18 1 1 year, Zeng Guofan was born in Baiyangping, Heyetang, Hunan. There are nine brothers and sisters, Zeng Guofan is the eldest son. Ancestors mainly worked in agriculture and lived a relatively well-off life.
Grandpa Zeng Yuping's education is not high, but he has rich experience; Father Zeng Linshu is a scholar, and Zeng Guofan, the eldest son and grandson, was naturally educated by two ancestors.
Zeng Guofan entered school at the age of 6, and he was diligent and tireless. At 1832, he was admitted to a scholar and married Ouyang Cangming's daughter. Since then, I have failed the exam twice in a row.
1838, 28-year-old Zeng Guofan was admitted to the same Jinshi in the palace entrance examination. From then on, he embarked on the road of official career and became the favorite pupil of Zhang Mu, Minister of Military Aircraft. During Beijing 10, he served as Jishi Shu of the Imperial Academy successively, and worked as a scholar, lecturer, cabinet official, cabinet official, assistant minister of Ministry of War, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Punishment and official department.
This is how Zeng Guofan persevered along this career path and was promoted to the second-class position step by step. Seven strokes in ten years, ten steps in a row.
1852, Zeng Guofan was at home because his mother died. At this time, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement had swept half of China, and the Qing government issued many orders offering rewards for Yong ying, which provided an opportunity for Zeng Guofan's Xiang army to appear.
From 65438 to 0853, Zeng Guofan established a local Yong Ying named Xiang Yong in his hometown of Hunan, relying on complicated interpersonal relationships such as mentoring, relatives and friends. During Ying Yong Xiang Yong's time, he was serious in military discipline and opened up a new army. He divided his 5,000 people into ten battalions, such as Ta, Luo, Wang and Li, and moved his territory from Changsha to Xiangtan, so as to avoid confrontation with green camp in Changsha.
From 65438 to 0854, Xiang army became one of the main forces in South China among the Qing army with backward military quality. Zeng Guofan was made a first-class Yi and became the first person to seal the marquis of Wu as a scholar in the Qing Dynasty. Later, he served as the governor of Liangjiang and Zhili, and his official residence was a product.
Later, the Qing court ordered Zeng Guofan to supervise the military affairs of Zhili, Shandong and Henan provinces. Zeng Guofan led 20,000 Xiang troops and 60,000 Huai troops, equipped with foreign guns and guns, which greatly strengthened the strength of the Xiang army. Xiang generals' incorruptibility, courage and strict military discipline are important reasons for their bravery and good fighting, and they also make the Xiang army awesome in the world. As a result, war-torn provinces have come to Hunan to recruit warriors, which has become a common practice. Later generations have the saying that "there is no Hunan in the world".
1868, Zeng Guofan was awarded a bachelor's degree in Wuyingdian by letters. In May, I visited Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration in Shanghai. In August, he was ordered to be transferred to the governor of Zhili. In September, the first ship trial-produced by Jiangnan Shipyard sailed for Jiangning, and once boarded the ship for trial flight, it was named "Tianji".
187 1 August, Zeng Guofan and Li Hongzhang played the first year of studying abroad. In September, inspect the defense and training of amphibious battalion. 165438+ 10 to Shanghai.
1872, Zeng Guofan led his department to urge the implementation of "sending overseas students" as soon as possible. He also proposed to set up an "Office for Overseas Students from China" in the United States, and recommended Chen Lanbin and Yung Wing as the chairman and vice-chairman to be permanently managed in the United States. Set up an overseas education bureau for children in Shanghai, and recommend Liu Hanqing's Selected Works of the Shanghai Bureau of the Premier.
Zeng Guofan, a politician, was indifferent to the phenomenon of the Qing dynasty after the "prosperous period of Kanggan". He said: "The poverty in the country is insufficient, but people are distracted, which is very serious." As for "scholar-officials are used to being worried and accommodating", "prosperous times are neither white nor black, neither painful nor itchy" nor "hating secondary bones".
Zeng Guofan put forward that "administration should get the people first", and those who want both morality and tools in times of crisis should advocate honesty, respect benevolent government, oppose tyranny and disturb the people, and must be severely punished for those officials who take bribes and pervert the law and enrich themselves.
Zeng Guofan believes that the way to manage money is to take profits and losses, be down-to-earth and be honest. "Gradually seeking rectification is not seeking quick results."
Zeng Guofan mentioned agriculture as the basic strategic position of the national economy. He believes that "people's livelihood comes first, and the national economy takes good years as credit." He demanded that "in today's counties, emphasizing agriculture is the first priority."
Under the impact of the two Opium Wars, Zeng Guofan had his own views on the diplomatic relations between China and the West. On the one hand, he hated the westerners' invasion of China, thought that others were not allowed to sleep soundly beside his couch, and opposed borrowing teachers to help suppress it, so he was deeply ashamed of using foreign countries.
On the other hand, he is not blindly exclusive, and advocates learning from advanced western science and technology. For example, he said to buy foreign artifacts, visit people with ideas and skills, practice from scratch, suppress spinning, and be diligent and far-sighted.
Zeng Guofan is a Neo-Confucianism scholar, who advocates paying equal attention to reason, ci and textual research in literature. His "Zeng Jiaxun" is widely circulated in the world, and his letters and poems are compiled into "The Complete Works of Zeng".
Zeng Guofan is also good at using talents. Other famous officials in Qing Dynasty, such as Zuo and Li Hongzhang, were closely related to him. Li Hongzhang called Zeng Guofan a teacher.
Zeng Guofan inherited the self-reliance style of Tongcheng School Fang Bao and Yao Nai, and founded the "Xiangxiang School", an ancient prose in the late Qing Dynasty. He talks about ancient prose, emphasizes the sonorous tone and tries his best to cover it up. Ancient prose is profound and magnificent, which can convey the breath of Han Fu, so it has a magnificent artistic conception and can get rid of the disadvantages of Tongcheng School, which is praised by future generations.
Zeng Guofan's patriarchal clan system belongs to Tongcheng, but it has changed and developed. He also compiled a "Miscellaneous Notes on Classics and History" as a text model, which is not controlled by Tongcheng and is known as the Xiangxiang School in the World. Yan Fu, Lin Shu, Tan Sitong and Liang Qichao were all influenced by him.
Zeng Guofan is quite insightful about the way of making friends. He believes that it is important to be generous to make friends, and to "be honest and upright, compromise and be tolerant, but be selfless and suspicious." "Don't take advantage of others in everything. Don't take other people's money seriously. " Brainstorm, listen without being deaf.
In terms of life, Zeng Guofan believes that "in this troubled times, the poorer the better." As a senior official, "it is always good to have less money and less production." "forbearance is the first priority for officials", "virtue is damaged by fullness, and happiness is reduced by arrogance". Men must be careful with the word "light". "It is not particularly rich and famous. The prosperity of his family name is determined by heaven, that is, whether the virtue of learning is established is mostly related to heaven. Just laugh it off." "Don't do your own work, don't do your own fame", "The sooner you retire, the better".
Zeng Guofan wrote the motto 12, which basically summarized his way of making friends.
Zeng Guofan also attaches great importance to personality cultivation, which is embodied in five aspects:
First of all, honesty, consistent appearance and appearance, everything can be made public. The second is respect, awe, no evil thoughts in my heart, dignity and dignity; The third is quietness, and the mind, qi, spirit and body should be in a state of peace and relaxation; The fourth word is sincere, no bragging, no lying, no empty talk, true, one is one, the other is two; The fifth word remains the same, with regular life, moderate diet and regular daily life. The highest state is "cautious independence", with a god holding his head three feet high.
Zeng Guofan also has unique views on health preservation. He thinks: "There are probably five ways to maintain health: one is to sleep and eat constantly, the other is to punish anger, the third is to abstain from sex, the fourth is to wash feet before going to bed every night, and the fifth is to take three thousand steps after two meals every day." The four words "eyesight", "rest", "sleep" and "diet" are the most important ways to keep in good health. You should know how to keep in good health when you are recovering from illness.
To this end, Zeng Guofan also summed up the "Thirteen Lessons in Japan":
First, the main aspects: neat and serious, never afraid. When nothing happens, the heart is in the cavity; When dealing with things, be single-minded and not miscellaneous; Second, sit quietly: sit quietly for a while every day to restore benevolence and be in a calm situation, such as Zhending; Third, get up early: get up at dawn, and don't fall in love after waking up; Fourth, reading is the only way: never read a book until it is finished. Reading from east to west is biased; Fifth, reading history: ten pages a day, although some things are uninterrupted; Sixth, be careful: pay attention; Seven, nourishing qi: gas storage demonstration, nothing to say to people; Eight, physical fitness: abstinence, labor, diet; Nine, keep a diary: you must start writing, all the days, hearts and mouths are recorded once, and you will be uninterrupted for life; Ten, knowing the death of heaven: after dinner, I will tell an article in each diary, which is divided into the door of morality, knowledge, economy and art; Eleventh, the month can not be forgotten: write a few poems every month to test the accumulated amount and the prosperity of qi; Twelve, writing: writing after breakfast. Any pen and ink entertainment, as their own homework; Thirteen, do not go out at night: exhausted, cut the ring.
Zeng Guofan wrote "The Complete Works of Zeng Gong", which was handed down all over the world. He is also the author of The Way of Learning and Five Proverbs. It is said that Zeng Guofan also wrote The Classics of the Court.