The most classic four calligraphy sentences in Zeng Guofan's family instructions

Zeng Guofan's family precepts, the most classic four-sentence calligraphy, are introduced as follows:

"If you are frugal, you will be rich; if you are diligent, you will be healthy; if you can be diligent, you will be frugal, and you will never be poor." This sentence is a 16-character family motto of Zeng Guofan, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty.

It means: a family will prosper only if it keeps the tradition of thrift, and people will be healthier only if they keep diligent health; Those who are thrifty and thrifty will never be poor in life. Zeng Guofan took this as a family motto and often asked himself and his family to study diligently. In frugality, Zeng Guofan's performance in daily life can be described as incisive.

It stands to reason that Zeng Guofan, as a minister of the Qing Dynasty, is a senior official with good family wealth, but Zeng Guofan is a "poor jingle". In terms of clothing, Zeng Guofan and his family wear coarse clothes like ordinary people, and only wear a sky-blue satin coat on New Year's Day and major celebrations.

In terms of diet, Zeng Guofan doesn't have a table full of delicacies like other officials, but only one dish per meal, which is very rare even in the homes of ordinary people; When he lived on campus, Ceng Guoquan, Zeng Guofan's ninth brother, paid Zeng Guofan to renovate his old house, which was rejected by Zeng Guofan's domineering.

It can be seen that Zeng Guofan is very frugal, and his children also maintain this frugal family style, and all of them are very promising, which is very different from those rich second generations who play around.