Cultivation of one's moral character, poetry, calligraphy and painting, the meaning of laboring one's life and harming one's body, drinking, sex and wealth

Cultivation: to keep the body healthy; nourishing the mind: to keep the nature of the mind from being damaged.

Poetry, calligraphy and painting are also a way to relax your mind and cultivate your body and mind.

Working hard but in vain means spending a lot of manpower, material and time, but not getting any results.

Wine, sex, and wealth: These are all things that lead people to indulge in extravagance and wealth, and they are overly obsessed with these things. It’s always bad, not only is it futile but it’s also bad for your health. Gengen traveled to study Zeng Guofan's twelve methods of self-cultivation and pointed out this principle of self-cultivation.