which made Zeng Guofan highly praised by the government. The main reason why modern people are so obsessed with studying Zeng Guofan's letters is that several core spiritual thoughts are often mentioned in letters. For modern people who are often confused, it is like a lighthouse in the sea, bringing light and pointing out the direction.
The ideological content in Zeng Guofan's letters is extremely rich, among which "sincerity", "firmness" and "frugality" are particularly important in dealing with people. "Honesty" emphasizes that a person should be loyal and reliable, and not cheat or cheat. "Honesty" means that a person should not only be honest, but also raise honesty to the height of a belief. No matter how the environment changes, we stick to our beliefs and are unmoved, even close to the point of stupidity. "Perseverance" emphasizes that no matter how hard your life or career is, you must be strong and unyielding, bear bravely, and persist no matter how hard it is. "Diligence" emphasizes that no matter how rich your life is, don't forget the days of poverty, and learn to control your desires and manage your family diligently. The spirit of family letters began with his great-grandfather. After the persistence and development of his grandfather and father, it blossomed in Zeng Guofan's generation and was summarized in the form of family letters, which became the spiritual wealth of future generations.
Think of great-grandfather Zeng Jingxi, who was born in abject poverty and started from scratch. He only ate one pepper for every meal. If he doesn't insist on these three points, how can he create an inheritance for the descendants of the Zeng family, so that they can eat enough and be liberated from farmland work?
Think about that grandpa Zeng Yuping. In order to change the "ignorance" of his family, he vowed to train the younger generation and always provide education for his son and grandson. My son is in his forties and is not a scholar. As a father, he still gives financial support in a "patient" way.
Think about that stupid father, Zeng Linshu, who has been taking exams from his teens to his forties. He is not a fool by nature, but he "failed in the exam repeatedly, failed in the exam repeatedly" in the ridicule of everyone, and has been stubbornly studying "persistently".
Finally, think about Zeng Guofan himself. After he was admitted to Jinshi, his career was not smooth. In a water battle with Taiping Army, he lost most of his troops and jumped into the lake in despair. Fortunately, he was rescued by his people. Later, he wrote to the court, claiming to be "repeatedly defeated and repeatedly fought", just like his father.
Grandfather's uncle Zeng Jingxi's generation began, and the Zeng family has been adhering to the Zeng family's tough and simple family style, which has been passed down from generation to generation through words and deeds. Zeng Guofan knew this well, so he taught his family the truth of treating others with trust and sorted it out for the descendants of the Zeng family to learn. In the real society, we often find that the prosperity of a family is often the result of the efforts of several generations. A prosperous family is often full of talented people. The most important thing is to ensure the long-term prosperity of the family and not to decline. The family style is positive and the family is prosperous!
Zeng Guofan's experience tells me that in this impetuous society, I always need to keep a calm heart and stick to my ideals. After visiting Zeng Guofan's former residence, I silently changed the signature of WeChat to Zeng Guofan's famous saying-"Don't ask for harvest, just ask for cultivation". The Zeng family's wind energy has made so many outstanding descendants of the Zeng family, which can also help us to calm down. As long as it is the right thing, no matter what the final result is, we must bravely persist and persist. ...
Look at the clouds three thousand miles away, there is a heart in the jade pot!