On Zeng Guofan's Influence on Modern China Abstract: Although Zeng Guofan was a corrupt senior official of the Qing government, he made some progress in political thought, economic mind and military theory. It has played an immeasurable role in promoting the development of China's modernization process, and has also been well received by many celebrities. This paper analyzes Zeng Guofan's influence on modern China from many aspects. Keywords: China modern Zeng Guofan's resume 18 1 1 year (16th year of Jiaqing) Zeng Guofan's resume. Born in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Xiangxiang, Changsha, Hunan (now Tianping Village, Ye He Town, Shuangfeng County, Loudi City, Hunan Province), Zeng Guofan is the eldest son of nine brothers and sisters. The ancestors were mainly agricultural, and his grandfather Zeng Yuping had rich experience. Father Zeng Linshu is a scholar in the scholar school, and Zeng Guofan, the eldest son and grandson, naturally received ethical education from two ancestors. He entered school at the age of 6, read eight-part essay and recited five classics at the age of 8, read Zhou Li and Selected Works of Historical Records at the age of 65,438+04, and took a boy test in Changsha. It can be seen that he was talented and studious since childhood. In the 12th year of Daoguang (65,433), he married Ouyang Cangming's daughter. He failed the exam twice in a row, and then studied hard for a year. In the 18th year of Daoguang (1838), palace examination was admitted to the same Jinshi. From then on, he embarked on the road of official career step by step and became the favorite pupil of Zhang Mu A, Minister of Military Affairs. He has been in Beijing for more than ten years. Visiting China's calligraphy affairs, assistant minister does not, assistant minister of Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Punishment and official department, Zeng Guofan was promoted to second-class office step by step along this career path. He moved seven times in ten years and jumped ten levels in a row. His literary achievements in his life inherited the style of Tongcheng School and Yao Nai's self-reliance and founded the "Xiangxiang School", an ancient prose in the late Qing Dynasty. He talks about ancient Chinese, emphasizing the sonorous tone without connotation. The ancient prose is profound and magnificent, which can convey the spirit of Han Fu, so it has a magnificent artistic conception, which can shake the disadvantages of Tongcheng School called by later generations. Zeng's patriarchal clan system is Tongcheng's, but it has changed and developed, and compiled a book "Miscellaneous Notes on Classics and History" as a text model, which is not controlled by Tongcheng and is called Xiangxiang School in the world. Reading records, diaries, memorials, family letters, family notes, miscellaneous notes on classics and history, 18 poems, etc. There are no fewer than hundreds of volumes of The Complete Works of Zeng. There are also works such as The Way of Learning and Five Proverbs. After conquering Hanyang and Xianfeng for three years (1853), Zeng Guofan established Yingyong, which was called Xiang Army and was divided into army and navy. Soldiers recruited farmers in Xiangxiang area, and their wages were about three times that of green camp. The whole army only takes orders from Zeng Guofan. In the fourth year of Xianfeng (1854), there were 6,500 people in the 13th Army Battalion and 10th Navy Battalion. Jinggang was defeated by the Taiping Army. Zeng Guofan committed suicide by diving several times. When he writes a letter, he can only laugh at himself with "repeated defeats and repeated wars." Later, he reorganized the army and recaptured Yuezhou and Wuchang. Taiping troops withdrew from Hunan. In the eighth year of Xianfeng (1May 858), Jiujiang was captured with great momentum. In the tenth year of Xianfeng (1860), Ceng Guoquan surrounded Anqing, which was famous for its "camping to the death". Tongzhi for three years (1864), the Xiang army attacked Tianjing (Nanjing). Taiping Army resisted Xiang Army, which made Xiang Army suffer enough. When Nanjing was broken, Zeng Guofan said: "The change of bandits in Guangdong today. Ye Yun persevered in coming to Anqing. On the slope of Jinling City, none of the more than 100,000 thieves surrendered, gathered and set themselves on fire, and had no regrets. It was a rare drama in ancient and modern times. " After Zeng Guofan entered Nanjing, he carried out the "three-light policy", "... searching and killing in sections, killing more than 100 thousand thieves in three days, and the Qinhuai River was dead, ... In fact, most of these more than 100 thousand people were burned for three days and three nights." Or burn and kill after winning, especially ugly and ugly. Its cruelty is even worse than that of a thief. I don't want to say it, and I dare not. (Gui Li: "Thinking of Pain"), Zeng Guofan's aide Zhao Liewen recorded in detail in "Meditation Diary": "... nine times out of ten people who died along the street were old people. Their children are less than two or three years old. Dozens of knives ... "... Ceng Guoquan killed people like hemp, and the soldiers and horses burned the city. "Snow handsome" Peng Yulin is not satisfied. He wrote to Zeng Guofan twice (186 1 the siege of Anqing in,1the siege of Jinling in, 864), demanding to put aside the righteousness above family. Ceng Guoquan plundered a large amount of property in Nanjing, and Zeng Guofan took the "pseudo-palace thief hall" to court. In fact, this is a rare thing. " Zeng Guofan executed Li Xiucheng in order to kill people. The honesty, courage and strict military discipline of Xiang generals are the important reasons for their bravery and good fighting, and also make Xiang army famous all over the world. As a result, the war-torn provinces went to Hunan to recruit soldiers, which became a common practice, so there is a saying that there is nothing in the world. As a famous politician in modern times, Zeng Guofan's thoughts and academic thoughts. He looked at the fire in the cave and said, "The country is poor but people are distracted, which is very harmful." As for "scholar-officials are used to being worried and accommodating", "prosperous times are a kind of wind that is neither white nor black, neither painful nor itchy" and "hate secondary bones", he believes that "the reason why officials can't be cured is because there are many scenes, so only by seeking officials can they get rid of their drawbacks and sincerely explore the source." Pay tribute to benevolent government, oppose tyranny and disturb the people, and severely punish those officials who take bribes and bend the law and benefit the fishermen. As for the financial economy related to the national movement and people's livelihood, Zeng Guofan believes that the way to manage money is to make full use of surplus, be down-to-earth, be honest and honest, and "seek rectification gradually, not quick results." Zeng Guofan raised agriculture to the basic strategic position of the national economy, and he believed that "people" was "the foundation of the rich year of the national plan". He demanded that "today's counties should give priority to agriculture". Under the impact of the two Opium Wars, Zeng Guofan had his own views on the diplomatic relations between China and the West. On the one hand, he hates westerners' invasion of China, thinks that others should not be allowed to snore, sleeps next to his couch, and opposes using teachers to help suppress it, so he is deeply ashamed of using foreign countries. ". On the other hand, it is not blindly exclusive, and advocates learning its advanced science and technology from the West. For example, he said to buy foreign things ... to visit those thoughtful and intelligent people, to exercise first, and then to try to cultivate them ... to suppress hair tangles, to stay away from them diligently. The modern culture of Zeng Guofan and China, the modern culture of China and the traditional culture of China are opposite in many people's eyes, saying that the traditional culture of China is feudal. Its characteristics are "ethics, science, politics, production, tradition, innovation, conservatism and reform, that is, morality, equipment, end and righteousness". China's modern culture is actually a capitalist culture. It is not bred from the soil of China, but a modern western culture transplanted from abroad. The core of modern western culture is science and democracy. China's pro, western Shang Xian and China rule the world with filial piety, and westerners rule the world with public; China respects the Lord and the west enriches the people; China is in the same wind, Westerners like inner-party life and national life ... "... Some people say," The essence of China culture is the way of saints, and the essence of western culture is the art of utensils. " There is no doubt that Chinese and western cultures are essentially antagonistic. However, when modern western culture is transplanted into the soil of China, it must have the characteristics of China. China's modern culture and China's traditional culture have long confronted, struggled and reconciled. This is a modern western culture with China characteristics. Therefore, China's modern culture and China's traditional culture are opposite, but there are similarities. Many historical figures in this cultural transition period have the character of being compatible with two cultures. Zeng Guofan is a representative figure in this respect. Critics generally believe that Zeng Guofan is a master of China traditional culture. Some people even say that, in a sense, Zeng Guofan is the embodiment of China's traditional culture. If the development of Confucian culture can be divided into three stages: early stage, middle stage and late stage, and there is corresponding Theory of Three Represents's theory of characters, then the early stage is Confucius and the middle stage is Zhu. At the end of the period, it was Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan did inherit China's traditional culture with Confucianism as the core. Many papers submitted to the conference have dealt with this point. Zeng Guofan completely followed the Confucian road of "self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world" and completed his life. He insisted on the principle of "three cardinal guides and five permanents" and thought that "although the monarch is unkind, the minister should not be unfaithful, and although the father is unkind, the son should not." A wife can't go against her will. "His own family precepts, such as" ruling the country by courtesy ","upholding interests and protecting Thailand ","combining rigidity with softness, managing the family diligently, being honest and trustworthy ",and his eight books, eight characters, four articles and four defeats. There are differences among commentators. Some people regard the "Three Cardinals and Five Permits" as dross, even the most untimely dross, while others disagree, thinking that since China traditional culture should be divided into two, why not? Can we say that the core of China's traditional culture is dross? Only the non-core part has some essence? Obviously, we can't say that. If so, wouldn't it be a total denial of traditional culture? In fact, for a long time in the past, loyalty, filial piety, faith, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom and faith were all regarded as dross, or they did not speak or advocate, which did not bring any benefits to our society, but suffered greatly. Some critics say that Zeng Guofan suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in order to maintain China's traditional culture. Others said that what Zeng Guofan maintained was not the traditional culture of China in the first place. Many theorists think he can't. He is neither a feudal die-hard who rejects western culture regardless of its merits or demerits, nor a so-called "total westernization" of copying western culture regardless of China's national conditions, but advocates the combination of Chinese and Western culture. Zeng Guofan holds a sublation attitude towards Chinese and Western cultures, and has a clear understanding of each other's advantages and disadvantages. His strong national consciousness makes him put China's traditional culture in the main position. Some critics pointed out that Zeng Guofan, with the help of western culture, while holding high the banner of "defending morality", tapped the spirit of "applying the world" in traditional Confucianism, forming a new pattern of "integrating righteousness, reason and economic cooperation", giving new vitality to traditional culture and restoring its role of calling scholars and maintaining people's hearts. It is because of his thorough understanding of the length of traditional culture that he can absorb and carry forward the essence of traditional culture. Be able to introduce modern western culture. Some commentators pointed out that Zeng Guofan was a leader and advocate of introducing modern western culture. " He was the first to put forward' learning to build a ship and build a gun'; He was the first person to build a ship; He was the first person to send someone abroad to buy a full set of' production tools'; He was the first person to put forward the idea of "official supervision and commercial office". He was also the first person to promote Yung Wing's plan to send overseas students. As a master of China's traditional culture, why did Zeng Guofan become a leader in introducing modern western culture? Why can you be the pioneer of modern culture in China? Some commentators said: "This is mainly due to two reasons: one is the inherent nature of China's traditional culture, and the other is Zeng Guofan's own characteristics." They think that the core of China's traditional culture is "Confucianism is both conservative and enterprising, closed and open", but they don't agree that Confucianism is completely closed and conservative, which is precisely the enterprising and open nature of Confucianism. As a result, China was able to put forward his own countermeasures in the face of the western capitalist ideological and cultural system, which has never been encountered for thousands of years: "Learning from the middle school is the body, learning from the west is the use", and "trying to learn some advantages of the west, such as building strong ships and guns, on the premise of maintaining his own ideological and cultural system, in order to confront it". This is the objective aspect of Zeng Guofan's creation of modern culture. Its subjective aspect is his own reason. The commentator said, "First of all, he is not only a scholar, but also a politician. The purpose of learning all kinds of knowledge is to solve the political problems faced by the ruling class. Therefore, the knowledge he contributed is not mainly Neo-Confucianism, but the study of the world. " He is concerned about the highest interests of the whole ruling class and its rise and fall, not just the prosperity of a school. So he advocates all useful knowledge and knowledge in learning. To achieve mastery through a comprehensive study, we must "learn from others" and "learn from others and strive for self-improvement". Moreover, in the process of suppressing Taiping rebels, Zeng Guofan borrowed foreigners' tools and strength, and achieved results, which made him taste the sweetness and enhanced his self-confidence in learning from foreigners. Some commentators agree with the above subjective and objective analysis, but emphasize that China traditional culture and western modern culture are not absolute. In addition to opposition, there is also the same phase. Only identification can make the two opposing cultures merge and produce modern China culture in line with China's history and national conditions. Critics further raised another question, that is, did Zeng Guofan's introduction of modern western culture change his cultural thought? Some commentators said: "In the past, Zeng Guofan, as the last representative of Neo-Confucianism and the last spiritual pillar of China feudal society, all his thoughts belonged to feudalism. In fact, if we look at Zeng Guofan's works, in addition to consciously defending feudalism, he unconsciously abandoned and changed the feudal way; Especially in the cultural spirit, it has taken a stumbling step from traditional culture to modernity; It has had an important and far-reaching impact on the formation and development of China's modern cultural spirit. I also support this statement. Because with the entry of modern western culture, China's social existence has changed, and Zeng Guofan's thoughts may change. Especially as a leader who introduced western modern culture, his thoughts can't remain unchanged. Chinese and western cultures, it is impossible to put two kinds of persimmons (native persimmons and exotic persimmons) in people's minds without interfering with each other. Earlier, we mentioned that we should see the confrontation, conflict and struggle between Chinese and western cultures. The confrontation, conflict and struggle between Chinese and western cultures exist not only in society, but also in Zeng Guofan's thought. Therefore, the difference between Zeng Guofan and the Japanese is not only the difference that Zeng Guofan advocates the introduction of western technology. However, the difference between a westernization leader who adapts to the times and a feudal die-hard leader is mainly the difference between the old and new ideological trends. The struggle between them is not a dispute over individual issues, but a dispute over doctrine. Some commentators also believe that "Zeng Guofan really started the transformation from ancient cultural spirit to modern cultural spirit". Later generations commented on the mystery of Mao Zedong's "Mao Zedong's single-handedly serving Ceng Wenzheng". When Mao Zedong was young, Zeng Guofan devoted himself to his work. In the Guangxu edition of Zeng Guofan's letters in Shaoshan Memorial Hall, there are several volumes of Mao Zedong's calligraphy on the title page. He once said: Zeng Guofan's achievements and article ideas can be used by future generations. He thinks that The Hundred Miscellanies of Classics and History, which was compiled once, is an introductory book of Chinese studies. Zeng Guofan attached great importance to spiritual education in running the army. Mao Zedong attached great importance to this point all his life. He once said that "loving the people is the top priority in running the army." At the beginning of the establishment of the Red Army, Mao formulated the "three major disciplines and eight attentions". Chiang Kai-shek praised Zeng Guofan's mystery. Jiang warned his children and subordinates many times: "You should read more books and gifts such as Hu Linyi" and "Dear Letters and Gifts" ... "Any politician must read them." When reviewing the annotation of Quotations from Zeng Hu, he said: The Zeng family is enough to be a teacher. At Huangpu Military Academy, he taught students with Zeng Guofan's love folk songs. He said, I think it is their moral knowledge that Zeng and Zuo can defeat Hong and Yang, and their spirit and confidence are better than their enemies. "Fame is a sacred image, and praise is the culprit." Zeng Guofan was puzzled. This great man, who made great achievements and moved the world, was the first minister of Xian Tong Zhongxing in the Qing Dynasty. However, some people call him a thief, the culprit, a traitor, a national sinner, a "once shaved head" who kills people at will, and a "hypocrite" whose reputation is discredited.