Zeng Guofan looks at faces.
There are two different opinions about Zeng Guofan and physiognomy: one thinks that Zeng Guofan is a master of physiognomy, and his physiognomy is superb, and he can judge people's honor and disgrace or even life and death from one side. This statement is widely circulated, and some people even entrusted Zeng Guofan with the "Art of War". Therefore, it is very popular in China and still sells well. The other thinks that Zeng Guofan is a pure Confucian or a pure Confucian, and he has no intention in physiognomy. For example, Xue Fucheng said: "There are quite rumors in the world that Ceng Wenzheng looks good ... I said that Zheng Wen's face is not good." ("forever notes? Ge Xucun simply denied that Zeng Guofan had learned the skill of reading people: "Is there a skill of reading people?" ("anecdotes of celebrities in the Qing dynasty?" "Ceng Wenzheng knows people")
Let's put aside these two conclusions of the lawsuit and determine some simple facts.
First, Zeng Guofan's ability to know people is really superior.
Zeng Guofan is famous for knowing people in history. In the epitaph written by Guo Songtao, it is said that he "knows the name of the world", and the Qing Dynasty decided to cover his coffin, which shows that he is good at selecting talents for the monarch. Zeng Guofan found that there are so many talents and great influence that no one can match. Zuo, Hu Linyi, Li Hongzhang, Guo Songtao, Shen Baozhen, Yang He were all recommended by Zeng Guofan. From the shogunate to the governor and governor, there were more than 30 people, which propped up most of the sky in the late Qing Dynasty. This grand occasion is very rare in the history of China.
Second, Zeng Guofan does look at people by reading their faces.
Zeng Guofan has a special habit when meeting strangers: he doesn't speak first, but stares at the guests for a few minutes from top to bottom. The draft of Qing history? "Zeng Guofan Biography" contains: "The princes are powerful, beautiful and triangular. Every pair of guests said nothing when they looked at it, and they were terrified. " Of course, this way of meeting people will inevitably make many interviewees very uncomfortable. But Zeng Guofan has formed his own basic judgment on this person in these few minutes. Remember its advantages and disadvantages when you retire, those who have nothing or are cool.
Hong Rong, China's first student studying in the United States, recorded his first meeting with Zeng Guofan in his memoirs.
1September, 863, Hong Rong visited Zeng Guofan in Anqing to discuss the westernization. He recalled: "On this day, when handing over my business card, I just stayed in the reception room for a minute and was led to the big shots in China. As usual, the governor welcomed me, and then he asked me to sit directly opposite him. He sat quietly and smiled at me for a few minutes. It seems that seeing me makes him very happy. But at the same time, he looked at me from head to toe with sharp eyes, as if he could find something strange in my appearance. Finally, he stared at my eyes, as if my eyes particularly attracted his attention. I must admit that although I didn't feel shy during this period, I did feel very uneasy. Then he started asking me questions. "
Zeng Guofan asked Hong Rong if he would be an officer under his command, and said, "I can see from your appearance that you can be an excellent soldier, because I can see from your eyes that you are a brave and good commander."
Rong Hong replied that he might have the courage needed by a soldier, but he lacked military training and declined Zeng Guofan's kindness.
This is the most vivid and detailed record of Zeng Guofan's lover in the article. In addition, there are a lot of written materials to prove Zeng Guofan's careful study of meeting people.
In Xiangxiang Zeng's literature, there is an official book, which is a comment written by Zeng Guofan after meeting his subordinates. From these comments, we can see Zeng Guofan's physiognomy. Some people's body shapes and faces are positive to him, such as "thin lips, straight and long noses", "faces like melons" and "tall and straight bodies". After these names, he drew O, thinking that these faces proved that these people were "mindful", "creatable" and "usable". Other people's names are written with evil descriptions from the perspective of physiognomy, such as "stripes at the entrance", "flashes at the moment" and "nose tip". The names of these people are marked with △, followed by comments such as "ingenuity or bad", "vulgarity" and even "bad species". Obviously, many subordinates decided Zeng Guofan's political future only by this aspect, or just because of the shape of his nose and eyes.
In addition to this official book, Zeng Guofan's research and application of physiognomy is also widely recorded in his diary. For example, in Xianfeng in 1989, Zeng Guofan's diary recorded a large number of face-reading results when he met his subordinates: Chen Qingyun's eyes were round and moving, which was not very reliable; Liu Xiangnan's "yellow eyes with divine light, flat nose, round mouth with childlike innocence, high waist and lovely face"; Xiong Dengwu "A discerning person has three distinct lines." The nose is fine and the mouth is vulgar ... Three years into Luo Ying, from saving Jiangxi "; Zhou Huitang "water-filled Yingkou official. Good cheekbones, good square mouth, cloudy face and floating color. Not very reliable "; Fu Yukun's "crooked nose, unreliable, wrong color" ... these comments are full of facial terms.
Whether Zeng Guofan's record of mastering physiognomy has a direct causal relationship with his knowledge of human wisdom is a matter of opinion, but most people think that there is a necessary connection between the two. Yu Yue, a famous scholar in the late Qing Dynasty, said: "Xiangxiang (referring to Zeng's family) is in the same place, and it is the lamp of meritorious service. You are very good at fortune telling, and the people you know are famous officials. " (Essays on Spring in Class)
Both the official history and unofficial history recorded the magic of Zeng Guofan's physiognomy, and the most famous one was the fate prediction of Jiang Zhongyuan, a famous Xiang soldier. Jiang Xia, a native of Hunan, is full of lofty sentiments and lofty sentiments. Zeng Guofan saw it and sighed as a strange man. When the Jiang family left Beijing, Zeng Guofan looked at his back and said to his friend, "This man will be famous in the world, but he will die upright." At that time, the world was at peace, and no one believed Zeng Guofan. Later, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom movement flourished, Anhui Luzhou (now Hefei) city was broken, and Jiang Zhongyuan committed suicide. This became the best evidence for later generations to prove the accuracy of Zeng Guofan's physiognomy.
In fact, although physiognomy is very popular in China, the debate about physiognomy has been going on for thousands of years. However, the traditional physiognomy also has some contents that still make sense today, because besides physiognomy, it also has a "physiognomy" side. Uncle Xiang said: "If you have a heart, you will live, and if you have a heart, you will die." Modern psychological research also proves that a person's facial expression can really reveal his temperament characteristics. For example, if a person has been depressed for many years, his expression must be gloomy in people's eyes; And a cheerful person usually has clear eyes. A person's mental state and temperament can reflect his personality type and broad-minded vision to some extent.
Zeng Guofan attached great importance to spirit, temperament and action. Xianfeng recorded in his diary on September 23, 2008: "That was one day, Yicheng copied Chen Xiyi's Heart-to-Heart, and I counted it several times because I was familiar with it." Heart-to-heart is the masterpiece of Chen Tuan, a warlock in the early Song Dynasty. He advocates inferring people's character from the details of their behavior, which includes both the platitudes of karma and a lot of valuable experience accumulated in daily life.
In his diary, Zeng Guofan also referred to the classics of physiognomy in the past dynasties, and combined with his many years of physiognomy experience, summed up a set of unique physiognomy methods-evil eyes and nose, true and false lips, fame and appearance, career and god, long life depends on fingers and claws, and you want to see the order, all in the language. ...
It can be said that Zeng Guofan mastered and applied the essence of traditional physiognomy. Usually, he not only pays attention to observing the characters from their appearance and spiritual temperament, but also pays great attention to the comments on all kinds of characters, and records them one by one, and then makes a comprehensive judgment when they face each other. On the 10th day of April in the ninth year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan wrote in his diary: "The word' Shu' makes the most sense. Love knows its evil, and evil knows its beauty, that is, the solution of words. Saying goodbye is a gentleman, but breaking it is a villain. Look at people and act according to them, not empty voices and remarks; When self-knowledge is the first priority, the interviewer's words are the last. "
"Looking at people and doing things is not an empty voice and speech; "Know yourself first, then interview people's words" is the essence of Zeng Guofan's physiognomy, which also shows that the effectiveness of Zeng Guofan's judgment on people comes from the spirit rather than the specific five senses.
Not only did he learn physiognomy, but Zeng Guofan was also a saint. He has been reading books all his life, especially the books of various philosophers, and he likes them very much.
Laozi's simplicity and broadness, Zhuangzi's freedom of mind, Mozi's ambition and hard work, and the example of Legalists all inspired him greatly. He praised all philosophers as heroes, and it is not far from Confucius: "Heroes are not far from what they see. Han said:' Confucius must use Mozi, and Mozi must use Confucius. Incompatible, not enough ink. "'
In addition to the history devoted by traditional literati, Zeng Guofan was also very interested in the "text" that ordinary literati avoided. In Zeng Guofan's eyes, knowledge is everywhere. His vision is extremely broad, because he has the ambition of heaven and earth. The so-called "case report", that is, the "compilation of documents" of past dynasties, is of course boring. However, Zeng Guofan thinks that it contains a lot of political wisdom and people who are interested in saving China society. Such an article must be read.
Besides books, Zeng Guofan also learned a lot from the land where he grew up. Although Zeng Guofan was born in the third place as a scholar, he always admired his grandfather who had never read a book. He often quotes his grandfather's words in his family books to educate his children. For example, when he advised his younger brother not to be too quick in officialdom, he said, "Xing Ganggong (that is, his great grandfather) told people:' If you know how to get down to the pond, you must know how to get ashore.' Another cloud said,' I am afraid to wash my feet when I am old. "Zeng Guofan made a three-step plan for everything in his life, especially after his success. He was able to quickly dissolve Xiang and properly relieve Gao Zhen's worries, which was related to his grandfather's teaching to have long-term plans for everything.
Zeng Guofan is like a keen radar, collecting and analyzing all the information he can receive and extracting useful components from it. These are also the achievements of his brilliant life as a "famous minister of Zhongxing".
Zeng Guofan