Letters from Zeng Guofan: Letters from Phoenix Men like to tell the truth of life.
It is not an exaggeration to say that Ceng Laoshi is a Phoenix man. Ceng Laoshi rushed from the hinterland to Beijing, Nanjing, Assistant Minister, Governor of Liangjiang and main hall, which is a standard road for Phoenix Men's Edition.
Phoenix man who has passed the exam likes to talk about exams, and he is a good teacher by his own successful experience. You see Ceng Laoshi, a Phoenix man, has been admitted to settle down and become a civil servant. His life is not bad. In the twenty-fourth year of Daoguang, he rented 28 houses in Nianer Hutong, west of Qianmen, Beijing, with a monthly rent of 30 strings of money. /kloc-In May of 0/2, Phoenix Man, who felt that his life was very happy, wrote a letter to his brother at home. The academician courtyard has informed him, but the letter is still nagging about the exam. He remembered the "College Entrance Examination" where thousands of troops crossed the wooden bridge five years ago, and lamented that "fortunately, I didn't suffer a loss because of the early examination". Fortunately, he said, he won a reputation since he was a child, and he didn't repeat the same mistakes and was no longer poisoned by those eight-part essay review textbooks year after year. This is obviously the mentality of Phoenix Man after the exam.
I don't know if you have the same mental journey after killing the early 60 s and 70 s of the college entrance examination. To this day, you often dream about the college entrance examination or do crazy review materials.
Phoenix man likes to talk about exams.
I succeeded in the exam. To show humility, I like to comfort others. From time to time, Lao Zeng also reveals this seemingly modest but proud phoenix man mentality. He said, brothers, don't let a piece of paper delay your life. My hope for you is not that you can achieve fame and fortune. "Why does a piece of paper miss a lifetime?" "My expectation for my younger brothers is not whether they have a scientific name." Don't stare at a test paper all the time, but "the person with the heaviest task is far away." You should be more atmospheric. In the era of fame, how far can you go without taking the exam? Advise those who are still struggling on this road to get rid of it after the exam. This is the obvious tone of Phoenix Man.
Successful Phoenix man, talkative, talkative, talking about learning methods, talking about the realm of life, talking about goals. Or twenty-four years of Daoguang as mentioned above. At that time, Lao Zeng was only 33 years old and his life experience was not rich. But because the officialdom is so smooth, he is eager to share his joy with his younger brothers in his hometown. Comrade Lao Zeng wrote home again and again. I checked, except May 12 this year, Lao wrote to his younger brother at home on August 29th, September 19, June 10, and June 65438+February 18, and became addicted to posting, all of which became "house control".
Except for the first letter asking about the recent situation at home and reporting on his recent situation in Beijing, the others are all about the experience of Phoenix Man, and all of them are correspondence courses given by Ceng Laoshi to his brothers. For example, the letter written by 19 in September actually contained two things: I commended Fourth Brother for learning from a man named Liu Xiaxian. His lack of progress in his studies cannot be attributed to the narrow and closed place where he lives. "It can't be attributed to local cramps." I'm the one who told my brothers to leave the key schools alone.
Two very simple things, Phoenix Man and the old man, involve a lot of life truths. What do you mean, "you can make up your mind, what else can't you do, sage hero?" Why rely on people? "I used to sit in the position of kyou-kan, so I naturally won't feel low back pain when I say these words, but for people living in the hinterland, these words can't make a living, and it's really difficult to do something without the help of others. My brothers are counting on you to help me. " Why do you have to help others? "This is all nonsense.
Later, these younger brothers were all pulled up by old men who ran Xiang army.
Give my brother a class to protest.
As for studying, don't choose a place or a school. This is not reliable. Lao Zeng, think about your old rival, Quan Ge, because he didn't go to a prestigious school and didn't have the guidance of a famous teacher. As a result, he was always single-minded, failed in the big exam and had to start his own business to engage in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.
I taught my brothers a lesson and said bitterly that it was my greatest shame that my father died young and my brother failed to educate you well. Then he said, I can teach others a lesson if they deal with me. "Many people will benefit from others making friends with others", that is, I am "deeply ashamed" and "deeply disgusted" that your brother is not motivated. Brother, I'll give you another chance. I also sent a letter to Liu Xiaxian this time. Please make a copy and learn the spirit of my speech.
A department-level cadre in Beijing used to write to his younger brothers for classes every once in a while. The younger brothers were disgusted and collectively wrote letters to protest: Boss, we don't want to hear you whisper about the class. Zeng's face thickness is still limited. After receiving the letter of protest, he also felt blushing, so he stopped teaching at home.
Excerpt from Zeng Guofan's letter: learning is endless, but perseverance is always the mainstay. My brother has remained the same for several years. He has improved a little in recent years, but he is still not proficient. He has been together all day since the beginning of July. Post a hundred words a day, copy a hundred words, read at least 20 pages, and ignore them at most. Since July, we have read hundreds of volumes of Wang Wenji, including 40 volumes of Zhenchuan's Anthology, 20 volumes of The Book of Songs, and hundreds of volumes of The Book of Later Han, all of which are recognized by calligraphy and academic circles.
Qing Daoguang twenty-four years November 21st, Shu.
Zeng's inspiration: love cooking, love adding materials, and emphasize taste.
Phoenix male letter has a strong flavor, and the focus is on motivation. Old people are used to adding a lot of "oil, salt, sauce and vinegar" to the incentive process, and frying a plate of "inspirational dishes" to make Li Zhinan want to eat.
For example, hard work and plain living, filial piety and prudence are all very light things, but Lao Zeng can arouse a lot of excitement. We read the letter he wrote to his younger brothers in the 29th year of Daoguang: "I think many official families in the world will enjoy a generation. Their descendants are arrogant at first, then wandering, and finally talking nonsense. It rarely lasts for a generation or two. In the merchant's home, thrifty people can last for three or four generations; If you are a farmer, you can keep it simple for five or six generations. A filial family can last for ten generations and eight generations. "
I used to pack. He poured a bucket of cold water on the bustling second generation of officials, and poured a fire with coldness that can only last for one or two generations. As for Jin Pu and Xiaoyou's home, he frantically added firewood and spices, stirring up a boring and light moral sermon, and the attractive prospect of "continuing the ten generations and eight generations" is the firewood and spices he added. Those who take care of family letters will be excited by the prospect of "ten generations and eight generations" and thousands of generations, vowing to be filial friends and keep home.
For example, when it comes to reading, Xianfeng wrote a letter to his son Ceng Jize on August 3, 2008, saying that reading should be deeply appreciated and kind. The old father was afraid that his son would not understand his teachings, and he used a lot of "condiments" to relish the dish of "reading", and these condiments were metaphors. What is "like spring rain to moisten flowers, like clearing canals to irrigate rice" and "a good reader should take books as water, but his heart is like flowers, rice, fish and feet"? This is a metaphor. A big basket is full of flowers.
In fact, heavy taste is monotonous taste, except any other taste. Work hard on a certain taste and fry it to the extreme, just like fried rice noodles at roadside stalls. For example, being a man in officialdom is a very complicated technical job, but I have always been brilliant in one aspect and made this technical job delicious. Once, Ceng Guoquan, Lao Zeng's younger brother, wrote to complain that his colleagues were pale. Lao Zeng immediately wrote back to criticize him: others look pale. After all, you look pale first. The implication seems to be that as long as you look good, others look good. Here, Lao Zeng obviously simplified the complicated problems, and packaged the stinky fish of personnel relations in the Qing Dynasty officialdom with spicy chopped peppers and turned it into a delicious "chopped pepper fish head". Lao Zeng, like Carnegie, is good at speculating on some simple moral principles and details.
So reading Lao Zeng's letters from home will become more and more addictive. Both Li Zhinan and Phoenix Man are obsessed with this heavy taste, thinking that Lao Zeng's success can be copied not only, but also, so Lao Zeng's books are selling well in succession. Now Phoenix Man's successful speech is very popular, and everyone is chasing this heavy taste.
In fact, most of Lao Zeng's success was experienced in reality. When he wrote his success on paper, it may have lost its original flavor. Just like Zheng Banqiao painted bamboo, the bamboo in his eyes is not the bamboo on the pen, and the bamboo on the pen is not the bamboo on the paper. Such a clever painter, painting bamboo is inevitably deformed. I'm afraid Ceng Laoshi's successful experience is also a realistic success, and it doesn't mean what he wants to say. The success he wants to talk about is not the success written on paper, but the success that has been transformed several times.
For example, Lao Zeng repeatedly emphasized the word "sincerity" in his family letters. How about being sincere to others? When leading troops in Jiangxi, a man who opened a leather bag company found Lao Zeng and said that he could buy a batch of cheap arms. Lao Zeng believed him and gave him a sum of money. Subordinate advised him not to be credulous, and Lao Zeng said confidently: I treat people sincerely. As a result, the boss of the leather bag company took the huge sum of money and never returned. Lao Zeng said angrily, "I treat people with sincerity, and I treat people with sincerity." It can be seen that the word "sincerity" is very easy to write in family letters, which is simply a history of blood and tears.
Letter from Zhuge Liang: The light taste is steamed fish.
Zeng's old family letter is a fish head with chopped pepper, which tastes heavier, while Zhuge Liang's family letter is steamed bass, which tastes lighter.
The shortest is only 19.
First of all, Mr. Zhuge's letter is very short and unobtrusive, especially for his brothers, with no intention of boasting at all. For example, a letter from my brother Zhu Gejin introduced my eight-year-old son Zhuge Zhan, saying, "Jin Zhan is eight years old, smart and lovely. I don't think it is too early. I'm afraid it's too heavy for my ears. " Before and after the letter, the word 19 is just meager, saying that my son is eight years old and very smart, but I am worried that he is too precocious to take on a big job. At this point, I came to an abrupt end. My praise and worry about my son are all in the word 19, but I estimate that if I put it in Lao Zeng's words, I will be unable to restrain the itching of my mouth and hands and talk about the connection between "wisdom" and "weight", just like stirring up my parenting experience with all examples and proverbs.
Zhuge Qiao, Zhuge Liang's eldest son, was raised by his brother. Teacher Zhuge regularly reports Joe's growth to Zhu Gejin. There was a note that said: Joe should have been assigned to work in Chengdu, but I decided to let him exercise, deliver rations with everyone and share joys and sorrows with the soldiers. "Share weal and woe. With all the children in the valley. " Teacher Zhuge is just faint and concise. He no longer explained that the children of princelings must be integrated with the officers and men. After 37 words, he won't say anything
No more than 90 words in length.
Zhuge Liang's letters also teach his sons and nephews, the most famous of which is the exhortation book: "Be quiet to cultivate one's morality, be frugal to cultivate one's morality, be indifferent to no ambition, and be quiet to stay away." You should study quietly, you should study, you don't learn widely, and you have no ambition. The full text is only 90 words. If you put it on the Weibo, you can also enter 50 words. Every sentence in Zhuge Liang's calligraphy is an epigram, as if many jewels were connected in series. As for how quiet it is and how far it is, you don't say, don't write, and then write, just like stringing a gem on a necklace made of jewelry.
Teacher Zhuge's admonition to his nephew is only 90 words. The motto of "aim high" and "seek advice from others" is to have a long-term vision and not be too trivial. It is indeed a bit "thin" to measure Lao Zeng's letters from home by this standard.
Zhuge Liang's admonition: A gentleman's journey is to cultivate himself by being quiet and frugal. Not indifferent, not wise, not quiet, not far away. Husband must be quiet when studying, and must study. He can't study without ambition. Slow and not refined; If you are impatient, you can't be rational. With time, meaning and age, and then become withered, many do not conform to the world. What can I do if I lament that I am poor?
Reason: Different origins, different times and different levels of humanism.
Once the Phoenix man, a successful and enthusiastic Phoenix man, always had too much to say, too many experiences to spread and too many emotions. Letters from home are written in detail and naturally. Besides, letters from home are written for the children of farmers in the hinterland of mountainous areas, with low consciousness and narrow vision. If they don't write in detail, they can't understand it. If they don't write with strong flavor, they won't work hard or wake up.
On the other hand, Zhuge Liang, although staying in the cottage like Zeng Guofan, is not a Phoenix man. Zeng Guofan's family has been in Caolu for hundreds of years, and everyone is in a hurry to go out. Of course, inspirational taste is heavier; Zhuge Liang's thatched cottage was built temporarily. His father is a satrap, his uncle is a celebrity, and he is a celebrity himself. He stayed there for the time being. It is not surprising that Liu Bei invited him when he visited the cottage. Therefore, Zhuge Liang did not emphasize studying hard, but just "read the outline."
If Zhuge Liang wanted to take the imperial examination as well as the civil service examination, he wouldn't have said such irresponsible things. In Ceng Laoshi's time, he couldn't do it. If he doesn't study hard, he can't take the imperial examination. Why didn't he wait for the invitation of the Qing emperor?
I worked hard step by step, but I took the initiative to go to the Qing Dynasty. I am very excited from farming to non-farming. I like to say inspirational words. Zhuge Liang leaned on others, and everything was as natural as running water. Therefore, he is more calm and less trusting than the old man. The style of writing in the Wei and Jin Dynasties of the Three Kingdoms is simple and light. From Zhuge Liang's notes and letters, we can see the shadow of future generations speaking Mandarin. The demeanor of Wei and Jin dynasties can't be reproduced now.
Of course, Mr. Zhuge is not always an understatement. He also has a strong taste of "sighing all night and spilling tears on the desktop". This is a national event and a determination before young owners. Of course it can't be lighter. If it is too light, young business owners will suspect that you are irresponsible.
Conclusion: I liked Zeng Guofan's letters when I was young. This inspirational book has specific details and practical training steps. I always feel that Ceng Gong can do this, and so can I; If I am 40 years old this year, I suddenly like the celebrity style in Zhuge Liang's book. People can be phoenix, and there are few real celebrities.
There is nothing wrong with the phoenix mentality. What is wrong is that you scan all groups with this vision and feel that everyone is the object of your education. You always show off your hardships, bitterness and struggle history, and you always shout: I am like that.
When you do this, disaster and misfortune begin.
What is Phoenix Man? As a label, it refers to a man who gathers the strength of the whole family, studies hard for more than ten years, and finally becomes "golden phoenix flying out of the mountain", thus bringing hope to the transformation of a family.