Reading Zhang Hongjie's "Biography of Zeng Guofan"

After reading Zeng Guofan's biography, I was determined to regard Zeng Guofan as a spiritual mentor. In the long journey of life and struggle, I was destined to ponder over the revelation he brought me. It was really shocking to read this book.

1. This is the bible for ordinary people. Zeng Wenzheng's IQ is average (from the Southern Song Dynasty to his grandfather Zeng Yuping, he has been a farmer living in the lotus pond for generations. He has no gene for reading //// He took the Xiucai exam 7 times, his father Zeng Linshu took 17 exams, and finally passed the exam at the age of 43. Xiucai///// According to legend, when he was a child endorsement, a thief was waiting on the beam to wait for Xiao Guofan to turn off the lights. I jumped off the beam to memorize it smoothly and then walked away), frail and sick (severe tinnitus at the age of 30//// After reading for a long time, it will cause dizziness////I am short-sighted and suffer from eye disease////I got it Skin disease, body aches during war), and many personality problems when I was young (self-esteem is very high, often sneers at other people's opinions ~ high school jinshi, hand-picked Hanlin, high prestige in Xiangxiang after the sense of superiority// //Poor self-discipline, often playing with other Hanlin, not studying hard), narrow knowledge (poor reading, compared with the Jinshi in Gyeonggi area, he knows nothing except the Four Books and Five Classics, and is laughed at as Silly bum)... It's hard to imagine that he could finally pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, set up the Westernization Movement, and be honored as "half a saint".

2. The secret of his success lies in one word - "sincerity". Honesty is a very valuable quality, which means that you recognize the reality, you know that you have advantages that others cannot replace, but you also know that "we live in a huge gap". I am deeply impressed by the golden sentence Yang Mi said in "Wonderful Flowers": "Extreme honesty is invincible." This "honesty" refers to never lying to oneself, and to face up to all personal gains and losses. In this introverted society, many young people are overwhelmed and have a decadent "morning culture" style, but they tell themselves that they are actually playing online games and living in a fat house, aren't they very happy? This is how you deceive yourself. How did Zeng Guofan keep his honesty? Keep a diary and reflect on it every day. Strictly follow the schedule. But Zhuocheng does not mean being a fool and being slaughtered at will. A very important point of Zeng Guofan's personal principles is "being in the same dust as the light". He has high personal ethics and adapts to the unspoken rules in the officialdom (some things have to be done in the big environment, like Hai Rui, who only has nothing to do. will cause disgust among colleagues and will not accomplish great things). My father repeatedly taught me: "We are kind, but we are not stupid." In this complex society, it is not scary to deceive others without achieving certain goals. What is scary is that even living a ignorant life like a walking dead does not know who you are. . Staying true to your heart and being honest with yourself is very important.

3. Confucius and Wang Yangming are also called "two saints". Zeng Guofan and them have something in common. Zeng and Confucius are most similar to the character of "knowing that you can't do it", didn't Confucius know that the princes and kings wanted to strengthen the army and enrich the country and become the hegemon to replace the emperor of Zhou in that era when the rituals were broken and the music was broken? But he still risked his life to travel around the world, despite the ups and downs, without any regrets. Marshal Zeng Disheng should have known about the decline and decay of the Qing Dynasty after the Taiping Rebellion, but he did not retire or seek to usurp the throne. Instead, he devoted himself to this dying dynasty and extended the life of the Qing Dynasty for fifty years. . Is this a kind of pious belief? The most similar thing about Zeng and Wang is that they both aspired to be saints when they were young. Wang Shouren's original intention in taking the imperial examination was not to become an official, but to move forward to the ideological realm of the sages through the Four Books and Five Classics. At that time, Zeng Xiangxiang tried desperately to take the imperial examinations with the same idea as most of the candidates - to be an official and seek fame and glory. However, when he became an official in the capital, he found that the smoky officialdom had a great conflict with Confucianism and Confucianism. In addition, he had read a lot of Cheng Zhu's works of Neo-Confucianism to enrich his thoughts. Life aspirations (many Confucian scholars should have such grand aspirations, but very few can be as demanding as Zeng Guofan).

4. I have always had the idea that studying a person must go back to the source, and analyzing the situation of his or her family of origin can often lead to a more comprehensive and rational understanding of this person. This is just like the theory of biology: heredity is universal, variation is special. Zeng Guofan's grandfather, Zeng Yuping, was a legend in the countryside, and Zeng Guofan largely inherited his tenacious, bull-nosed character.

Zeng Guofan's father, Zeng Linshu, was a rote test taker. Although his talent was dull, he was very diligent and hardworking. Imagine what it was like to take the 17th county test? A middle-aged uncle with some gray hair walked into the examination room with a group of children, how much gossip had to endure! ! ! He was Zeng Guofan's enlightenment teacher, and he always answered his son's questions in great detail and tirelessly. Zeng Guofan's strong ability to resist setbacks should originate from his father.

The above is my analysis of Zeng Guofan. As an ordinary person who has transformed from a peasant to the most powerful man in the Qing Dynasty with extraordinary perseverance and harsh self-discipline, his life wisdom is worth our careful consideration. Comments welcome! ! !