The Book of Changes is the first of the group classics, so it is supposed that Zeng should have thoroughly studied it before the imperial examination. After entering the official sea, after studying again, Zeng did not take the word chapter as a service, went straight into the righteousness and realized it with his heart. Subsequent introspection, stick to a word of sincerity, completely leave no way out for yourself, and cross the rubicon to pursue the new road. This set of kung fu can be described as both righteousness, introspection and meditation, which is in line with the tradition of "being pragmatic with reason". Through understanding conscience, it can be applied to daily life, so as to achieve the unity of knowledge and action. There are three aspects to learn from Zeng Guofan:
First, Confucian self-cultivation should first aim at "perfection". Confucian practice is a hard process. There is no such thing as epiphany. It must be persisted day by day and washed one by one. Although Confucianism also emphasizes the importance of a thought that has not been issued, it must be completely reflexive and resolutely corrected in order to be effective. Without a firm ambition to "stop at the best", it is impossible to persist. Wang Yangming said that it is easy to get rid of thieves in the mountains, but difficult to get rid of thieves in the heart, because it is necessary to have a strong rationality in the heart and support a powerful force to deal with selfish desires, distractions and greed in one's own heart. And sincerely formed outside. For example, Zhu Xi said, "Preserve justice and destroy human desires", Yang Ming said, "To conscience" and Buddhism said, "Don't make dust" have the same effect.
second, the Confucian pursuit of self-cultivation is the unity of knowing and doing. The so-called self-cultivation in Confucianism is different from the pure cultivation of mind in Buddhism and Taoism, but requires the unity of body and mind and the unity of knowing and doing. We should not only try our best to make our words and deeds conform to the main road, but also improve our quality and realm on the basis of improving our understanding, and we must also apply our mind-training efforts to our work and sharpen our skills. Zeng firmly believed that "everything is in the daily life of the family", and insisted on gradually getting rid of the remaining problems such as arrogance, neglect and laziness through the arduous process of self-cultivation, and gradually approached a pure, sincere and sophisticated saint. Therefore, some scholars say that it is difficult for Confucianism to practice Buddhism and Taoism, because in the state of birth, it is easy to achieve a state of meditation and introspection by avoiding the noise of the world, without the noise of the silk and bamboo, and it is easy for Confucianism to seek a state of practice between the noisy world and the complicated world, which requires stronger heart and self-control.
third, we should have the courage to get rid of old habits and innovate. Zeng Guofan's way to cultivate one's morality is like practicing Tai Ji Chuan. First, by relaxing and being gentle, he broke his brute force and turbidity, and gradually developed his innate strength of combining rigidity with softness, so as to achieve the harmony between man and nature. Reading 2 words a day and studying classics every day is a breakthrough. In the classics, there is a sense of justice and heaven. Zeng's daily study is no longer about sentence reading and word meaning, but one by one, comparing his own experiences and actions, finding gaps and fallacies and cleaning up dirt. If there is a break, there must be a stand. Standing is to fill the heart with the way of heaven and earth, which belongs to the practice of "sex". The Confucian merit of "sex" is different from the Taoist merit of life. The Doctrine of the Mean says that destiny means sex, frankness means Tao, and cultivation means teaching. The work of frankness is the path to the Tao. Confucius said that standing at 3, achieving something, not being confused at 4, understanding the world, knowing the destiny at 5, getting the Tao in the body, being obedient at 6 and not being disturbed by all kinds of remarks, and being in harmony with heaven at 7. Self-cultivation is a lifetime's work, and saints gain enlightenment at fifty. I'm afraid ordinary people may not achieve it every day. I have to sigh that Zeng Guofan's counterattack has its profound kung fu, and it is by no means the so-called "success" trick of gaining speculation can work!