People are growing every day, and the world is changing every minute. To live in the contemporary era, we must keep pace with the times, otherwise we will only be ruthlessly eliminated. In Zeng Guofan's era, although he was unable to learn modern western science and technology, he pioneered the trend, such as opening a translation bureau and sending young children abroad, which was unprecedented, showing his superhuman foresight and embodying his spirit of self-reliance and self-improvement.
It is no exaggeration for Zeng Guofan to be called the father of China's modernization. However, his research on the development of western science and technology did not stay on the surface, but pursued the cultural spirit, which was superior.
Zeng Guofan said that the skills of westerners are wonderful because they concentrate on everything and keep one thing, getting deeper and deeper, so they gradually reach the extreme. It can be said that he realized the fundamental law of the development of modern western science. Western disciplines were divided earlier. In ancient Greece, Aristotle, a great scholar, divided various disciplines in the world and studied different fields and objects according to different categories to explore their laws. Modern western disciplines are basically deepened on the basis of Aristotle. Standardizing the scope of different disciplines through classification is helpful to concentrate and achieve results.
When Zeng Guofan was a Beijing official in his youth, he realized that there was specialization in the technical field. He classified the knowledge he had to master related to the plan of governing the country and keeping the country safe into the category of 14. In his Mumuzhai Diary, he left a passage like this:
There are 14 people who study major world issues: Japanese official system, Japanese fiscal use, Japanese salt policy, Japanese water affairs, Japanese money law, Japanese crown ceremony, Japanese faint ceremony, Japanese funeral ceremony, Japanese military system, Japanese military law, Japanese criminal law, and Japanese land and water. They are all based on this dynasty, tracing the evolution of the previous generation, showing benevolence and returning to Yi Jian.
People who were attacked in their previous lives can improve themselves, and people who have no previous lives can create their own. People who get along know that the future is open, and people who get along know that the future is inevitable. The so-called eternal knowledge also.
Although the above 14 kinds of knowledge are not entirely modern science, they are the most critical knowledge and skills at that time, and their scope involves politics, military affairs, water conservancy, finance, transportation, taxation, law, geography and other aspects. Zeng Guofan's spirit of "self-improvement" and "self-creation" coincides with the innovative spirit of modern science. He has realized that in order to meet the requirements of the development of the times, he must accept and advocate the spirit of innovation, which was unimaginable in his time.
With the deepening of understanding, Zeng Guofan became more and more aware of the importance of classification. Xianfeng eleven years (186 1 year) on the fourth day of September, he said in a letter to Ceng Jize:
Generally speaking, there is a kind of knowledge, that is, there is a method of classification, and there is a hobby, that is, there is a method of extraction.
He thinks that the classification of scientific research is very important, and the significance of this kind of research is also very important.
Zeng Guofan's understanding of "specialization" is not limited to the appearance of discipline division. For him, method and spirit are more important, which is also the main purpose of his admiration for westerners. In his view, the westerners' spirit of "deliberation and pursuit of perfection" is what China people lack and what China needs most.
Confucian education itself is a kind of "all-round" education, which involves almost every aspect from self-cultivation to managing the country, trying to cultivate all-round quality. An intellectual with a Confucian background becomes an official in governing the country after entering the official position, and he must be able to afford everything. The duties of feudal officials include administration, military affairs, justice, finance, social welfare, school education and almost all aspects. If you want to have a smooth career, you must pass all the tests. The result of this "all-rounder" requirement is that "professionals" are buried.
In fact, even all the generalists involved are not many, and most of them are as bad as others. This is the main reason for the lack of specialized talents in feudal times, and this is precisely the fatal obstacle to the development of modern science.
In view of this, Zeng Guofan strongly advocated specialization, on the one hand, he kept pace with the times and directly advocated western science and technology, on the other hand, he advocated personnel administration. Zeng Guofan never criticized people's perfection. His principle is to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses, and try to give full play to everyone's strengths. To this end, he absorbed a large number of professionals, including some modern scientists, such as Xu Shou, Hua, Li and Zou. Facts have proved that these talents played a great auxiliary role in his later Westernization Movement.
After Zeng Guofan's teaching, his son chose a professional road. Zeng's talent is not high and he is not diligent enough. He is not good at writing stereotyped writing, writing poems and practicing calligraphy. Zeng Guofan once told people that he would certainly fail in the exam, so he was guided to develop in the aspect he was good at. So I chose the mathematics I was most interested in, and after painstaking research, I finally became a generation of mathematicians. In the Draft of Qing History, he was specially listed in Biography of Domains.
Zeng Guofan advocated specialization, which injected scientific spirit into the dull traditional society and reflected the new requirements for talents under the new era background. Since then, China intellectuals have embarked on the journey of modern science. It is precisely because of the constant changes that Zeng Guofan changed from a pedantic traditional Confucian intellectual to a hero who managed chaos and recreated a prosperous time, and achieved a great leap from "inner sage" to "outer king" and from "self-cultivation" to "leveling the world". "Heaven has changed for fifty years, and the country is fortunate." This sentence is the condensation of Zeng Guofan's view of change. "Heaven" changes every 50 years, so do countries, families and individuals. It is a wise choice to gain insight into change, feel change and improve yourself because of change.
Zeng Guofan has a clear vision of the general trend and is far-sighted on major issues related to the fate of the country and individuals, which is an essential quality of a great man. Zeng Guofan's thought changed three times in his life: he believed in Confucianism in Beijing in his early years, legalism when he was in charge of the Xiang army and suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and turned to Taoism after he became famous in his later years. It can be said that these three changes are all manifestations of Zeng Guofan's constant change and timely adjustment of his life strategy. This also confirms the truth that those who keep pace with the times keep pace with the times.
If you want to be original in a certain field, you must aim at it. But things are often related. If you specialize in something you shouldn't specialize in, or if you are too single-minded, you will greatly limit your room for manoeuvre.
So we should find a balance between specialization and extensiveness. It is easier to get a foothold by withdrawing from the contract and bypassing analogy, and it is also a balanced choice after adapting to various changes. This balance point means the relative balance and normality of life.
The ups and downs of life are difficult and painful. If you want to keep pace with the times and maintain vitality, you must be good at using your brains and finding a combination point.
Lan, Zou, et al. Facts have proved that these talents played a great auxiliary role in his later Westernization Movement.
After Zeng Guofan's teaching, his son chose a professional road. Zeng's talent is not high and he is not diligent enough. He is not good at writing stereotyped writing, writing poems and practicing calligraphy. Zeng Guofan once told people that he would certainly fail in the exam, so he was guided to develop in the aspect he was good at. So I chose the mathematics I was most interested in, and after painstaking research, I finally became a generation of mathematicians. In the Draft of Qing History, he was specially listed in Biography of Domains.
Zeng Guofan advocated specialization, which injected scientific spirit into the dull traditional society and reflected the new requirements for talents under the new era background. Since then, China intellectuals have embarked on the journey of modern science. It is precisely because of the constant changes that Zeng Guofan changed from a pedantic traditional Confucian intellectual to a hero who managed chaos and recreated a prosperous time, and achieved a great leap from "inner sage" to "outer king" and from "self-cultivation" to "leveling the world". "Heaven has changed for fifty years, and the country is fortunate." This sentence is the condensation of Zeng Guofan's view of change. "Heaven" changes every 50 years, so do countries, families and individuals. It is a wise choice to gain insight into change, feel change and improve yourself because of change.
Zeng Guofan has a clear vision of the general trend and is far-sighted on major issues related to the fate of the country and individuals, which is an essential quality of a great man. Zeng Guofan's thought changed three times in his life: he believed in Confucianism in Beijing in his early years, legalism when he was in charge of the Xiang army and suppressed the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and turned to Taoism after he became famous in his later years. It can be said that these three changes are all manifestations of Zeng Guofan's constant change and timely adjustment of his life strategy. This also confirms the truth that those who keep pace with the times keep pace with the times.
If you want to be original in a certain field, you must aim at it. But things are often related. If you specialize in something you shouldn't specialize in, or if you are too single-minded, you will greatly limit your room for manoeuvre.
So we should find a balance between specialization and extensiveness. It is easier to get a foothold by withdrawing from the contract and bypassing analogy, and it is also a balanced choice after adapting to various changes. This balance point means the relative balance and normality of life.
The ups and downs of life are difficult and painful. If you want to keep pace with the times and maintain vitality, you must be good at using your brains and finding a combination point.