Text/listening to the tide by the lake

Zeng Guofan, a generation writer, is a great writer of couplets, and his couplets contain the Confucian way of life. Let's learn Zeng Guofan's great wisdom together.

Many things go wrong because they are busy.

A good man comes from a painful experience.

In August of the first year of Tongzhi (1862), Zeng Guofan gave Guo Songtao a couplet.

The first part is about how to be a "good person". A "good man" refers to a person with good conduct, good heart and advanced thinking. How can I be a good person? "Good people come from suffering", that is to say, to be a good person, the most important thing is to be able to eat hard, endure hardships, stand the test of hardships and hardships, and never covet convenience and convenience. The word "half" used in the first couplet is very clever, because it is not enough to be a perfect person by hard work, but also to maintain one's moral integrity and mentality, so as to be a good person.

The second part talks about how to do good deeds. "Secular things" refers to worldly things. The word "duo" is also very appropriate, avoiding the problem of generalizing the whole. Things are very complicated, and it is often easy to make mistakes when you are busy. How to avoid mistakes in busy work? "And how calm", that is, the ancients said, "Don't forget to be calm when things happen." The so-called "calmness" means that behaviors and actions have their own laws, which are soothing, calm, generous and unhurried.

A calm person is calm in doing things, not in a hurry, not impetuous, not chaotic, orderly, able to calmly face all kinds of situations in life, not depressed in failure, not ecstatic in victory. Calmly reflects a person's tolerance, self-cultivation, personality and behavior, which is a rhythmic mental state and behavior beneficial to people's physical and mental health.

We should relax when dealing with things. Lu Kun, a thinker and politician in the Ming Dynasty, once pointed out: "As long as you are soft, you are in a hurry. Therefore, the wind and rain are fierce and there is no power to worship; Soaring up, there is no three-day trend. It is not the sound of a hundred boards to urge the beat and promote the tune; Tightening your title is not a thousand miles. Life is a blessing or a curse, without exception. You can think about it if you are in a hurry. " He added, "The theory of everything in the world began in Yu Congrong and died out in a hurry. Those who are in a hurry are tired, and those who are calm are tired. Things are flat and have a aftertaste, and people are flat and have more than a year. "

Have overall interests or ultimate goals in mind, and start with specific problems; While working hard on the ground, we should see the overall goal.

Shut up and live alone.

Focusing on the overall situation means having a vision, a sense of the overall situation, and being able to consider the long term. Start small, which means to be cautious, start with details and avoid the shortcomings of arrogance.

Live in groups and keep your mouth shut. When you get along with a group of people, you should be careful what you say and what you shouldn't say. The so-called disaster comes from the mouth. Being a good listener is great wisdom. When you are alone, you should be happy to enjoy, reflect and keep your pure and kind heart.

This is one of Zeng Guofan's most classic couplets.

Don't aim too high, be far-sighted; Don't scrimp, be down to earth.

"The big difficulty depends on self-cultivation, and the small details depend on attitude". Sometimes it's the details that determine success or failure.

The depth of the water slows down the flow, and the late words are expensive.

The so-called disaster comes from the mouth. Don't ask what you shouldn't ask and don't say what you shouldn't say. Only by listening attentively and being sincere can we see through everything.

Either a saint or an animal;

Mo Wen harvests, but requires cultivation.

Either a saint or an animal. This sentence sounds a little extreme, but it is actually Mr. Zeng Guofan's strict requirements for himself, asking him to establish a good character and not tolerate a little bit.

Mo Wen harvests, but requires cultivation. Warn us, don't just think about harvesting. If you don't work hard, how can you gain? Just like a big tree, it can flourish only if it is deeply rooted.

This is the motto that Zeng Guofan followed all his life. In fact, this sentence was not initiated by Zeng Guofan, but was given to Zeng by Tang Jian, a master of Neo-Confucianism in the Qing Dynasty. In the twenty-first year of Daoguang, he wrote "Jifu Water Conservancy" and wrote a banner in regular script "If you are not a saint, you are an animal. You only ask about farming and don't ask about harvest. Good Tang Jian was presented to Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan praised this couplet and hung it in the living room. Later, I made a slight change to Zeng Guofan's diary, and there was "if it is not a saint, it must be an animal." Mo Wen harvests, but requires farming. "Eternal absolute.

Zeng Guofan put "if it is not a saint, it must be an animal; Mo Wen's motto is "You gain something, but you need to work hard". In fact, he reminds himself that "you can only ask yourself what you can't do". Zeng Guofan once said in his family letter: "aim high and ask for trouble if you do something wrong." Indeed, life needs an open-minded attitude. If everything is for fame and fortune, and everything is for "no pains, no gains", then such a life will not be able to extricate itself from the whirlpool of fame and fortune, nor will it really make a difference!

Therefore, Zeng Guofan warned his younger brothers: "Learn with an open mind. Those of our friends who have beautiful materials often rely on their own talents and arrogant things to say that others are not as good as themselves. See the township ink, then scold township ink impassability; Scold at the sight of ink. Scold both the housekeeper and the examiner; People who enroll in Zhu will scold the college. In all fairness, there is nothing better than poetry; There is nothing special about the winner, and there are some unbearable ones. It is because you refuse to ask of yourself that you will see that others are not. Not only the examiner, but also the person who won the first place in the same exam. Although pride is long, it never makes progress, so I am down and out all my life and don't make progress. " In Zeng Guofan's eyes, it is useless to complain that others have not gained anything. Only by constantly paying can we make progress.

Children and grandchildren, rural areas,

The family style is half-reading and half-farming, but it inherits Zuze.

No official, no responsibility,

If you don't care about current events, you will only pay for hardships.

This couplet was written by Zeng Guofan's father, not by Zeng Guofan. It was written by Zeng Guofan. But no matter who wrote it, we can all see the noble sentiments and noble character expressed in the couplets!

There is no hurry to fight, seek stability first, then change.

Doing things silently is sophisticated and smart.

Zeng Guofan used the experience of fighting to warn us that to do things steadily, we can only innovate and change on the basis of stability; When dealing with things, we should stress methods and principles, take the overall situation into consideration, and at the same time, we should be sophisticated and shrewd.

Nothing in the world is difficult for one who sets his mind to it.

There are joys and sorrows in life.

Prosperity and adversity are prosperity and adversity, prosperity and adversity, happiness and sadness. These are two states of life, two sides of a whole. As the Tao Te Ching said: "Therefore, whether there is mutual growth or not, the difficulties are difficult, the length is in phase, the height is in phase, and the sound and sound are in harmony."

Feed a flock of spring.

Lift up two poor bones

This is a couplet written by Zeng Guofan at the age of 48 to encourage himself. No matter what the situation, it is as full of energy and enterprising as spring. No matter what hardships you encounter, you should keep your backbone. This pair of couplets comes from Zeng Guofan's "Tingjing Third Tactic Perseverance". The original text is: "On current affairs, I say we should erect our bones and try our best to support them. I didn't sleep in the middle of the night, because I made a cloud:' Feed a group of spring, support two poor bones' and use my own police. "

No matter in good times or bad times, people's faith should be as vigorous as spring and maintain its vitality. No matter what kind of situation you are in, you must stand up, never compromise, stand up, seek a way out in difficulties, and seek straightness in hard struggle.

Trembling is not forgetting hell when you are alive.

Be frank and open, and be open-minded in adversity.

A gentleman should be conscientious and be prepared for danger in times of peace. Be open-minded and open-minded, and keep a positive attitude even in adversity.

In May of the ninth year of Tongzhi, Zeng Guofan wrote a couplet, which reflected the duality of his spiritual world. He is afraid, frank, pessimistic and optimistic. This makes him not forget death in life, be prepared for danger in times of peace, and also makes him seek glory in humiliation and think hard in frustration.

Self-effort and the heart of "shame", self-indulgence and the heart of "deserved" and "mistreated" are all dialectical and unified relations. Those who are strict with themselves are often lenient with themselves; People who are generous to others are strict with themselves. Zeng Guofan's aim is to blame himself with the heart of blaming others and forgive others with the heart of forgiving himself. For the world, Zeng Guofan's "being ashamed of being right" can not only solve the unnecessary anguish and troubles in his heart, but also be a "blessing device" and a "door of virtue".