Zeng Guofan had the habit of keeping a diary all his life, recording his daily experiences, words and deeds, thoughts and so on. On the 14th day of the first month of the 11th year of Xianfeng, he wrote in his diary: "The method of keeping in good health is nothing more than punishing anger, restraining desire, eating less and moving more." Less anger, less lust, less overeating and moderate exercise.
Punishment of anger: anger is anger, which is easy to damage the liver, easily cause qi and blood blockage, and is extremely harmful to the body. In order to control the bad habit of irritability, Zeng Guofan learned to "sit still" to deal with it, and held his breath after dinner to achieve the purpose of "punishing anger". However, for Zeng Guofan, who has vanity fair and a strong desire for power, it is impossible to achieve the realm of indifferent fame and fortune, quiet and far-reaching simply by "sitting quietly". Zeng Guofan achieved the goal of "punishing anger" by "sitting quietly", but it did not come true in the end.
Stubborn desire: Zeng Guofan went to Beijing as an official for the first time when he was young. His father often wrote to teach him: abstinence, labor saving and dieting. Zeng Guofan did not pay attention to controlling his desires when he was young, especially his lust was fierce. He once recorded in his diary: "Smelling its color and admiring its heart is really an animal." Because of his uncontrollable desires, his body was damaged, and he showed signs of weakness before he was old. After Zeng Guofan was forty years old, he resolutely made great efforts to control his desires and maintain his health.
Eat less: after Zeng Guofan learned in China, the rural gentry bureaucrats rushed to invite him to a banquet for wine, and the banquet was quite rich; After entering Beijing as an official, there are three days of small banquets and five days of big banquets, and they are constantly invited to eat; At this time, Zeng Guofan enjoyed eating Chinese food on the plate and enjoying what was in the cup. There are many records and descriptions about banquets in Zeng Guofan's diary, and the words "rich diet" are always written. In the later period, the diary records that the diet is moderate, and he often lashes and analyzes his diet from the spiritual level, but Zeng Guofan's "eating less" is not in place.
Move more: when he was young, Zeng Guofan believed in the health philosophy of "moving is not as good as static", and he was addicted to his study all day and rarely walked around; Admitted to Jinshi, entered the official career, went out riding a sedan chair, and rarely "relaxed". As for conscious exercise and exercise, there are even fewer, limited to walking before and after meals.
From the perspective of modern health care medicine, Zeng's health care method of "punishing anger and restraining desire, eating less and exercising more" can be used for reference, but Zeng Guofan did not implement his "eight-character" health care method well. The existing literature shows that Zeng Guofan was always weak and sick in his later years, and finally died of sudden illness when he became governor of Liangjiang, with a life span of only 62 years.
Zeng Guofan's regimen of "punishing anger, restraining desire, eating less and exercising more" still has reference significance for us modern people, but it is important to "persevere", that is, perseverance can be beneficial to health.