Just like Zhang's evaluation of Zeng Guofan in the Revolution of 1911, in the past hundred years, different people have different opinions, and many people admire Zeng Guofan. As early as when Zeng Guofan suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, some people accused him of killing too many people and gave him a nickname "Zeng shaved his head". By 1870, many people called him a traitor, so that Zeng Guofan also felt that after the Revolution of 1911, some revolutionaries said that he was "the first person to enforce the law on the spot" and a traitor with a long history. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, historians even scolded him to the end, denouncing him as a defender of the feudal landlord class, a spiritual idol of the landlord comprador class, a traitor, a traitor and an executioner who kills people without blinking an eye. This has been completely denied since1980s. 39860.88868888686
Xiao Yishan, a famous historian of the Qing Dynasty in the Republic of China, compared Zeng Guofan with Zuo in A Brief History of the Qing Dynasty: "The state and governors win with caution, but with heroism."
Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek are two famous figures in the modern history of China. They both spoke highly of Zeng Guofan. In his youth, he devoted himself to studying Zeng's collected works and came to the conclusion that he was "stupid, approachable and independent". Even in his later years, Mao Zedong once said: Zeng Guofan is the most powerful figure in the landlord class. Chiang Kai-shek even worshipped Zeng's works and thought Zeng Guofan was a man's way. Enough to be our teacher. He taught the Quotations of Zeng Hubing as a textbook to senior generals, and put the Complete Works of Zeng Wen and Gong Zheng beside the case, and read it all his life. It is said that the way he called the roll and sat in a healthy way all imitated Zeng Guofan's personal charm, which can be seen.
General Cai E highly praised Zeng's thought of loving soldiers and building a benevolent teacher: "This sentence is the most kind and appropriate. If we can take this as our intention, the aphorism of leading troops in ancient and modern times will burn out. "
Zuo's elegy for Zeng Guofan: it is better to know people's wisdom and seek loyalty to the country than to be ashamed; Unity is like gold, and if you are wrong, you will be doomed.
In the same year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan's performance in foreign activities, such as "borrowing foreign countries to help suppress", transporting foreign merchants to South Cao, sending people to buy American planes to set up Jiangnan Machinery Bureau, and handling Tianjin religious plan, pointed out that when domestic troubles and foreign invasion were serious and most scholars were addicted to the textual research of righteousness, Zeng Guofan was able to independently conform to the trend of the times, grasp the times, absorb the essence of China traditional culture, and inherit and carry forward the practical application of Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan.
First, the pioneer of modern modernization in China
Zeng Guofan was the first person who really practiced actively in the history of China. Under his guidance, he built the first ship in China, which started the modern manufacturing industry. The establishment of the first ordnance school initiated the modern higher education in China. The first translation and printing of western books not only laid the scientific and technological foundation of modern China, but also greatly broadened the horizons of Chinese people. The arrangement of the first batch of overseas students to study in the United States has cultivated a large number of outstanding talents for the country, among which Tang, the first prime minister of the Republic of China, Zhan Tianyou, the "father of railways" in China, Liang Dunyan, the foreign minister in the late Qing Dynasty, and the first president of Tsinghua are outstanding.
Second, the founder of China's ideological and political work
Zeng Guofan claimed: "I am a talent for training soldiers, not for fighting." He taught soldiers to "point the head of a stubborn stone and taste the blood of cuckoo." He trained with the spirit of Confucianism, making the Xiang army an organized team. He sang "Folk Songs of Love", which made Xiang famous, and wrote "Three Disciplines and Eight Notices" based on it. Seeing that Hong Xiuquan's devotion to Catholicism was not in line with China's national conditions, he wrote an article "Begging for Guangdong Bandits", which made many intellectuals take off their long gowns and lead the wussy peasants to pounce on the flag of Xiang and fight against Taiping rebels, and won the final victory.
Third, cultivate one's morality and govern the country. China is the first perfect man in all ages.
China has made great contributions (achieved great things) since ancient times, and established himself as a spiritual model of the world. There is a saying about "Three Immortals" (leaving a theory for later generations), but few people can really do it, and Zeng Guofan is one of them. He defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, saved the land of the Qing Dynasty, and was the "savior" of the Qing Dynasty. He "saved the time", purged the political style and learned western culture, which contributed to the emergence of "Tongzhi Zhongxing" in the late Qing Dynasty. He has always been strict with himself, advocating integrity, flaunting morality, and making every effort to win support from top to bottom; His academic articles are eclectic, extensive and profound, and he is a master of modern Confucianism. "His works are required reading for any politician" (Chiang Kai-shek). He has achieved the Confucian "three immortals" of self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country, making contributions, establishing morality and making a statement, and is worthy of being called "the first perfect person in China through the ages".
Fourth, the fastest promotion, the best official, and the most stable model.
Zeng Guofan went to school in politics and Hu Xueyan went to school in business. Zeng Guofan was regarded as a "model of officialdom" by politicians in modern times. This is because, first, he was promoted the fastest. At the age of 37, he was the only one in the Qing Dynasty. Second, it is best to be an official with a prominent political voice and the words of governing for the people; Third, Guan Bao is the most stable, he survived the turmoil of his official career, and his honor is immortal. He is familiar with the history of China, knows the way of officialdom, and has accumulated a unique set of officialdom skills, which have been applied to the officialdom of China and are invincible.
Fifth, cultivate the first master to introduce and use talents.
Zeng Guofan devoted his life to making friends, netting talents, cultivating talents, recommending talents and using talents. His shogunate is the largest and most combative shogunate in China's history, which has gathered the talents from all over the country. In order to attract and retain talents, he gave up his humble face and wrote letters to commend his subordinates many times to seek official positions and positions for them. In his life, he recommended as many as 1000 subordinates, including more than 40 governor officials. Including Li Hongzhang.
China's traditional culture is the greatest achievement of parenting.
Zeng Guofan is the best son, who can reassure his parents; He is the best brother, teaching and caring for his siblings, and being considerate. Zeng Guofan is a kind father and a good example for children. His Letter from Home emphasizes the ideal of life, spiritual realm and moral cultivation. In the modern society where family ties are becoming more and more indifferent and neighbors are strangers, it really has the value of persuading the world and is worth reading. Most bureaucrats can't last three generations, but the Zeng family is full of talents.
Seven, China traditional cultural personality spirit model.
Zeng Guofan is a scholar-bureaucrat of "above average" among his peers, but his ambition, stubbornness, strong will and diligence are beyond people's reach. Since he was a teenager, he kept a diary every day to reflect on himself, and there was not a day in his life when he didn't monitor himself and teach himself a lesson. He stayed, stayed, waiting for his colleagues to be modest and restrained. He remained honest and worked hard. No matter how hard he is hit, he is not discouraged, but can make persistent efforts and stick to it. This is the fundamental secret of his success.
Eight, the last spiritual idol of China feudal society.
Zeng Guofan, with profound knowledge, is a man who "does things (achieves a career) and preaches (leaves thoughts and theories behind)" (Mao Zedong). "The Biography of Zeng Guofan in the Draft of Qing Dynasty" also said: "The merits of the state and governors are greater than learning, and they are good at courtesy and luck." He studied hard all his life, respected Confucianism and emphasized pragmatism in practical application, and became another successor after Confucius, Mencius and Zhu. He innovated the article study theory of the New Tongcheng School, and his poems presided over Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi literary circles, which can be described as "the highest generation of moral articles".