What is the most important thing in life? Life, status, wealth or other things? A thousand people have a thousand answers.
Zeng Guofan was born in a peasant family. His father worked hard in Zhuzi for a long time, but he was only a county student at the age of 43. His grandfather didn't read much, but he repented in his prime, so he criticized Zeng Guofan's father the most severely. As for his father, although his talents were not put to good use, he worked hard to educate his son. Zeng Guofan once recalled: "My father ... studied hard all his life. He has taught students for more than twenty years. Frant Gwo is an idiot. He has been studying with his father at home since he was eight years old. My father gave a lecture in the morning and evening, and he was very attentive. If I don't understand, I will say it again, but I can't say it any more. Sometimes take me on the road, sometimes wake me up from bed and ask me things I don't usually understand until I figure it out. He treated other schoolchildren in the same way, and later he educated my younger brothers in the same way. "
In such a family, Zeng Guofan had finished reading the Five Classics at the age of nine, and was taught to read The Book of Rites, Etiquette, Historical Records and Selected Works at the age of fifteen. These are probably the knowledge bases of Zeng Guofan's life, which shows the importance of good family education to a person.
For Zeng Guofan, there can be no fine clothes, no delicacies, no mansion or even no woman, but no books. Reading has become the most important part of his life.
After Zeng Guofan tried the last one to come, he knew that his skill was not deep. He immediately packed his bags and returned home disappointed, and went south in a grain ship of the canal. He decided to take advantage of this opportunity to go to the south of the Yangtze River to realize his ambition of "taking Wan Li Road and studying in thousands of books".
When passing Suining, I met Yi Zuomei, a magistrate of a county. He is very familiar with Zeng Guofan's grandfather and father and knows Zeng Guofan. When you meet an old friend from another country, Yizhi County will naturally leave this fellow villager to visit his county for a few days. During the conversation, I learned that this Hunan native juren failed the list, but from his family education and Zeng Guofan's manners, I knew that this fellow villager was an extraordinary person with a bright future. He saw that Zeng Guofan had stayed in Beijing for more than a year, and he certainly had little money left, so he wanted to help Zeng Guofan. When Zeng Guofan borrowed money from Yi Zuomei for travel expenses, Yi Zuomei agreed generously.
He passed by Jinling and saw that the bookstore in Jinling was very developed, so he stayed and loved this place very much.
In the bookstore, Zeng Guofan saw a carefully carved twenty-three histories and couldn't put it down. He needs such a history book too much. Asked the price, Zeng Guofan was surprised, just like all the money around him. He made up his mind to buy this history book, but the bookseller seemed to have guessed the young man's psychology and didn't let him down at all, asking for one hundred and twenty pieces of silver. Zeng Guofan thought that even if he had to scrimp and save on his return trip, he would buy the book back. So Zeng Guofan sent all the clothes he didn't wear at the moment to the pawnshop and resolutely bought his beloved Twenty-three History. At this time, if he gets the treasure, he will be satisfied psychologically. It was this book that he spent so much money for the first time in his life. This move shows Zeng Guofan's elegance as a teenager. Zeng Guofan's whole life, he didn't love money or gather money, but he loved books and gathered books. Books have become his lifelong confidants, laying a foundation for his mind and vision.
When he got home, his father saw that he spent several hundred taels of silver to buy back a pile of books. Instead of blaming him, he encouraged him. I won't blame you for borrowing money to buy books. I just hope you can study them carefully so that you won't let me down. Father's words played a great role in Zeng Guofan's life. From then on, he stayed at home, read angrily and made a vow: read ten pages a day and never ask questions.
Zeng Guofan studied hard for a year, read all the twenty-three histories, and formed the habit of ordering ten pages of history books every day, which never stopped in his life. In this way, from the beginning of the imperial examination, Zeng Guofan developed a love for China's ancient literature and history, which laid a foundation for studying academic issues more extensively in the future, summing up the experiences and lessons of rulers of past dynasties, and participating in governing the country and society.
When Zeng Guofan was working in the capital, it was the time of civil strife and foreign invasion in China. What Zeng Guofan was worried about was that there were "British foreign countries" outside and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom inside. So he pays more attention to the study of practical application in reading. In his spare time, Zeng Guofan made in-depth and meticulous research on military and political plans and various daily affairs by selectively reading a large number of ancient history books. So once in power, you can apply what you have learned. Later, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom gained great momentum. Zeng Guofan led his troops with a scholar and was finally able to destroy Hong and Yang. Most people think this is different. It is not advisable to talk on paper, but what Zeng Guofan needs is a chance to prove himself. His success once again proves the significance of learning to practical guidance.
During his tenure as assistant minister in five ministries, Zeng Guofan also devoted himself to reading Tongdian and Zitongzhijian to gain insight into the advantages and disadvantages of the political situation, people's livelihood and lack of armaments in the Qing Dynasty. When Zeng Guofan was promoted from a bachelor's degree in the Cabinet to a right assistant minister in the Ministry of Rites and a left assistant minister in the Ministry of War, he read the literature of dynasties above Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty and witnessed the crisis of the political situation and the decline of the political style. Therefore, due to the imperial edict, he consulted history books one after another, and made many speeches on current affairs in Ming Dow, which reflected his ambition to learn from the world.
Under Zeng Guofan's example, Xiang generals took Confucius, Mencius, Zhou, Zhang, Cheng, Zhu and Chuanshan's "sage learning pulse" and "orthodoxy" as their own thoughts and beliefs, and collected them extensively from the treasure house of China traditional culture in order to govern the country and use troops, so that Zeng Guofan's generals were rarely reckless. A large number of Xiang generals, mostly from "poor scholars" and "ordinary people", have become senior generals who are masters of their own affairs from clerical, staff or middle-level officers. Many of them became governors and other government officials, and some even became ministers of the Qing central government, military ministers and university students.
This shows that although "interlacing is like a mountain", as long as we persist in learning, we can achieve our goals, and learning plays a decisive role in life. Zeng Guofan's study is particularly valuable, because he regards it as an important part of life and accompanies it all his life.
After ten years of Tongzhi (187 1), Zeng Guofan's health went from bad to worse, but he still insisted on studying. Deeply influenced by Neo-Confucianism, he wrote decades of proverbs on 1 month 17, warning and urging himself not to relax in reading. These words are: "there are still people among the birds, quiet and respectful;" Survive in death and live in bliss. " He believes that no one can change the world through birth, illness and death, but it is important to keep reading and experience the fun of reading. So on February 17, I felt very uncomfortable, with more than 9 drops, recovered slightly, and occasionally found it right at night. Kidney edema, as big as an egg, is indeed a dangerous signal, but he put it aside and studied it at night. It is difficult to get rid of the disease. "Before the eye disease, the heart is more blind; Approaching hernia, the more painful it is to use your heart, so you dare not use your heart and become a basket case. "But medication is not as good as reading. If he leaves this book, he will be a basket case. At this time, books are not tangible things for him, but intangible spiritual support. From this point of view, Zeng Guofan's life can be simply summarized as: reading is an inseparable part of life. Ask the world, which one can have such perseverance and pursuit? Therefore, people must not give up what they want to have and what they want to stick to.
The most precious thing in the world is the spirit of never giving up.