Why is Zeng Guofan said to be half a saint

Zeng Guofan did not have much knowledge of his own. Everything about him comes from his predecessors and the saints of the day. For example, his "Jing" character kung fu comes from Wuren.

Zeng Guofan's "humble retreat" comes from Taoist thought. Knowing that in officialdom, only those who know how to "retreat" will have good results. When Zeng Guofan first practiced in the group, he also adhered to Confucianism, and the idea of diligence and thrift expressed by Zeng Guofan in his family letter also came from the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation.

Throughout Zeng Guofan's life, there is very little originality. Zeng Guofan's success lies in blending various ideas together to form his own worldview, outlook on life and values. This is also a rare thing, which no one else could do at the time.

Zeng Guofan is a virtuous man for the sake of being an official, and he will consciously get rid of any heretical ideas. Afraid of bringing disaster to his family, this is the role of officials. Because of the "official", he does not dare to think and cannot think.

Therefore, Zeng Guofan was able to kill more than 500,000 innocent people after the capture of Tianjing, so that "...The sound of the cry was terrible, and from midnight to noon, it was wiped out and ...... purifiedThe corpses are piled up, and the water is crimson". I can't help but say that this is one of his major shortcomings, so he can only be regarded as half a saint.

The reason why Zeng Guofan is half a saint:

Zeng Guofan and Wang Yangming are both Confucians, and after Confucius, there are Mencius and Xunzi, both of whom are excellent inheritors of Confucianism. And Wang Yangming was able to stand out because he opened up new ideas and the power of the heart. However, Zeng Guopan still has a certain gap with Mr. Yang Ming in terms of thought, and there is not much innovation and sublimation with Confucianism, so he can only be a semi-saint.

But his exploits were also very great, accelerating China's modernization and creating four firsts: the construction of China's first steamship, the establishment of the first military engineering school, the printing and translation of the first batch of Western books, and the arrangement of the first batch of students to study in the United States. All this laid a huge foundation for the independence and development of New China.

The main idea of Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan's purpose of advocating loyalty to the monarch and defending the Tao and governing the army with Confucianism was also carried out in the selection of generals, the recruitment of troops, the management of the army, and the coordination of relations between the army and the army.

Zeng Guofan advocated using feudal ethics to educate officers and soldiers, and cultivating officers and soldiers with benevolence, courtesy, loyalty, and trustworthiness as the foundation of governing the army. Therefore, he believes that "those who use troops must first govern themselves, and then control the enemy." ”

Wang Yangming.

Wang Yangming, a master of mind, called Zeng Guofan half a saint. On the one hand, he was an important member of the Westernization faction in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, because of his outstanding contributions to the Qing Dynasty in politics, military, culture, etc., he strictly restrained himself and wrote the famous Zeng Guofan's family letter. On the other hand, he killed people like hemp when he pacified the rebels and bandits, and was nicknamed Zeng Shaved, and he defended the feudal and decadent Qing Dynasty and served for it.

Wang Yangming and Zeng Guofan, although they are both called saints, but Zeng Guofan is not half a little different. According to the academic qualifications, Wang Yangming Hongzhi was ranked seventh in the second class in the twelfth year of Hongzhi, and the forty-second in the third class in the eighteenth year of Daoguang in Zeng Guofan, and was born as a jinshi. According to the troops, Wang Yangming prepared for the battle and pacified the rebellion of King Ning in 43 days, Zeng Guofan was defeated by Shi Xiangzhen's troops for half a year, and he was ashamed and angry and wanted to commit suicide by diving.

Zeng Guofan was an ordinary ** in the Qing Dynasty, but in the end he left a deep mark on Chinese history and culture, becoming the "three immortal" legendary figures that Chinese dream of. His family letters have become classics for people to learn; Its outstanding military exploits have been passed down for centuries; His morality is enough to be a model for all generations. Why was the scholar Zeng Guofan able to achieve such great achievements?

It is worth pondering and learning. By reading a lot of Zeng Guofan's family letters, biographies, historical materials, etc., we may be able to interpret them from the following aspects.

First, the family has a good learning atmosphere, which has created a good environment for their study and study. Zeng Guofan's father has always encouraged Zeng Guofan to enter the official career through the examination, and study with his son in the examination, which gave Zeng Guofan a strong support and exemplary role in teaching by word and deed, Zeng Guofan never gave up learning throughout his life, even the war with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom is to read books and study when he has time, this attitude and practice of lifelong learning, for him to continue to grow and resist various setbacks to provide a strong spiritual support and provide ideas for solving problems. Continuous study broadened his horizons and mind, and the complicated experience of Qing Dynasty officialdom and the brutal war enabled him to get in touch with reality, apply what he had learned, and play a role.

His knowledge is supported by a large number of practices, and his conduct is also a summary of many years of officialdom.

Second, Zeng Guofan's perseverance is the foundation of his various achievements. Zeng Guofan's talent is average, or even low, but he can change his shortcomings through continuous learning, and give full play to the spirit of God's reward for diligence. As far as learning is concerned, he keeps a diary every day, practices calligraphy, composes, writes family letters, meditates, and can persevere for decades, which is not something that ordinary people can persevere.

His strong perseverance is vividly reflected in his studies. His strong perseverance was also an important reason why he was able to persevere to the end when fighting against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. During his nearly fourteen years of fighting against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, he failed many times and committed suicide many times, but he eventually survived and no longer had any difficulty to defeat him.

War is the most challenging way to test and temper people. He introduced the Hunan army as a scholar and trained it into the strongest combat effectiveness of the Qing Dynasty, defeated the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in one fell swoop, and achieved world-class achievements. After that, he was able to retreat bravely, reduce the Hunan army, gain the trust of the imperial court, and get a good death.

His political wisdom is also very human.

Third, the turbulent situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Qing Dynasty also contributed to Zeng Guofan and provided opportunities. When the war came, most people were fleeing, including Zeng Guofan, who also wanted to protect himself at the beginning. However, the Confucian ideals of unity, family cultivation, governing the country, and leveling the world made him unable to give up and make a career.

In the end, he chose to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with great difficulty, and went through a difficult journey unimaginable to ordinary people. It's hard to imagine now that a scholar leads troops to fight, leading the militia, and there is no military salary, the court still has a sense of precaution against you, how difficult is that? How can we survive without superhuman will and extraordinary political wisdom?

The war made him famous, and it also made him the last perfect man in the Great Qing Dynasty.

Zeng Guofan is a bad person.

The Hunan army he established and commanded strangled the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, allowing the Manchu Qing to survive for decades. But Zeng Guofan was also a good man, and his writings and thoughts had a great influence on later generations.

The seventieth grandson of Zongsheng Zengzi. He was a politician, strategist, physicist, writer, calligrapher, and the founder and commander of the Hunan Army in the late Qing Dynasty.

Commemorative for posterity

Zeng Guofan's former residence Fuhoutang, also known as Yiyong Houdi, is the Hou Mansion of Zeng Guofan, is located in Futuo Village, Heye Town, located in the east of Shuangfeng County, Loudi City, Hunan, adjacent to Xiangxiang City, Xiangtan County, Hengshan County, Hengyang County, a total of more than 40,000 square meters of ground flags, the main building of nearly 10,000 square meters, is a typical symmetrical Ming and Qing Dynasty cloister building group along the central axis.

Fuhoutang sits in the south and faces north, and the half-moon-shaped Aoyu Mountain leans against it encloses Fuhoutang from three sides, southeast and west. From a distance, Fuhoutang looks like he is sitting in a chair. The surrounding natural environment is beautiful, and the trees on the back hill are dense and the ancient trees are towering.

In front of the door is a relatively open flat land, with a small river flowing eastward, and the flat land is surrounded by peaks and mountains.

The former residence of Zeng Guofan has been identified as a provincial key cultural relics protection unit by relevant departments.