Zeng Guofan
This book shows us a sincere, diligent, pragmatic and self-disciplined "Wen Gong Zheng" Zeng Guofan, a contradictory, struggling and deeply embedded professional official. Through Zeng Guofan, readers can get a glimpse of the subtle and complicated "hidden rules" of China's traditional officialdom and China's unique philosophy of existence.
Author Zhang Hongjie, Ph.D. in History of Fudan University, postdoctoral fellow in Tsinghua University, now works in the School of History of Renmin University of China. He is the author of The Front and Side of Zeng Guofan, Seven Faces of Ming Dynasty, A Brief Reading of China History, etc. He once gave a speech about success or failure in Lecture Room. Chief Writer of the Large-scale Documentary 800 Years of Chu State.
Zeng Guofan finally realized that those who act too rigidly seem to be powerful on the surface, but in fact they are weak. The real strong people in this land are those who appear weak and give in. The so-called "the world is the softest and the strongest." "Jianghai can be the king of a hundred valleys, so make good use of it." The so-called "big softness is not soft, it is just."
Thirty years old is the most important watershed in Zeng Guofan's life. Zeng Guofan's greatest significance to later generations is that he proved with his own practice that a middleman can become a superman through "revision".
In personal life, there is only one thing. Zeng Guofan is willing to spend money, that is to buy books. In the letter to Ceng Jize, the next sentence after "I won't accumulate money for my descendants" is "only pay attention to books".
The unique "clumsy" spirit has made Zeng Guofan rich, open and all-encompassing. Seeking truth from facts keeps his thinking in a flowing, keen and positive state.