"Jade is not cut, it is not a tool, and good wood needs to be repaired." Whether the home is a greenhouse or an exercise place depends on the family's educational policy. The quality of family education is not only related to the individual's future, but also to the rise and fall of the whole family and even the development of the country. Zeng Guofan won the essence of Confucianism all his life and benefited a lot. After becoming famous, he attached great importance to family education.
He treats children with love but not doting, and has lessons but is objective and fair. The love of traditional Confucianism for children is not only reflected in parenting, but also in education. Eating and dressing is important, and children's education is more important.
Ancient elders, like parents in modern society, have high expectations for their children.
Liu Xiang's Shuo Wen Yuan Jian Ben also talked about the importance of children's education:
"The father is to the child, the kindness is to the life, the teaching is to the teaching, the friendship is kept, the falsehood is hidden, and the festival is cautious. When the child is over seven years old, choose a mentor and a good friend for him. Don't let him see evil, let him get better gradually, so that he can be leveled. "
He advocates that children over 7 years old should learn from teachers and choose friends. In this process, let children know how to distinguish between good and bad, good and evil, which is what we call enlightenment education.
Confucianism emphasizes the cultivation of children's good moral quality and survival skills in the process of family education. Only by learning these things can they gain a foothold in the future society. From a longer-term and higher perspective, only in this way can they embark on their official careers and become people.
There are many similarities between ancient and modern methods of educating children. First of all, it emphasizes the majesty of elders and the importance of persuasion. The way of love also advocates rationalization, and doting is injury rather than true love. These views are consistent from ancient times to modern times.
When children grow up, they do illegal things, mostly because they are too indulgent and tolerant when they are parents. Zeng Guofan also devoted great efforts to his children's moral education and homework study. He often writes home to guide his children's learning, from the choice of subjects to the formulation of courses, with detailed instructions. Sometimes, Zeng Guofan also asked the children to send their homework and read it by themselves. Sometimes, in order to choose a teacher for his children, Zeng Guofan had to make great efforts to investigate.
It is precisely because of such meticulous and comprehensive teaching that his children have embarked on the road to success. His efforts were not in vain. His eldest son, Ceng Jize, served as an ambassador to foreign countries and played a great role in handling Chinese-foreign negotiations. Another son, Zeng, studied mathematics intensively and his works were handed down to later generations. There are poets in Sun Tzu and educators and scholars in Great Grandson, which can be said to be full of talents.
After Zeng Guofan's successful career, he not only taught his children well, but also set a good example in filial piety. Although he can't go home to take care of his parents in person, he often writes home to say hello.
At the same time, I often send money to my family to help me and take my parents to heart.
When educating children, most people want to leave some good things for future generations. There is such a method, but it doesn't matter if it can't be realized. The trouble is that those powerful officials will feel sorry for future generations if they can't leave a considerable legacy to them, even if they don't say anything. If this heritage is material wealth such as money, it is inexhaustible after all, but if it is spiritual wealth, it can be passed down from generation to generation.
So it's okay not to leave a large legacy. The more legacy you leave, the deeper you will hurt them. Zeng Guofan also has his own understanding of this.
Zeng Guofan is not a man with a lot of property, but he is by no means a man without property. Instead of dying, he was thinking about how to deal with the inheritance.
Xing Ganggong, the ancestor of the Zeng family, thought that the accumulation of private wealth was a sign of losing the family. In this regard, Zeng Guofan is very convinced. He believes that instead of leaving a large legacy to future generations, it is better to teach future generations to take the right path. He said that if children and grandchildren go astray, their temperament will definitely change, and they will definitely haggle over every ounce in the future, and it will be difficult to recover then.
Zuo, a contemporary of Zeng Guofan, a famous Qing dynasty star, coincides with Zeng Guofan in his godson, and also puts virtue first. He said: "Ercao can carefully keep the family together, not sleepy or hungry. If I spend money at will, take luxury as my dignity, love as my vagrancy and drowning as my pleasure, then my money will accumulate more and more, and the second grass will accumulate more and more, and the loss will be great! " He believes that if children are not virtuous, the more money they accumulate, the greater the mistakes they make.
This does have a warning. The road is my own, and no amount of wealth from my ancestors can replace my life. Zeng Guofan believes that only by constantly striving for self-improvement can we be blessed.
It is based on this understanding that he asked his younger brother Guo Huang not to leave his five Ma Chong fields in his hometown to his children. As the saying goes, those who do not work cannot eat. All the gains need to be won by yourself. As long as you are willing to work hard, you don't have to worry about not having food.
Zeng Guofan is an official outside and never forgets to talk to his children. In the twenty years from the second year of Xianfeng to the tenth year of Tongzhi, he wrote nearly 200 letters to his two sons, teaching them how to read, write and be a man, relying only on reading and enlightenment, not on being an official and making a fortune. He taught his son to read the sage's book and practiced it to make use of it.
People who truly understand the meaning of reading must know the truth that is beneficial to human society and do things that are beneficial to human society. Even if they have a successful career, they will never forget the principle of serving the people and consciously follow the routine. If you think it is particularly important to understand morality and benefit the people, then even this person, a very talented person, is not a useful person, and it is useless for such a person to study.
Therefore, a person's self-cultivation and ambition to study should be combined to become a useful person.
In addition, learning is for use, and speaking well is better than doing well. Words are not about quantity, profundity or not, but whether they can transform the beneficial energy practice of reading into their own lives. Therefore, people who educate others should not only pay attention to the education of reading and being a man, but also avoid arrogance and boasting. They should start from their own personal learning experience and educate others with a research attitude in order to achieve good results.