Zeng Guofan tells you how terrible a highly self-disciplined person is.
Everyone in the world is troubled by worldly desires. Self-discipline is the hardest thing in the world. Most laymen can only achieve this level of heteronomy. Under the regulations of law, parents and teachers, we can barely restrain some excessive desires. Not to mention some lawless people who can't even "heteronomy".
However, most successful people in this world are highly self-disciplined. The so-called "a gentleman can't bully a darkroom" is rare and terrible. You never know how strong those who persist in doing something for decades will be.
I don't know if you have had such an experience:
I was going to exercise at night, but I couldn't get up as soon as I sat on the sofa in bed.
I planned to finish reading a book this week, but the temptation of TV and mobile phone is much bigger than the book.
I wanted to tidy up my room at the weekend, but I didn't know where to start looking at the messy things in the room. Forget it. It's more comfortable to lie down for a while.
I was determined to lose weight, but when I saw my favorite food all over the street, I not only didn't restrain myself but also ate a big meal.
I found a lot of money on the road. I should have contacted the owner to return it, but I put it in my pocket without temptation.
To tell the truth, I used to be like this until one day I read Zeng Guofan. A high degree of self-discipline made Zeng Guofan the "first minister of ZTE" in the late Qing Dynasty, and he was also called "four famous ministers" with Zhang Zhidong, Li Hongzhang and Zuo Tang Zong. He is a philosopher, politician, calligrapher and writer. Some people even say that he is the first perfect person in history. I deeply feel the importance of Zeng Guofan's self-discipline
One: When I was young, I failed to take an examination of juren in Beijing and decided to detour to Hunan. Even though I didn't know that I would contact the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement in the future, I was ambitious and conscious, and recorded the local customs and landforms during my visit, which laid the foundation for the subsequent Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement. On the way, the toll ran out, so I had no choice but to borrow money from my father's old friend. At that time, Yi Zuomei, the magistrate of Suining County, Jiangsu Province, was a hero and immediately borrowed 100 silver. This is his savings for three years as an official. Why did he decide at a glance that Zeng Guofan would be in the pool? It was raining, and Zeng Guofan entered Yi's living room in the rain. Yi Zuomei was in the distance. Yi Zuomei went home, and it is not easy to call this person in the future. It turns out that Zeng Guofan's concentration is extremely strong. He sat in the chair for two hours, leaving only traces of watermarks on his feet. During this time, he never moved his feet. Even if the history books are exaggerated, it is not something that ordinary people can insist on.
Two: When I was young, I was inspired and made up my mind that if I didn't become a saint, I would be an animal, so I set a goal and kept a diary. Since then, I still kept a diary the day before my death. Diary is not a form, but a reflection on what I have done. I write it carefully. At that time, writing was all in block letters, and a diary became more and more difficult with age. There is not a day in my life when I don't study, but I have to study when I am old. I have been paying attention to self-cultivation all my life. /kloc-in the spring of 0/872, he walked home in the afternoon, his feet were numb, and his son helped him back to his room. At this point, he died after sitting in a critical period of three hours. Can ordinary people have this perseverance? Don't forget to cultivate one's morality after death.
Three: When Chinese civilization was facing the disaster of extinction and China's traditional ethics and morals were subverted, he climbed mountains and waded in the water as an assistant minister, shouting "Cry for Mencius and Confucius in Jiuquan", established the Xiang Army, and wiped out the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement, a demon of traditional culture. Zeng Guofan's strategy is first-class, and the abomination of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement is to subvert ethics. Every time Zeng Guofan wiped out the Taiping bandits, the local people gave a big banquet to thank them, and now it is the same in Anhui and other places. The rise of Xiang went far beyond Zeng Guofan's original intention, so that it objectively promoted the demise of the Qing Dynasty. Although the original intention was to maintain the Qing Dynasty, it eventually led to the demise of the Qing Dynasty. His rise gave confidence to the Qing Dynasty and accelerated its demise. Xiang Army created epoch-making significance in China's military affairs. It was precisely because of the rise of the Xiang army that the regional army obeyed one person, which led to the later warlord regime.
Four. Zeng Guofan, as the most respected and admired person, was poor all his life, and never treated people with high profile. His perseverance, integrity and military ability were imitated by many celebrities, such as Chiang Kai-shek, Xue Yue, Chen Cheng and Liang Qichao. Mao said, "Be kind to others, be independent.". Later, Three Disciplines and Eight Attentions was adapted from Zeng Guofan's military songs at that time. Many tactics were learned from Zeng Guofan, and Chiang Kai-shek went one step further, one of the two books on the bed. He used Zeng Guofan's military thought to lead troops to fight, and was also included in the textbook of Huangpu Military Academy. Liang Qichao even shouted that a generation of literati who came out in 5,000 years had such attainments, which were rare in ancient and modern times.
Five: The establishment of Westernization is based on self-improvement. Rong Hong is known as "the father of overseas students in China", but if it weren't for Zeng Guofan's support, he wouldn't have made easy achievements. During his life, many scientists and mathematicians were trained under his hand. Letters from Zeng Guofan has a far-reaching influence and is still one of the hot topics in the library. Among Zeng Guofan's descendants, there are no officials, but all scholars or artists. There are so many talents in its descendants that it breaks the curse that "family affairs cannot flourish for three generations".
Six: Four times refusing to be proclaimed emperor. The conditions were ripe at that time. Xiang Army was the only fighting force in Qing Dynasty, but they only listened to Zeng Guofan's orders. Zeng Guofan refused to be the emperor because of his belief in Confucian self-cultivation Therefore, Zeng Guofan was called the Washington of the East by Japanese and Western scholars.
Seven: be low-key, not greedy for merit, not lustful, and be poor all his life. At that time, there was a saying that "Li Hongzhang can't be bullied, the left can't be bullied, and Zeng Guofan can't bear to be bullied." After Zeng Guofan's death, Li Hongzhang was commensurate with his teacher all his life, and even burst into tears every time he mentioned it. Zuo and Zeng Guofan are notoriously contradictory countries. However, after Zeng Guofan's death, Zuo cried and sighed, and contributed money to help his son tide over the difficulties.
Zeng's deeds are too numerous to mention. His greatness lies in saving China culture, spreading Confucian culture and continuing civilization. Even though he was praised and reviled all his life, his integrity and perseverance were praised. As Liang Qichao said, it takes five thousand years to produce one.
"People who have made great achievements through the ages are not only talented, but also determined to persevere", which shows how important dreams and goals are to a person's life. With a dream, what is needed next is execution. People with dreams abound, but few people really realize their dreams and succeed in life. Zeng Guofan's real difference is that he is down-to-earth and has practiced his ambition step by step. Tell you how terrible a highly self-disciplined person is with the results.