In the seventh year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1857), the heat waves in midsummer steeped in the white poplar pavement of Heyetang, Xiangxiang, Changsha Prefecture, Hunan Province. Zeng Guofan, who was forty-six years old, stood under the old cypress tree and remained silent. After three years of leaving Hunan, he fought endlessly, but returned with half of his head of wind and frost and a body of anger. After years of hard work, he disappeared like dew under the scorching sun, and two words in his eyes were revealed - "unwilling to accept". The brave and diligent Confucian scholar, who encountered a midlife crisis, was naturally depressed and depressed. The boss's suspicion, the slander of his colleagues, the death of his friends, all of which are entangled with the unfulfilled sorrow of ambitions, burning Zeng Guofan's soul, making him unable to sleep or eat.
He often sits quietly in front of his hometown, looking up at the spring mist on Gaomei Mountain, overlooking the green bamboo and pine waves in front of the poplar square, and feeling depressed in the middle, and cannot let go. After learning about it, my friend Ouyang Zhaoxiong recommended Changsha's famous doctor Cao Yaoxiang (named Jingchu) to treat insomnia in Zeng Guofan, and advised him: "Cao Jingchu's medical skills can cure your physical illness, while Huang Lao Dao's book can cure your heart disease." Recommended by Ouyang Zhaoxiong and Cao Yaoxiang, Zeng Guofan began to read Taoist works such as Lao Zhuang and Zhuang. Famous quotes that passed in a hurry in his early years were such as "The elephant is invisible", "The big cleverness is like a clumsy", "The strong one is below, the weak one is above", "The sun is at midday, and the moon is full of food", and then read it again is like a ray of spring light, shining on his heart surrounded by darkness.
After summer, the weather gradually cooled down, and Zeng Guofan, who had recovered slightly, walked out of Baiyangping and visited friends everywhere. Seeing the tides of Xiang River rise and fall, I don’t want to leave day and night; the light boats coming and going down the river flow down, and in a flash, it has crossed ten miles. Zeng Guofan suddenly realized the state of "the best is like water" and understood the truth that "there is no one in the world that is weaker than water , and no one can win if he attacks the strong."
Zeng Guofan's calligraphy
Zeng Guofan's most admired grandfather Zeng Yuping left his ancestral teachings "A man is ashamed of being cowardly and not strong". His mother is also a stubborn and strong person. He said that "my brothers all deserve the virtues of their mothers, and their benefits are also stubborn." Influenced by the family, Zeng's personality is strong, which is also in line with the domineering (resolute and stubborn) style of Hunanese people. After Zeng Guofan went to the capital to study, he regarded Cheng and Zhu as his lord, led his troops to fight for many years, and used the skills of Shenhan and to manage the military, and learned the domineering harshness of the Legalists . He dealt with the old officialdom of the late Qing Dynasty with a strong, pedantic, narcissistic and domineering attitude. Of course, he could not help but encounter a wall everywhere. After hitting a wall, he used this concept to reflect on it. Not only did he not understand the key points, but he was like adding fuel to the fire, and the more he cooked, the hotter he became. After Ouyang Zhaoxiong reminded me, I read Lao Zhuang again. Zeng Guofan, who was troubled by the "midlife crisis", found a way to break through.
The essence of Taoist outlook on life is first on the four words " let it go ". The laws of nature are irresistible, the destiny of heaven is unpredictable, and manpower is ultimately limited. The general trend of history is often not evaluated by individual will and efforts. Confucian emphasizes that you should be willing to do whatever you want, and who else can do it if you know it is impossible. You always want to shake the general trend with your own strength, which is often futile. Inspired by Laozi and Zhuangzi, Zeng Guofan realized the insignificance of personal in the vast universe, and then realized that in the vast historical wave, individuals could only work hard to practice but not seek certain success: in life, they only seek to do their best, and success or failure does not have to be forced. If a great thing is successful, it is also that personal efforts conform to the laws of nature or destiny. There is no need to regard all the credit as one's own; if a great thing is not successful, there is no need to be depressed, because the development of the world is not controlled by the individual, "It is up to me, and it is in heaven." Once you see this truth and no longer be obsessed with success or failure, and no longer be obsessed with fame and fortune, then you don’t have to worry about the various setbacks you have suffered before.
Zeng Guofan's calligraphy
The so-called midlife crisis is nothing more than the anxiety and panic arising from failure in career in middle age. Once you break out of the circle of fame and fortune, look at the world from the perspective of the universe, and look at life with a calm and harmonious attitude, the depression caused by the crisis will disappear.
Dingyou was the rule before Zeng Guofan's knowledge was dominated by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was a radical school in Confucianism. Neo-Confucianists emphasize the morality of heaven, and believe that by investigating things to achieve knowledge and preserving the laws of heaven, they will master the laws of heaven and ultimately be with the laws of heaven.
In hand, I can uphold justice, transform society, and finally turn it into the world. There are roughly two disadvantages: one is that it is empty and unreal, and knows that we should study things and seek knowledge, but we do not know how "thing" should be "specified", and we want to seek Tao, but we do not have the methods and tools to seek Tao; the other is that we should punish our hearts everywhere, be too high in ourselves, and be extreme in people.
Zeng Guofan's calligraphy
Zeng Guofan considered himself clumsy and ingenious, and later generations often called him a stupid person. However, although Zeng was not smart enough, he had the ability to penetrate the fog of history. Although he had never been exposed to modern science, he was inspired by the scientific research and practical research. He created a scientific thinking method that was close to modern positivism without any knowledge, emphasized verifying knowledge from reality, summarizing laws from experience, and turning the ancient military tactics filled with metaphysics into military engineering and military operations research based on empirical experience. Neo-Confucianism The disadvantage of being empty and untrue was broken by Zeng Guofan, which is where the Zeng family far surpassed their contemporaries.
Zeng Guofan's bosses and colleagues, such as Xianfeng , Luo Bingzhang , some are good at reputations and some are greedy for power and cowardly, but there are always some smart and capable people who can work together to achieve great things. Even if you are like , Chen Qimai, and , even if you have disagreements in politics and bad official reputation, it may not be hopeless. Great undertakings from ancient times to the present are all accomplished by a few heroes and most mortals. Gentlemen often have disagreements in politics, and they also need to compromise and reconcile conflicts in order to jointly carry out major events. How can you be strong and not give in if you encounter something wrong? Moral education can be as bright as the scorching sun, but it can only be as wet as the spring rain. After reading Lao Zhuang and enlightenment, Zeng Guofan learned that in the officialdom, he "knows the male and keeps the female, and is humble and weak and self-control." The first change is to know how to reflect on yourself and be humble, to find your own shortcomings in advance, and not to complain about others' unreasonableness.
He reflected on himself and understood his shortcomings of "long-term arrogance" and "very more". In the past, when I had conflicts with others, I thought I must be right, but when I looked back, did I really make sense in everything? In training and fighting in Hunan, I hinted that my subordinates did not have to obey Luo Bingzhang's orders, because Luo Bingzhang had no talent and could only do bad things; when dealing with Luo Bingzhang's documents, they only had simple and rough notifications, but no tone of asking questions or discussing, just because they looked down on Luo Bingzhang's talents. However, after Zeng Guofan left the province, Luo Bingzhang increased Hunan's fiscal revenue by three or four times, and trained 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops to support combat in various places. Where can he be stupid? Xianfeng repeatedly forced Zeng Guofan to go out of the province to rescue him. Zeng Guofan regarded Xianfeng's edict as a scammer. As a result, Jiang Zhongyuan and Wu Wenrong were defeated, and the two cities of Luzhou and Wuchang were lost. The situation was greatly damaged. How could the losses be compared with thousands of Hunan Army ? Even though Chen Qimai withdrew from the Hunan Army's military pay in Jiangxi, in addition to restricting the development of the Hunan Army, he also wanted to raise funds and train his own army. Chen Qimai was dismissed before he had time to train into the Gan Army, but how could Zeng Guofan know that Chen Qimai would not be able to do it?
Zeng Guofan is like
All previous conflicts, although the existence of the Hunan Army touched the original interest structure of the officialdom, it has nothing to do with Zeng Guofan's rebelliousness and loneliness? After leaving Jiangxi, other Hunan Army commanders got along well with Luo Bingzhang and had a disagreement with Chen Qimai, while Hu Linyi was able to work with Guan Wen. If the situation in the late Qing Dynasty was compared to the night, Zeng Guofan wanted to transform into the sun and dispel the darkness, but he eventually burned himself to the point of being exhausted and futile. Hu Linyi is more like a dancer in the dark, wandering carefully in the dark, silenced and distant from the darkness, looking for wicks that can still be ignited, ignite them bit by bit, and finally merge into the lights of thousands of families.
Zeng Guofan knew how to be modest and self-reflective, and said, "Reflecting on oneself is useless." In the past, he was always arrogant and always looked at others' faults. Since he realized the truth, he realized that he did not have any special skills and could see that others had some strengths in everything. Only by knowing one's own shortcomings and being able to see others' strengths in one's own way can moral articles improve and interpersonal relationships can be improved.Taoist Jiu-jitsu inspired Zeng Guofan, letting him know how to find a way out in the ruthless and trivial officialdom: if you are temporarily unable to change the political environment, then change yourself to adapt to the environment, first gain the favor of your boss and colleagues with a humble attitude, then actively participate in the social engagements in the officialdom, be with the light, and integrate yourself into the bureaucracy. In this way, I will no longer be the cruel official who is just strange and difficult to work with in the eyes of others, nor will I be the white swan in black swan . If you remove edges and corners, you will no longer be easily attacked by others. If you become your own person of the bureaucrats, you will be easy to act.
Zeng Guofan’s family motto
Zeng Guofan used to do things, always trying to kick the incompetent mediocre official away, and then replace it with the gentleman he trusted, and change the atmosphere with one heart and one virtue, and create great achievements together. After repeated setbacks, he began to become familiar with the weaknesses of human nature and the complexity of society, and knew that he could not isolate all unscrupulous people, let alone the "righteous gentleman" he trusted, without selfish thoughts?
Laozi emphasizes that a gentleman acts like water, takes advantage of the situation, does not fight against human desires, but uses Jiu Jitsu to tame human nature and helps his achievements, uses common interests, and guides others to achieve their own intentions. A noble and fame complimentary, give up trivial people to comfort them, greedy and fond people to tempt them, unite all those who can unite, turn their careers into the interests of most people, and do things naturally in every way.
Zeng Guofan used to hate social engagements in officialdom and did not like to interact with politely, but only liked to do business and believed that officialdom was a waste of time. However, after his comeback in the eighth year of Xianfeng (1858), he actively participated in the social engagements in the officialdom. Zuo Zongtang is noble, arrogant and famous. Zeng Guofan always praised him in daily interactions and praised him as the world's most capable minister; official articles are greedy for power and profit, Zeng Guofan promoted his merits and gave in to him. Every time he obtained military memorials, he was asked to lead the official articles. Luo Bingzhang regarded himself as an old senior, and Zeng Guofan asked for advice and consultation on daily life. Inquiry and greeting; grassroots officials lacked their sense of identity, Zeng Guofan was humble and summoned his subordinates to not sit in the middle hall, and did not let them stand. He greeted them intimately every festival. His aides and disciples were afraid that he was harsh and mean, so he ate breakfast with his disciples every day, talked about learning and jokes. By the time Li Hongzhang joined Zeng Guofan's shogunate, his mentor, who was mean and pedantic, was already an elder who told his subordinates every day, making people feel like a spring breeze.
Zeng Guofan's former residence Fuhoutang
Jiangnan Daying After being compromised, Xianfeng, who had no intention of granting Zeng Guofan's real local power, appointed him as the governor of Liangjiang. The reason was that although the situation was critical and no one was available, Zeng Guofan became more profound and experienced, which made the emperor feel trustworthy.
friend Ouyang Zhaoxiong said that Zeng Guofan changed three times in his life. He went from studying in the capital to a disciple of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, went to Changsha to train troops from Neo-Confucianism to become a disciple of Shen Han. After adhering to the eighth year of Xianfeng, he eventually became a disciple of Taoism. Although this interpretation comes from a friend's observation, it is a misunderstanding of him. Zeng Guofan changed three times in his life, only the means of doing things, and only the art. The foundation of his life was still Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, and his Tao has never changed.
When Zeng Guofan founded the Hunan Army, he did use severe punishments and severe laws, but severe punishments and severe laws are only means to achieve the goal, not the goal. He led the Hunan Army to fight in order to defend Confucian culture and defend the society under the influence of Confucian culture. He fought this war to change customs and customs after peace in the world and make the world a virtuous society in the Confucian ideal, and his fundamental purpose has not changed. Moreover, when he founded the Hunan Army, Zeng Guofan asked his generals to go to the barracks to explain Confucian principles to the soldiers on time, taught the soldiers to sing the "Folk Songs of Love", and treated the soldiers as Confucian disciples to teach them. He recruited generals and only recruited scholars with outstanding morality and talent, and did not recruit murderous demons. It can be seen that Zeng is still a Confucian scholar, but this Confucian scholar knows how to use some strong Legalism to make up for the peace of Confucianism to meet the needs of reality.
In his later years, in order to deal with various bureaucrats in the officialdom, he did use Taoist Jiu-jitsu to "play Tai Chi " with the emperor and his colleagues.But Zeng Guofan did this to coordinate various relationships to realize the Confucian ideals. If he becomes a disciple of Taoism, what else can he do? Taoism emphasizes that small countries have few people, and governing without doing anything. It is best for saints to act without doing anything, so what kind of war can they fight? If the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is prosperous, then let it go. But at the last moment of his life, Zeng Guofan still wanted to do great things and change social customs. In his letter to his younger brother Zeng Guoquan , he also said that manpower can take away energy and hard work can overcome destiny. It can be seen that he has always been a Confucian scholar who knows that he cannot do it. It just used Taoist Jiu-jitsu to make up for the strength of Confucianism.
Zeng Guofan’s former residence Fuhoutang
Then what is Zeng Guofan’s real strategy for doing things? In fact, it is the "dolition of mean" advocated by Confucianism.
Confucianism believes that there is a set of opposing contradictions in everything, such as yin and yang, hardness and softness, existence and extinction, and light and darkness. The doctrine of the mean is to take the middle of the contradiction and not to be biased towards either side. Later generations misunderstood the Doctrine of Mean, believing that the Doctrine of Mean means not to be left or right, standing in the middle; when encountering something, I don’t say it right or wrong, and I am ambiguous, and no one can offend it. This is a vulgar understanding of the idea of meanness. The essence is to be timid and afraid of things, be a fencer, be a good man. So what is the doctrine of the mean? The doctrine of the mean means that since I stand in the middle of contradictions, I keep the essence of things. If you stick to the doctrine of the mean, you can "hold the middle of both use" because I hold the middle of the two polarities of things, so both sides of the opposing sides can be used for your own use.
In other words, the doctrine of the mean is to look at both sides of things equally. According to the needs of the situation, if you should be left, if you should be right, if you should be strong, if you should be weak, if you should be weak, if you should be weak. It is not a combination of hardness and softness, but sometimes hard and sometimes soft, and it is flexibly chosen according to the development of the current situation. But no matter which side you choose, you must keep your original heart, that is, "holding to the middle".
Zeng Guofan defends his original heart and Confucian ideals while choosing means according to the current situation: if you need to lead troops to fight, you need to be strong, so you use the Legalist methods; if you need to be weak in officialdom, you use the Taoist methods. Both Taoism and Legalism are means to achieve their goals and are the "art" used, while Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism is the unchanging "Tao". To put it in a popular lyrics nowadays, Zeng Guofan "has made so many changes, just to keep it in my heart."
"Modern Reading" magazine recommended
Yuelu Book Club
"Warring Anqing: Zeng Guofan's Middle Age Breakout"
Text/Zhou Lufeng
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