The reading of Zeng Guofan's family book series (the chapter of family rule): Chapter 13, the inheritance of family style has three treasures.

China is a very filial piety country, since ancient times, there is a "hundred good filial piety first", the Chinese nation itself is a very focus on filial piety of the nation. If a person does not even know how to be filial to his parents and teachers, it is hard to imagine that he will love his country and love others. In the famous "Mengzi Liang Hui Wang", there is such a sentence "old as we are old, as well as the old people; young, as well as the young people", meaning that we have to respect the elderly, love and care for the young, so it can be seen that respect for the elderly and love for the young has always been our society need to work hard to pass on the simplicity of the folk customs.

In Lao Zeng's view, it is not important whether a family has been rich and wealthy people, reflecting the rich and wealthy, whether the family to benevolence and filial piety, and everywhere to filial piety for the neighbors to praise, is his most important place, but also his most worried, always concerned about the place. Throughout the old Zeng's family book can be seen, the old Zeng is a very focus on family and filial piety and fraternal duty, in his view, a family to achieve true harmony, in addition to maintaining the brotherhood and harmony, the children and grandchildren always filial piety to their grandparents and elders is also essential, and over the years to physically carry out the body as the rate of the rate, and strive to be inherited from one generation to the next.

1, sincere filial piety and fraternal elders, painstakingly welcome parents

Daoguang twenty-six years, his grandfather Xinggang Gong finally recovered from the disease, the old Zeng in the letter to the younger brother on the grandfather's illness published his own concerns and views: he felt that his grandfather may be too much to eat tonic, and also went to the He felt that his grandfather's illness was probably due to the fact that he had taken too many tonics, and that he had also died because he had mistakenly taken tonics. This time, we should also ask him to see his grandfather, and in the future, we should always communicate with Master Zelu, and we should always be courteous to each other in small and big matters. We often say: we should be humane, we should know how to care for others, Lao Zeng's practice is a very vivid lesson! It is worthwhile to learn from my generation!

Lao Zeng is a loved ones of the old home is very attached to the person, can be said to be a person of love and justice, but since the examination of the scholar into the dynasty as an official, since ancient times, there is a "first for the country's loyalty, after the family filial piety, loyalty and filial piety can not be two," the old man more than 10 years have not been back to a trip to Hunan, his hometown. Although Lao Zeng has repeatedly expressed the desire to take leave to go home, but because of such and such reasons and can not be carried out. In the first month of the 30th year of the Daoguang period, the old man wrote to his brother that he wished to welcome the old man in his family to Beijing, so that he could better fulfill his filial piety in front of him.

On the welcome program, Lao Zeng's specific considerations are: parents, uncle parents, parents of four old people, if only parents will welcome to the capital without uncle parents, I am afraid that the other family members will have ideas, and their own and their parents' hearts will be uneasy; if the four old people will be welcomed to the capital, taking into account that at this time the uncle mother is still in the disease, the inconvenience of travelling far away with the disease; Lao Zeng's proposal is that the parents and the three uncles will welcome to the capital, let uncle in the capital, and the three parents and uncle in the capital, so that the parents and uncle in the capital, and the uncle in the capital.

Filial piety and gratitude are the traditional virtues of the Chinese nation, and the basis for the formation of our Chinese character. The Chinese culture of filial piety, in fact, is to support parents, reproduce offspring, to convince people with virtue, loyalty and filial piety, remember ancestors, etc., which is a multi-cultural system from the individual to the whole, to cultivate oneself, family, country, and the world. Today, when we talk about "family happiness and social harmony" and "spiritual civilization construction", we are actually asking every family member to cultivate virtue, nourish the body, filial piety and fraternity. The culture of filial piety and fraternal duty is something we should learn today! The culture of filial piety and fraternity, today we should learn it well and pass it on from generation to generation!

2, strict control of children's marriages, to ensure that the family style of inheritance from generation to generation

As the saying goes, "one generation of a good wife, three generations of a good son," if you want a good family style of smooth inheritance from one generation to the next, the family in addition to have the old Tseng The family should not only have a sensible helmsman like Lao Zeng, but also a good wife and mother. Lao Zeng's wife Ouyang's is his own teacher's daughter, virtuous, for Lao Zeng gave birth to two men and four daughters. For his children how to choose a spouse, Lao Zeng attaches great importance to and often talk about this matter in the family letter. In his view, the ability to choose a good marriage for their children is the key to the Zeng family's excellent family style can be passed on.

Daoguang 24 years, the old Zeng's nephew A five to be married to the Chang family, he was very concerned about this matter and wrote a special letter about it: the Chang family wants to marry with our family, I do not agree, because the Chang brother this person likes to bully, usually pay attention to the food and clothing, go out in front of the back of the embracing, I'm afraid that his girl is stained with the arrogance of the family of the official gas and extravagance, which will seriously damage the family rules of our Zeng family style. I am afraid that the girl from his family is tainted with the arrogance and extravagance of an official family, which will seriously undermine the family rules and discipline of our Tsang family and lure our children into extravagance in the future. Old Zeng wanted Sixth Brother (A5's father) to find out from others.

In addition to the marriage of sons and nephews, the old Zeng for the family's daughters and nieces to find an object is also very careful, Xianfeng six years in a letter to the fourth brother, the old Zeng pointed out that: the family of three girls to find an object is the best to choose the thrifty and simple cultivation and study of the family, do not have to be the rich and famous family. For the Luo family marriage, he suggested a temporary delay, observe and then say. Lao Zeng found that many people once out of the family to become a government official, after becoming a family of officials will grow arrogant and extravagant habits, that this is not a good phenomenon, and often as a cautionary tale.

Xianfeng six years, Lao Zeng's eldest son Zeng Jize grew up and married, Lao Zeng wrote a letter to his son: the new daughter-in-law into the family, the son should ask her to cook often in the kitchen soup, spinning cloth, not because she is a rich family origin, not to do. By the way, he also asked whether the three daughters were already able to make shoes. Lao Zeng asked his daughter-in-law and three daughters to make a pair of shoes every year and send them to him, to show their filial piety and as a show of needlework. He also asked the four of them to make clothes from the cloth they knitted and send them to him, so that he could see who was diligent and who was lazy. It is really admirable that Lao Zeng was so strict in controlling the good family style! I've learned from him!

Lao Zeng is a very far-sighted person, he y understands that if the Zeng family wants to continue to develop, it is essential to have a good internal and external environment. The internal maintains the good tradition from generation to generation, and the external maintains the harmonious neighbor relationship, so that the external environment is not infected to the internal stable development. On the one hand, the poor family, as much as possible to help; on the other hand, the hometown of the local affairs, the dealings on the dealings, the thank you on the thank you, to maintain a good degree of appropriateness, as far as possible to achieve peace and quiet.

3, the field to benefit the family, the mediocre neighbors

Lao Zeng was born in a peasant family, very understanding of the suffering of the people, the people's life is difficult, and therefore always pay attention to the Zeng family's living conditions. The first time I saw this, I was able to see the whole world, and I was able to see the whole world, and I was able to see the whole world. Lao Zeng had been a clean official all his life, and he did not want to be greedy for money while serving as an official. Therefore, he decided to save up his salary by himself, and purchase a righteous field after he had saved up enough money in the future. From this, we can see that Lao Zeng is a very benevolent person who has a deep sense of righteousness and is concerned about the overall development of his family.

On one occasion, Lao Zeng mentioned in a letter to his parents that he didn't want his father to meddle in the countryside because the clerks in his hometown were accustomed to forming gangs for personal gain, and when they encountered people who blocked their way, they would spread rumors and cause trouble, and they would even use the local state and county officials to forge some unresolved grudges with the Zeng family, which would cause conflicts between the Zeng family and the localities. In addition, if the father of the Lord once began to interfere in these matters, the future will often be invited to the door of the head, it is better to close the door, thank all visits, the old Zeng that: low profile to be the best policy.

How to deal with the hometown magistrates, the old Zeng in the family letter to his younger brothers also have a detailed exposition: do not say that the hometown of the parents of the officials of the rights and wrongs; not far away from the distance, not close, not close to the distance; magistrates have a wedding, funerals and weddings, Zeng family must be; magistrates need to be the head of the squire of the official business, the Zeng family does not head out and do not hide; sons and nephews and descendants and the magistrates to meet with the modesty, cautious manner is appropriate. Here, we can see the old Zeng's philosophy of dealing with things: the middle way! That is, impartiality, compromise and reconciliation of the attitude of the world.

In the old Zeng's view, no matter how much their own official, Zeng's family in the local glory of how prosperous, the family should not be overly involved in local affairs, something as little as possible to go to the state and county yamen, and be sure to be careful at all times, low-key people, and can not be arrogant and arrogant, to win the game, summed up in one sentence is: do not be strong in all things, be careful to get a boat for years to come, this point of view is also very consistent with the old Zeng's own way of doing business. This point of view is also very consistent with Lao Zeng's own philosophy of dealing with things. I have to say, Lao Zeng, these several family strategy is very appropriate, and can even be said to have a ghost of the magic, it is worthwhile for us to study and learn from! Learning! The team closed!

< End of Chapter 13 >

< End of Chapter 13 >