Being able to achieve three immortals under the torture of illness is closely related to his good health preservation and reasonable maintenance and utilization of physical and mental strength. Grandpa Zeng's ways of keeping in good health are as follows:
First, don't trust medicine.
Uncle Zeng has the creed of "three unbeliefs" all his life-"don't believe in monks and witches, don't believe in immortals and don't believe in medicine". In Zeng Guofan's letters, he repeatedly persuaded his family with "three unbeliefs". As for the article "Don't trust medicine", he often said: "Although medicine is beneficial, it can also cause harm, so we should not treat it lightly." This concept is synonymous with "medicine is divided into three parts" that people often say today.
Brother Deng thinks uncle's idea deserves our attention. The way to preserve one's health fundamentally depends on the self-regulation and repair function (immune function) of the human body. Maintain this function, ordinary minor illnesses and injuries can be treated without drugs. The process of myrrh smelting is the process of enhancing human immune function in the struggle against diseases. This truth can be seen not only by Chinese medicine, but also by western medicine. -Dr. Bo Shining from the Third Hospital of Peking University also said something similar. As the saying goes, "medicine can cure false diseases" is actually the principle behind it. When the vitality of the human body is strong enough and the immune function is still there, it is useful to use drugs to give necessary assistance to deal with diseases. If the necessary vitality of the human body has been lost and there is no immune function, there is nothing medicine can do.
However, this is not to exclude medicine. Sometimes, when there are injuries that may endanger life or endanger some parts of the human body in a short time, the immune system alone can't cope with this problem. At this time, it must be assisted by external forces such as drugs.
Therefore, although Uncle Zeng has the creed of "not believing in medicine", he does not blindly reject it when it comes to taking medicine. The key is to grasp the relationship between root and end-maintaining human function is the root and medicine is the end.
Second, you are a gentleman and a minister.
The ancients were content to be the "heavenly army" and regarded themselves as servants of the heavenly army. Being a gentleman and a priest means that the mind should always rest its mind quietly; And the body should be constantly honed to strengthen the bones and muscles. Uncle once said: "To remember, apart from worry, you also call it;" If you walk often and your muscles are constantly moving, I'll call the minister. "
How to achieve "elegance"?
One is not to do anything wrong. In Zeng Guofan's words: "If people have no sense of shame, then the heavenly army will be calm."
The second is to be less tempted. Anger should be moderate and keep your mood calm.
The third is to maintain a positive emotional state. His method is "handsome and ambitious", that is, to cultivate his mood with tenacious will and keep it away from depression and decadence.
How to "minister and labor"?
Uncle's "labor minister" is mainly in work and study. As an important official of the imperial court, he is very dedicated and must finish the work of the day. As the eldest son of the family, as a husband and father, he writes home almost every day after his busy work, telling his family what he has done and what he thinks, and making detailed arrangements for things at home; As a middleman in officialdom, he has to deal with a lot of seeing-off things every day. After doing this, he will practice writing and read books every day. In life, he must wash his feet before going to bed and walk three thousand steps after breakfast and dinner. After these things are busy, I am exhausted every day, which can be described as the "labor minister" to the extreme.
Third, pay attention to "eating and sleeping"
Diet and daily life account for a large proportion in human life. They do not form productive forces, but they are the basis for ensuring productive forces. Uncle attaches great importance to diet and sleep and has his own unique understanding. He said: "The way to maintain health should be carefully understood in the word' sleep'. Eating is a daily meal, but the sweetness is better than precious drugs. I didn't sleep much, but dreaming is really sweet, which is also a moment in life. "
Fourth, keep a healthy spare time.
Calligraphy is an important way for Zeng Guofan to cultivate self-cultivation on weekdays. He also has a deep understanding of calligraphy-practicing calligraphy is a way to cultivate patience and exercise. He said: "A hundred words a day will greatly converge the impetuous place." Be careful to converge, and be calm to converge. "
He also loves Go, which is an important way for him to adjust his mind and relax after busy military affairs.
After work and study, he gave up all unnecessary entertainment and ostentation and extravagance. In this regard, he has set the rule of "not going out at night" since he entered Beijing as an official. It should be said that this regulation is an important guarantee for Zeng Guofan to have time and energy to study a lot and arrange his personal life after his busy work.
Fifth, the music group is good.
People are gregarious animals, and they can't integrate into the group, which is a great destruction to people's body and mind. Zeng Guofan paid great attention to socializing all his life, and was always generous to his relatives and friends, so that he always had good friends to accompany him and was highly recognized and accepted by the society.
Zeng Guofan said in the book of precepts: "Confucius taught people to seek more benevolence, and the urgent task is to establish people and learn from others." There are many stories in Zeng Guofan's letters that he helped his relatives and friends. Because of his generosity, during his stay in Beijing, he almost became the "leader" of Hunan officials. He was invited to preside over many important activities between fellow villagers and many happy events and funerals of various families.