Ideology and Academics
As a famous politician in modern times, Zeng Guofan had a clear understanding of the corruption and decline of the Qing Dynasty after the "Qianjia Dynasty". He said: "Poverty in the country is not a problem, but the people's heart is If it is disorganized, it will cause serious troubles. "For "literary officials are accustomed to worrying about their appearance", "Chang is a kind of wind that is neither white nor black, neither painful nor itchy", and "hates secondary bones". He believes that "the bad governance of officials is due to the group curtain, and seeking officials to eliminate the shortcomings of the curtain and sincerity is the theory to explore the source." Based on this, Zeng Guofan proposed that "the most important thing in administration is to get people." In times of crisis, people with both moral integrity and tools are needed to promote integrity, practice benevolent government, and oppose tyranny and disturbing the people. Officials who have committed crimes must be severely punished. As for the financial economy, which is related to the national destiny and the people's livelihood, Zeng Guofan believes that the way to manage finances is to consider the excess and the deficiency, be down-to-earth, and be honest and serve the public. "Seek rectification gradually, not to seek quick results." Zeng Guofan mentioned agriculture as a basic strategic position in the national economy. He believed that "people's livelihood should be prioritized, and the national economy should be blessed with good years." He demanded that "today's states and counties should give priority to agriculture." Affected by the two Opium Wars, Zeng Guofan had his own views on Sino-Western relations. On the one hand, he hated Westerners for invading China. He believed that others should not be allowed to snore next to his bed. He opposed borrowing troops to help suppress the war and felt deeply ashamed of relying on foreign countries. "; On the other hand, he is not blindly exclusive and advocates learning advanced science and technology from the West. For example, he said that buying foreign artifacts...recruiting talented people and clever craftsmen, first practicing, and then trial-making,... can To suppress twists and turns, you can be diligent and far-sighted.
"The Book of Scholarship"
Zeng Guofan was a famous Neo-Confucian master in the late Qing Dynasty. He said: "Gaizhen can read. "Good things are more precious than strong ones", and one must have the spirit of "three years of old rain turned into blue, and five nights of solitary lamps, the eyes are evergreen". Writing can be masculine beauty, "strength to gain dangerous strength"; or feminine beauty, "Work hard to get the flavor of nature." When writing articles, you need to work hard on momentum. "Qi can hold the truth in action, and then you should be careful not to be confused." , and "those who know the position are in order, and the cutting is complex and simple", and "it is the most important thing for writers" to find a new way for literary nobles. "The most difficult and valuable thing about writing is to have a bright and majestic atmosphere." "The clear rhyme and sonorous tone are the most wonderful things in the article"
"The Art of Managing a Household and Teaching Children"
The famous historian Zhong Shuhe said that Zeng Guofan succeeded in teaching his children. It is a fact that cannot be erased and does not need to be erased. Zeng Guofan believes that the following ten things should be paid attention to when managing a family: 1. Be diligent in family affairs and strictly observe family rules. 3. Take hard work as the first priority. ". 4. The way to stay at home is not to have excess wealth. 5. Marriage "does not necessarily lead to a wealthy family." 6. Avoid luxury in housework and favor frugality. 7. The eight characters for running a family: Kao, Bao, Zao, Sweeping, Shu, Shu, Fish, pig. 8. When dealing with relatives, you should pay more attention to affection than things. 10. Choose a good teacher for advice.
Zeng Guofan started his career by organizing and training the Hunan army. He governed the country as a scholar and suppressed the Taiping Rebellion, the largest peasant uprising in Chinese history. His military thinking was extremely rich and truly outstanding. He believed that the importance of having more soldiers was not that of having more soldiers. "The fewer soldiers, the weaker the country will be. The more soldiers, the poorer the country will be." He advocated the separation of military and political affairs, and took responsibility for them. He purchased foreign guns, foreign cannons, and foreign ships to advance. The modern era of Chinese military weapons. The military must be governed by strict military discipline, and at the same time, it must cultivate "harmony" and unite the soldiers. He believes that "the general has a desire to die, and the soldiers have no spirit of life". There are four requirements for selection: "One. The second is to know the enemy well, the third is to be courageous and practical in battle, and the fourth is to keep the camp in good order." Zeng Guofan's most abundant military thought and worth learning from today are his strategies and tactics. For example, "Using troops is like taking off a rabbit. "Quiet as a virgin", the art of subject and object, "fortify a strong stronghold and fight to the death", the navy cannot attack with the wind, choose the camp wisely, "self-govern first, then control the enemy", the art of deep trenches and high bases, tunnel siege, The combination of water and land, the use of stillness, "first pull out the roots, then trim the branches and leaves" and so on.
"The Way of Making Friends in the World"
Zeng Guofan is quite insightful about the way of making friends. He believes that making friends requires "honesty and integrity, tolerance of humiliation, and no suspicion of selfishness." Disadvantages". "Don't take advantage of others in anything. Don't take people's wealth lightly." We need to brainstorm ideas and listen without going deaf. "The way to look at people is to be ethical but not official, to be more logical and less eloquent." In terms of life, Zeng Guofan believed that "in these troubled times, the poorer the better." As a high-ranking official, "it is always better to have less money and less production." "Patience is the most important thing in being an official", "Virtue is lost by being full, and happiness is reduced by being arrogant". As a human being, you must pay attention to the word "light", "Not only wealth, fame, fame, and fortune, but whether a child's surname is prosperous or not is all determined by heaven, that is, whether the knowledge and virtues are established or not, it is mostly related to heavenly affairs, and can be laughed at and forgotten. Of". "You don't have to have success by yourself, and you don't have to have fame by yourself." Zeng Guofan wrote twelve aphorisms, which basically summarized his way of making friends.
"Secrets of Self-cultivation"
Zeng Guofan summarized the twelve methods of self-cultivation: respect, sit quietly, get up early, read well, read history, speak carefully, nourish the energy, protect the body, and know everything daily. I can't die without a month, I can't write, I can't go out at night. He believed that the ancients had four principles for self-cultivation: "Be cautious and independent, and your mind will be calm; respect for your master will make your body strong; asking for others will make you happy; and being sincere will make you admire your spirit." Zeng Guofan does not believe in medicine, monks and witches, or earthly immortals. He must be sincere, abstain from ingenuity, adhere to the Tao and be truthful, and do not admire wealth and honor. "There are limits in life, and you know your fate and have no worries." Zeng Guofan believes: "There are five things in the method of maintaining health. : The first is to sleep and eat regularly, the second is to punish poverty, the third is to abstain from sexual intercourse, the fourth is to wash feet every night before going to bed, and the fifth is to walk three thousand steps after two meals a day. The four words "," "sleep" and "food" are the most important, and you need to know how to regulate your health.
Evaluation from later generations
Liang Qichao admired Zeng very much and said, "I call Zeng Wenzhengji, and it must be repeated three times." Liang wrote in the preface to "Zeng Wenzhenggong Jiayanchao" Internally refers to Zeng Guofan, "Not only in modern times, but also in the history of history, he is a great man who is rare; not only in our country, but also in the whole world, he is a great man. However, Wen Zheng did not have an unparalleled genius. Among the virtuous men, they are said to be the most blunt and clumsy; they will be in trouble all their lives in adversity; however, they are immortal in virtue, meritorious service, and words. Determined to break away from the popular customs, know when you are trapped, and act with courage, go through hundreds of hardships and obstacles without setbacks, do not seek immediate results, accumulate things, accept them with weakness, apply them with diligence, and plant them with strength. , Be loyal and perseverant, be handsome and sincere, be brave and diligent, and endure hardships...".
Just like Zhang Binglin’s evaluation of Zeng Guofan during the Revolution of 1911, in the past hundred years, benevolent people have different opinions and wise people have wisdom. There are many people who praise Zeng Guofan, and there are also many people who criticize him. As early as when Zeng Guofan suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, some people accused him of killing too many people and gave him the nickname "Zeng Shatou". By the time of the "Tianjin Mission Case" in 1870, many people called him a traitor, so much so that Zeng Guofan felt that "the gods were to blame internally and Qingyi was to blame externally", and he even worried about being surrounded on all sides. After the Revolution of 1911, some revolutionaries said that he was "the first to rectify the law on the spot" and that he was a traitor with lasting infamy. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the historians even scolded him, denouncing him as a defender of the feudal landlord class and a leader of the landlord and comprador class. Spiritual idols, traitors, traitors, executioners who kill without batting an eye, etc., shall be completely rejected. Since the 1980s, academic research on Zeng Guofan has gradually deepened, and his evaluation has become relatively objective.
Xiao Yishan, a famous Qing historian in the Republic of China, compared Zeng Guofan and Zuo Zongtang in "General History of the Qing Dynasty": "Guofan won with caution, Zongtang won with heroism."
Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek, two famous figures in modern Chinese history, both spoke highly of Zeng Guofan. In his youth, Mao Zedong devoted himself to studying Zeng's collected works and came to the conclusion that "if you are stupid than your neighbors, you will only obey Zeng Wenzheng." Even in Mao Zedong's later years, he once said: Zeng Guofan is the most powerful figure in the landlord class. Chiang Kai-shek paid homage to Zeng and believed that Zeng Guofan's conduct as a human being was "sufficient to be our teacher." He regarded "Zeng Hu Zhibing Quotations" as a textbook for teaching senior generals. He also kept "The Complete Works of Zeng Wenzhenggong" beside his desk and read it continuously throughout his life. It is said that his way of naming names and his method of meditating to maintain health were all imitating Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Guofan's personal charm can be seen from this.
General Cai E highly praised Zeng’s military management ideas of building a benevolent and righteous army by loving soldiers: "Leading soldiers is like leading children, which is the most benevolent and appropriate word. If you can use this intention, you will lead the army in ancient and modern times." "A thousand words of military motto are all in vain"
Zuo Zongtang's elegiac couplet to Zeng Guofan: He knows people well and is loyal to the country, and he is ashamed to be inferior to Yuan Fu; one heart is like gold, one's mistakes are like stones, and one's expectations are fulfilled. life.
In the same year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan's performance in foreign-related activities such as "borrowing barbarians to help suppress", carrying barbarian merchants to Nancao, sending people to purchase American machinery to establish the Jiangnan Machinery Bureau, and handling the Tianjin religious case, pointed out that in serious At a time when most scholar-bureaucrats were obsessed with the study of doctrine and doctrine, Zeng Guofan was able to independently grasp the trends of the times, grasp the changing circumstances, absorb the essence of traditional Chinese culture, inherit and carry forward Lin Zexu and Wei Yuan's practical knowledge of world affairs, and vigorously advocate learning from the West. , launched a new political movement for self-improvement, and thus became a influential figure in China's modernization.
1. The pioneer of China’s modern modernization construction
Zeng Guofan was the first person in Chinese history to truly actively practice. Under his guidance, China's first ship was built, marking the beginning of modern manufacturing; the first military engineering school was established, marking the beginning of modern higher education in China; the first translation and printing of Western books not only laid the foundation for modern Chinese science and technology, It also greatly broadened the horizons of the Chinese people; arranged for the first batch of students to study in the United States and cultivated a large number of pillars for the country, including Tang Shaoyi, the first prime minister of the Republic of China, Zhan Tianyou, the "father of railways" in China, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the late Qing Dynasty ) Liang Dunyan and Tang Guoan, the first president of Tsinghua University, are among the best.
2. The founder of China's ideological and political work
Zeng Guofan claimed: "I am a talent for training, not a talent for battle." He taught soldiers "to point out the stubborn stone by speaking the Dharma. The bitter mouth drips the blood of the cuckoo.” He trained troops in the spirit of Confucianism, turning the Hunan Army into an ideological team. He composed and sang "Song of Love for the Folk", which greatly shocked the Hunan Army. Mao Zedong's "Three Major Disciplines and Eight Points of Attention" was based on this. Chiang Kai-shek When Huangpu founded the army, his "Folk Song of Love" was also printed and distributed to students to sing, with great success. He saw that Hong Xiuquan's worship of Catholicism was not in line with China's national conditions, so he wrote a "Call to the Cantonese Bandits", which caused many intellectuals to take off their long robes and lead the peasants with black legs to surrender to the banner of the Hunan Army and fight against the Taiping Army. fought and won the final victory.
3. Cultivating oneself, managing one’s family, and governing the country are the most perfect people in China throughout the ages
Since ancient times, China has established meritorious services (accomplishing great undertakings), establishing morals (becoming a spiritual model for the world), and establishing reputations (becoming a spiritual model for the world). Later generations left behind the theory of "Three Immortals", but there are only a few people who can truly realize it, and Zeng Guofan is one of them. He defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and saved the Qing Dynasty, and was the "savior" of the Qing Dynasty; he "rescued the current ills", purified the political style, and learned Western culture, which led to the emergence of "Tongzhi Zhongsheng" in the late Qing Dynasty; he was strict with himself and respected integrity. , flaunted morality, practiced it personally, and gained support from the top to the bottom; his intellectual articles were eclectic, profound, and he was the master of modern Confucianism. "His works are a must-read for any politician" (Chiang Kai-shek), and he realized the Confucian ideals of self-cultivation, family order, and country governance. He is worthy of being called "the most perfect man in China through the ages" for his "three immortal" causes of peace, meritorious service, morality, and speech.
4. A model of being promoted the fastest, becoming an official, being the best, and maintaining the most stable position
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“In politics, one must learn from Zeng Guofan, and in business, one must learn from Hu Xueyan.” Since modern times, Zeng Guofan has been regarded as an "official model" by political figures. This is because, firstly, he was promoted fastest, reaching the second rank at the age of thirty-seven, and was the only one in the Qing Dynasty; secondly, he was the best official, with outstanding political voice, and good governance for the people; thirdly, he was the most stable official, He has gone through all the turmoil in the officialdom and is safe and sound, and his honor and favor will never fade. He is familiar with Chinese history, has a thorough understanding of the ways of officialdom, and has accumulated a set of unique skills in officialdom, which he uses in Chinese officialdom to make him invincible and invincible.
5. The number one master in recruiting, cultivating, recommending and using talents
Zeng Guofan devoted his life to making friends, recruiting, cultivating, recommending and using talents. His shogunate was the largest and most influential in Chinese history. The largest shogunate gathered almost the best talents in the country. In order to recruit and retain talents, he showed his humble old face and repeatedly wrote letters recommending his subordinates, seeking officials, power and positions for his subordinates. He recommended as many as a thousand subordinates in his life, and there were more than 40 people who reached the rank of governor-general. They include strategic and operational military talents such as Li Hongzhang, Zuo Zongtang, Guo Songtao, Peng Yulin, and Li Hanzhang, as well as first-class scholars and scientists such as Yu Yue, Li Shanlan, Hua Hengfang, and Xu Shou.
6. The greatest success in traditional Chinese culture in managing the household and educating children
Zeng Guofan is the best son, who can make his parents feel at ease; he is the best brother, who teaches and takes care of his younger siblings and is considerate to every detail. , Zeng Guofan was a kind father and a good example for his children. His "Letter from Home" emphasizes life ideals, spiritual realm and moral cultivation. In a modern society where family ties between flesh and blood are becoming increasingly indifferent and neighbors and relatives are strangers, it does have the value of persuading people to become secular and is worth reading by everyone. Most official families cannot flourish for more than three generations, but the Zeng family has talented people from generation to generation. There have been a number of famous diplomats, poets, and educators such as Zeng Jize, Zeng Guangjun, Zeng Yoonong, Zeng Baosun, Zeng Xianzhi, and Zeng Zhaolun. , scientists and senior cadres.
7. Model figures of traditional Chinese culture and personality
Zeng Guofan was "middle-class" among the scholar-bureaucrats of his generation and was rather blunt, but he had great ambition, stubborn character and extraordinary will. Strong, studious and inquiring, extraordinary. Since he was a boy, he has been "devoted to knowledge and practice, determined to set himself free from the popular customs". He writes a diary every day to reflect on himself. There is not a day in his life when he does not monitor himself and teach himself a lesson. He treats his superiors, subordinates, and colleagues with humility, self-restraint, and open-mindedness. He has many friends in his life and is very respected by others. He maintains "sincerity" and works hard. No matter how big a blow he suffers, he never loses heart. Be able to keep up your efforts and persevere to the end. This is the fundamental secret of his success.
8. The last spiritual idol of China’s feudal society
Zeng Guofan had a profound academic quality and was a person who “does business (does business) and preaches (leave behind ideas and doctrines)” "(Mao Zedong). "Manuscript of Qing History - Biography of Zeng Guofan" also said: "Guofan's achievements were greater than his knowledge, and he was good at etiquette." He studied diligently throughout his life, respected Confucianism, and emphasized practical pragmatism in managing the world. He became the successor to Confucius, Mencius, and Zhu Xi. Then there was another "Confucian master"; he innovated the essay theory of the New Tongcheng School, and his poems and prose dominated the literary circles of the Dao (Guang), Xian (Feng), and Tong (Zhi) dynasties. He can be said to be "the crowning generation of moral articles".
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