The five humiliations of Zeng Guofan’s life
01? The scholar examination was publicly criticized by the examiner
The first time was "In the year of Renchen, he was born as a student, and he studied in Taiwan The hanging card is responsible for the shallowness of literature and science."
The year of Renchen was the twelfth year of Daoguang (1832). In this year, the 21-year-old Zeng Guofan took part in the scholar examination again. Perhaps his talent was really dull, or perhaps there was something wrong with his father and teacher Zeng Linshu's educational methods. Zeng Guofan failed in all the five scholar examinations he had taken before. This time in the twelfth year of Daoguang's reign, Zeng Guofan prepared hard before the exam and felt that he performed well after the exam. On the day when the results were announced, he was suspended by the school, accusing him of being "too shallow in arts and sciences" and registered as a "Yisheng" ("Yisheng" refers to those who failed to pass the examination but had good grades, and were selected to serve as performers in the Confucius Temple's ritual music and dance. If you are qualified as a "Yisheng", you will be exempted from the county examination and the government examination next time, and you can only take the college examination, so you are called "half a scholar").
In the eyes of ordinary people, obtaining the qualification of "Yisheng" is considered a small gain and deserves congratulations. Zeng Guofan felt that it was a great shame and humiliation to be criticized in public. When he returned to school, he stayed behind closed doors and gritted his teeth and became angry. Unexpectedly, this "hanging reprimand" was like a wake-up call and an enlightenment. Zeng Guofan, who had not mastered the subject after studying for sixteen years, suddenly understood it as if the bottom of the barrel fell off, breaking through the rigid writing ideas formed under his father's rigid education. In the new year, I took the exam for the seventh time and finally won the title of Scholar. This greatest humiliation in his life turned out to be the beginning of Zeng Guofan's lifelong success. One year later, he was admitted to the imperial examination; four years later, he was admitted to the imperial examination and was awarded the Imperial Academy Award. From then on, he became prosperous.
02 He was ridiculed by his colleagues for "very poor drawings"
In the first month of the thirtieth year of Daoguang's reign, Emperor Daoguang passed away. The imperial edict was "asking for words". For a time, "the whole world was applauded", and the government and the public were cheered up.
Zeng Guofan was in an excited mood and wrote a "Chen Yan Shu" in response to the imperial edict, in which he denounced the official style of the time of "taking fear of the emperor as a fear and treating softness as a respectful attitude", which exposed the ugly shape of the officialdom at that time. Those in power criticized mercilessly and pointed out the current ills. Zeng Guofan, who loved to speak the truth, was not afraid of offending those in power. He was extremely loyal and courageous.
Zeng Guofan suggested that the emperor hold "daily lectures", that is, "strengthen learning", to use his own energy to reverse the leakage in the officialdom, and at the same time reform the official selection method so that enterprising officers have the opportunity to stand out. .
This memorial received a good response. The emperor greatly appreciated him. The emperor was most interested in his suggestion of "daily lecture" and ordered him to explain it in detail. So Zeng Guofan carefully prepared his lecture notes and drew a diagram explaining the layout of the lecture hall. However, he was not good at drawing, and this picture was quite ugly.
After the speech was circulated among the nine ministers, Zeng Guofan became the center of discussion in Beijing official circles. What everyone was talking about was not his sincerity, but ridiculing him for "too crude a picture." At this level, how can he be called a disciple of a saint?
Zeng Guofan's "joke" soon became popular among the public and spread throughout the city. When people saw him, they all "smiled at it", making Zeng Guofan feel ashamed. This is what Zeng Guofan called "the second biggest chasm in his life."
03 Criticizing the Emperor and Being "Scorned by the Capital Dignitaries"
Zeng Guofan believed that the only way to save the Qing Empire was to wake up this confused emperor. Driven by a strong sense of responsibility, Zeng Guofan, who was known for his caution, made an extremely rare move in late Qing official circles: he bluntly criticized the emperor. He published the book "Respecting the three principles of holy virtue and preventing corruption", which pointed out the three shortcomings of Emperor Xianfeng.
Zeng Guofan was not surprised when the emperor was furious. However, the emperor's argument made him realize that it was impossible to suddenly wake up the emperor and change his mind through bitter remonstrances.
04 Being reviled by the dignitaries in the capital
Zeng Guofan recalled in a letter to his family in his later years, "In the past years in Beijing, I used to be enemies of all the famous and powerful people. The intention is not to be afraid of force."
One of the famous people is Sai Shanga. At the beginning of the second year of Xianfeng's reign, Sai Shang'a and others were "handed over to the Ministry for discussion" because of their poor coordination in the process of suppressing the Taiping Rebellion and their long-term ineffectiveness. Many people in the court tried to get leniency, but only Zeng Guofan "because military affairs are of great importance and the punishment should be severe when discussing crimes, it should not be used as a rule."
However, the meeting decided to impose a lenient punishment.
Zeng Guofan was dissatisfied and said, "After the meeting, I will give you a memorial and ask for severe punishment." Sai Shanga was eventually dismissed from his post.
Originally, Zeng Guofan was quite popular among Beijing officials. However, these two challenges to the "big names and positions" caused huge holes in his interpersonal network. Because Qi Shan's disciples are known all over the world, he also has a deep relationship with Mu Zhang'a.
Zeng Guofan broke the unspoken rule of "officials protecting each other" and became an outlier in the officialdom. "After the trial of the case, many people distanced themselves from Zeng Guofan and even stopped interacting with him. His situation in the officialdom became increasingly isolated. "The nobles saw him or avoided him, and even refused to sit with him at the same table. "Of course, there were countless slanderous words behind his back. The impeachment of Sai Shang'a offended a large number of people. Therefore, Zeng Guofan became a figure reviled by almost everyone in the capital in the second year of Xianfeng.
05 in Changsha "Knocking out teeth and swallowing blood"
Zeng Guofan said: "I will suffer from many big chasms for the rest of my life, but Guichou will not be able to bear them in June. "It seems that the humiliation of Changsha is insignificant in his memory. The fact is far from the truth: it was this strong stimulation that pushed him to overcome the difficulties that were impossible to overcome and become a Hunan Army.
Many In the midst of difficulties, Zeng Guofan wanted to retreat more than once, but when he thought of the humiliation in Changsha, he summoned up all his fighting spirit.
After going through a lot of hardships, Zeng Guofan finally became a 10,000-man army. A team of 7,000 people. In the Battle of Xiangtan in April of the fourth year of Xianfeng, the Hunan Army had less than 10,000 people on land and water. They fought a desperate battle with the Taiping Army of 30,000 people. They won ten battles and ten victories, and defeated more than 10,000 Taiping Army with a small number. People. This was the only major victory achieved by the Qing army since the rise of the Taiping Army.
Zeng Guofan finally won the victory with his own hard work. .
It can be said that without the humiliation of Changsha, there would be no fame and career for Zeng Guofan in the second half of his life. This setback and subsequent success gave Zeng Guofan a very impressive self-education and strengthened his determination to become more frustrated. The character of being more energetic and indomitable.
From this experience, Zeng Guofan realized that for those who are determined, frustration is the greatest motivation and blow is the best help. Swallowing frustration becomes the nourishment for his will and determination. This constitutes the core part of Zeng Guofan's life experience.
Decades later, he still taught his son in a letter at home: "There are very few people who achieve success by doing nothing in the world, half of those who achieve by doing something that is beneficial, and half who achieve by being motivated and forced", "When a hundred things are against you", "The only way is to accept the situation and accept it." ", "The so-called hero knocking out his teeth and swallowing blood is a good way to deal with adversity."
How Zeng Guofan "reborn"
Thirty years old is the most important moment in Zeng Guofan's life Watershed.
The greatest significance of Zeng Guofan to future generations is that he used his own practice to prove that a middle-aged man can become a superman through "cultivating change". In other words, if a person is sincerely devoted. With self-improvement, his abilities can increase tenfold, his knowledge can become tenfold, his mind can expand tenfold, and his temperament can be purified tenfold. Through self-improvement, a dull person can also see clearly, establish himself, and speak clearly. , it can be done. People who are noisy can also become calm and calm like the breeze and the moon. Being an official was not only the beginning of Zeng Guofan's career, but also an important starting point for his self-improvement throughout his life.
As the country's political and cultural center, Beijing gathered the top talents at the time, and the Hanlin Academy was even more so. As soon as Zeng Guofan entered Hanyuan, he saw many people of good temperament, and they often appreciated the refreshing atmosphere. In his letter to his brothers, he excitedly introduced: "The capital is a place of humanity. (Friends) If you don’t ask for it, you won’t have it. The more you ask for it, the more it will come out. Nowadays, the more friends we have, the more people who talk about their practice experience include Mr. Tang Jinghai, senior Wo Ren, and Wu Zhuru, Dou Lanquan, and Feng Shutang; those who are poor classics scholars include Wu Zixu and Shao Huixi; those who teach poetry, calligraphy, and calligraphy and master Taoism, Then there is He Zizhen; if he is unrestrained and talented, then there is Tang Haiqiu; if he is heroic, ambitious and calm, then there is Huang Zishou. There are also Wang Shaohe, Zhu Lianfu, Wu Xinshe, and Pang Zuoren. ”
Zeng Guofan found that the spiritual temperament of these people was very different from that of his previous friends. They were all Neo-Confucian believers and had Puritan-like moral enthusiasm. They had strict self-requirements and were sincere and serious in their treatment of others. Face the world of mortals with a firm heart.
Before the age of 30, Zeng Guofan’s life goal was only to achieve fame, wealth and honor for his ancestors. After getting to know these good friends, he deeply reflected on himself and felt ashamed of himself, so he resolutely determined to make a new start:
"I deeply thought about how to cleanse myself of the filth of the past, thinking that I was a reborn person, that I was the worthy son of my parents, that I The forerunner of all brothers."
It was in this year that Zeng Guofan set his ambition to "learn to be a saint."
"Saint" is the highest life goal of Confucian believers.
Zeng Guofan's method of self-discipline is as simple and brilliant as his method of dealing with all things in his life: if you can't endure it, you have to endure it, and get through it with strong brute force. He used the practice of calligraphy as a metaphor to explain what people should do in the face of difficulties, fatigue, and numbness: "The clumsier the hands (when writing), the uglier the words, and the lower the interest, the so-called 'sleepy'. Don't stop when you are sleepy, Once you get through this, you can make small progress. If you keep pushing forward and get stuck, and keep working hard, you will be prosperous and diligent. If you don't specialize in calligraphy, there will be extremely difficult times in everything. The one who can get through it is a hero.
This is of course extremely painful. However, Zeng Guofan said: "Only by enduring hardship can one become a great man. "In fact, Zeng Guofan suffered like this in his life. He went through countless spiritual hardships in doing things from impermanence to perseverance.
Zeng Guofan's life was a life of constant self-attack and self-improvement. Therefore, it is also A life of constant reinvention, changing temperament, and increasing abilities.
Reading Notes?11