We call China two and a half saints, one is Confucius, the other is Wang Yangming, and that half saint refers to Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan, a historical figure, has a lot of enlightenment, but his personal accomplishment is also very profound. We all know that Zeng Guofan himself was born in the imperial examination. When he was fighting outside, Zeng Guofan's eldest son went to Hunan and failed after having obtained the provincial examination. After the failure, his eldest son went home upset, feeling very lost and losing his temper. Later, after his father Zeng Guofan knew about it, he wrote a letter to ask him, meaning that it is not the most important thing to take the exam, but the most important thing is to learn. You don't have to take the imperial examination, but you need to study. What do you like to learn? The eldest son said, I like western things, linguistics, economics and sociology. After listening to Zeng Guofan, that's good, so he asked the teacher to learn those things in the West.
As a father, Zeng Guofan was very strict and asked his son to get up in the morning to make tea. He must never leave the servant's hand, but go to the kitchen to make a fire, wash the tea set and make his own tea. He said that only in this way can you smell and taste tea. As a senior official, he asked her son to pick manure and grow vegetables in his hometown. Every day after dinner, he has to walk ten miles to his uncle's house to pay his respects. The rules are very detailed It is worthy of our parents' reflection today. Where should it be strict? Behavior habits and thinking habits should be strict. We need to encourage our life ambitions and let our children establish their own life pursuits. Zeng Guofan's educational behavior towards his children also responded to the sentence "Poor people love their parents".
Let's talk about Yue Fei's mother, Mencius' mother and Xu Shu's mother. Everyone is familiar with Mencius and Yue Fei's mother. Let's start with the mother of Xu Shu in the three countries. During the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao imprisoned Mrs. Xu in Xuchang and threatened Xu Shu to work for himself. Xu Shu was very worried when he learned that Zhuge Liang was recommended to Liu Bei and left with Liu Bei. Mrs. Xu, who has always regarded Cao Cao as a Han thief, heard that her son wanted Cao to work hard and hanged herself. In order to fulfill her son's loyalty, Mrs. Xu is admirable. Isn't this an old saying that parents in the world are poor?