Zeng Guofan attaches so much importance to family precepts, first of all, because he is a great scholar and the successor of Neo-Confucianism. What is the second important reason? Because he is also a good man who loves his family, he is also a typical "I love my family" man. There is evidence that he said a famous saying. What did he say? He said, "Nowadays, people have a wrong view of learning. They never ask questions about college, that is, between family and daily use." Why do you say that? Let's crack it from the family. At the age of 33, he made a windfall, but the extremes meet, which triggered his family crisis. He is an academician of the Hanlin Academy. The salary is not high. Plus, he comes from a peasant family and is relatively poor. I spent a lot of money on school, got an iron rice bowl, and had to send money home. He has a big family and nine brothers. I owe a lot of money. He lives in poverty by himself. Living in Beijing is not easy. He is short of money. I'm glad that my luck has finally turned. I was promoted in the first half of the year with high salary. In the second half of the year, I came to a fat job and went to Sichuan after taking the main exam. This is a fat job. He looked forward to it years ago. This is a business trip. There are also travel expenses and subsidies. You have to thank the teacher for the exam. I have never seen so much money. Income 1000.20 yuan. I'm so happy. Take it out immediately 1200 yuan and send it back to your hometown. Write a long letter from home. Report this happy life experience. Finally, I mentioned the usage of 1200. "Give the family 1,200 taels of silver, 620 taels for debt repayment and petty expenses, and 420 taels for expenses of the Qi family." Take out 600 to pay off debts, and give the remaining 400 to relatives and people. This idea is not good. When the money is sent back, you should have a say. It should be the father who decides how to spend it. But he forgot when he was happy. Solemnly put forward a 46-point plan. As a result, my father was not angry and didn't feel too much, so he split up. It's not that others have no opinions, but that my brothers have big opinions. Liu Jiu's brother was very angry, and they wrote to his brother to protest strongly. He even said that he was fishing for fame. There are three main points: first, the money remitted back is Zeng's money, not from unknown sources. Why should I give it to others? 2,620. Do you know how much you owe? Exactly 1200. Third, send the money back, dad is still here, and he has the final say. Are you too disdainful of dad? He brought up these younger brothers and often taught them a lesson. When he saw this letter, he would write them a lesson, but at this time he wrote a longer letter from home. This is his famous article. "There is a saying in the book,' There must be something that has not been tested, that is, there seems to be a little heart of fame'. These two words can be inferred in detail, and my brother can't help but introspect. " To quote my brother first, I want to make a show. There is no need to do such a thing. This is a powerful statement, especially among brothers. But when he said these two words, he thought you said it too well. I immediately reflected on whether the idea at that time was a show, and it seemed not. Although not, it is also an important spur and reminder to me. So thank you for reminding me. The following lists the embarrassing lives of relatives he heard. So there is nothing wrong with funding. Also said that I really oversight, I didn't expect to owe so much. Just change it to 28 points If you don't agree, just listen to your father. Finally, there is a long way to go. I am glad to receive your letter. Style and writing have improved. It can be improved a little. Another kind. Also said that my recent accomplishment can communicate with you. A long letter from home was unexpected. He is the eldest brother in this letter from home. The younger brothers were ashamed and survived the financial crisis. There are two more questions.
Why do you insist on taking part to support your own people when you are not rich? Why is he so gentle and stubborn? He is a standard Confucian scholar and is known as the only successor of Neo-Confucianism after Zhu. There is no interruption between self-cultivation and leveling the world, and the most realistic thing is to keep the family together. China people attach great importance to their home. The word home contains rich cultural information. There is a house above, why is it a pig below? Baogai is a villa, the earliest house, not for people to live in. It is a place for tribal meetings and for tribal sacrifices. When offering sacrifices, the most important thing in ancient times was pigs. At that time, they were all wild boar, which was difficult to handle. At that time, it was a family sacrifice, so Confucianism said that self-cultivation and family governance naturally attached great importance to this family. His concept of home is:
Zeng Guofan believes that family is the foundation of life. He has a famous saying: "Whether a child has virtue is partly due to in our nature and partly due to family education." 40% of a person's achievements and noble personality are determined by his family environment. So he saw more clearly, and he decided that the small environment was the family environment, so he gave their old house a name. What's its name? Order eight soups. They once had a family. After the renovation of the old house, the new house will be built, and a plaque will be written. Now that you are going to Hunan, you have changed your name to Fuhoutang. Later, his son Ceng Jize changed his name. What is Zeng Guofan's name? Eight churches. Why? He said that there are eight fundamentals in life: "reading is based on exegetics, writing poetry is based on tone, caring for relatives is based on winning favor, keeping in good health is based on less anger, based on not lying, staying at home is based on not being able to do anything, being an official is based on not asking for money, and marching is based on not disturbing people." This is from the aspects of managing the family, governing the country and calming the world, and it talks about the eight fundamentals of life.
But why is this house called Babentang? It is these eight fundamentals that are all on this plaque. In other words, there are eight fundamentals in life, but home is all the fundamentals. Without this foundation, others are rootless trees, passive water, and life is difficult to achieve. Therefore, Zeng Guofan believes that home is the base of life.
Second, since home is so important, how to maintain the family environment? This is a very important point in Zeng Guofan's family view, which is to govern the family with harmony as the most important thing. He thinks the two most important words are filial piety. Brothers should be harmonious. It is easy to respect parents, but it is easy to have conflicts between brothers. When Xianfeng was seven years old, he reversed his car and couldn't win the battle. His official luck was poor. His Xiang army was also released and the court suppressed him. He was annoyed. Train my brother every day. Several younger brothers quarreled with him. The next year, luck changed, and he came back. Brother Liu led the troops forward and died. It was a great blow when he received the bad news. Self-reflection, he thinks it was caused by quarreling with his brother last year. It's too late to regret. His diary shows that he has a thorough mind. After going back on our word, I wrote that your brothers are in harmony. Tell my brother and sister that I was wrong and scold me. I promise I won't turn my face. My brother died because of last year's disagreement. Harmony is harmony. Harmony is a mass of gas, which can be felt and is auspicious. Home will prosper. Without it, the family will decline. He has a famous theory: the official will not prosper for more than one generation; The merchant's home, prosperous for only three generations, has a little entrepreneurial spirit; Farming and reading homes generally flourished for five generations; Filial families, that is, families with filial piety spirit, can generally prosper for eight to ten generations. If our Zeng family wants to prosper, we must maintain this harmony. The eldest son-in-law named Yuan Yusheng made him angry, idle and uneducated, and he regretted it. There is no way to divorce. Teach him. Later, the in-laws' wealth declined, the daughter was taken back, and the son-in-law failed, or so. Zeng Guofan led the troops outside. He wrote to Ceng Jize and said that Yuan Yusheng: "My family is big and small, and we can't neglect our manners in Xu Yuan." Although not worthy, we must remind our family not to despise him. According to the analysis, a person has a good heart only in a good family. In a bad environment, good things will slide in an evil direction. Therefore, we must treat him peacefully. That's ridiculous. Send it to me and I'll ask the teacher to teach him. Later, I really went, and I was even more angry when I saw it. It's still ridiculous. He can't help it if he embezzles wages. Is his family concept wrong? No, his family members are very kind. Actually speaking objectively, his theory is correct. Yuan Yusheng did not live in a good family atmosphere and formed a bad habit, which is hard to change for life. The counterexample also shows that education should start from an early age and have a warm and friendly family from an early age.
The third is managing the family diligently, which has two meanings. First, family members should be diligent; Second, parents should be diligent and set an example. He brought eight-treasure rice. Zeng Guofan also mentioned an "eight-treasure rice" family motto in "On Home Economics". So which eight treasures does this "eight-treasure rice" refer to? Eight words: "books, vegetables, fish and pigs sweep the treasure early", and everyone in the family should study; To grow vegetables, grow them yourself; Fish farming; Raising pigs; Get up early; Sweep the floor; The exam is to worship the ancestors, and we must have awe; Cherish is to get along well with relatives behind the collar. Family prosperity can make families more prosperous. This is the overall situation. These eight words are for them to practice, so that they can afford to be diligent. But the second point is that parents should take the lead, and he can do it by himself. In addition, the Governor of Liangjiang always takes time out of his busy official duties to educate his children. When you don't understand, as long as the child likes it, he will study hard and learn a little. This is even more commendable. His son Ceng Jize is even more outstanding. He is a diplomat. Although he has a tutor, he always gives lessons to his children personally, practicing calligraphy, music, chatting, drawing and outing. He said, "As long as you can spare some time to accompany your family and children every day, this is the best family education." Simple but profound, because of this family style, there are generations of talents. The inheritance of family style has played a role. The most important thing for him is that his efforts and practice are admirable in the process of family education.