Zeng Guofan's contribution to Huxiang culture Zeng Guofan is a typical representative of Huxiang culture. At the same time, he made a historic contribution to the inheritance and development of Huxiang culture with great personality charm and success. His contribution is of milestone significance in the development history of Huxiang culture. The specific points are as follows. 1. Promote and improve the internal quality of Huxiang culture. For thousands of years, the stubborn and unruly folk customs of Huxiang and the realistic style of study in Huxiang have influenced and blended with each other, which played a key role in the formation of Huxiang culture and brewed its rich local characteristics. This feature is manifested in four aspects: the consciousness of being independent of others, the pursuit of practical work, the irritating enthusiasm and arrogant attitude. People cultivated by three townships and four waters are all influenced by them, and the difference is only more or less, deep or shallow. This is the basis for the birth of Xiang Army in Hunan and its contribution to the world. The army led by the Zeng family, with 300,000 people in and out, lasted for more than ten years and moved its capital to Sheng. In Hunan, it is called national mobilization, and the whole territory participates. Its influence is so wide that no activity can compare with it since Huxiang. As a result, the inherent quality of Huxiang culture has been greatly publicized in such an activity that affects the whole country. Yang Du had a vivid description of this in Hunan Youth Songs: "The navy sprayed the waves of the Yangtze River, and the army stepped on the snow in the mountains. Yu Sheng, east, west, north and south, you can see the Xiang army everywhere. Once the predecessors came back from a bloody battle, the descendants did not lament that they were homeless. There is a draft order in the city and military music is shared in the countryside. Thousands of people are called to a village after a few days of curtains. The farmer let the thunder go only to fight, and his only son resigned and bled. My father died without a body, and my brother's soul did not return. " "Only today, there is no camp, no team, no Hunan people. Four people from China alone formed this military and social group. " Taking the road of joining the army and improving the living environment by bloody struggle has become the first choice of many Hunan people since the Zeng family, which has resulted in the phenomenon of "no army, no Hunan" in modern China military circles. At the same time, due to Zeng's own cultural accomplishment and the employment system of literati leading troops, the values that literati have long believed in and pursued have been best popularized through the effect of running the army. Hu Linyi asked the old Confucian to teach the Four Books and the Five Classics in the army, and Wang Chang's camp was mixed with the sound of reading at night. Examples of studying in military camps like this are common in the notes of modern Hunan people. Mao Zedong said that "the army is a big school", which makes sense. Xiang army is a university without buildings, and the battlefield is a classroom without blackboards. Hundreds of thousands of generations of farmers who have lived in the backcountry with their backs to the loess have the opportunity to go out and have the most complicated, ingenious and harsh struggle experience in the world. They have greatly broadened their horizons, broadened their minds and improved their knowledge. The biggest change here is that they know from now on that there is not only family and society, but also belief, material and spiritual besides survival. Therefore, Huxiang culture has made a qualitative improvement, even a leap, at the widest level. Countries, the world, morality and so on, which once only a few scholars cared about, began to appear on the lips of old villagers in the wild. The sense of independence has been upgraded to the innovative consciousness of being the first in the world, the pursuit of career has been upgraded to the anxiety of worrying about the country and the people and saving the world, the frivolous bloody spirit has been upgraded to the spirit of sacrificing for the ideal, and the tyrant's posture has been upgraded to tough fruit and perseverance. There is obviously a change in direction here, that is, from individuals to groups, from self-interest to justice, and from small villages to the world. After this promotion, Huxiang culture has entered a new realm. Therefore, caring for the world, being the first, worrying about the country and the people, being brave in sacrifice and being tenacious have become the main contents of the spiritual characteristics of Huxiang culture for more than a hundred years. 2. Inject new era connotation into Huxiang culture. The farming society takes the family as the unit, which is the so-called small-scale peasant economy. The biggest feature of small-scale peasant economy is that it does not need groups, so farmers have never had the concept of teamwork. In the past, foreigners called China a piece of loose sand. Hunan is a province which is dominated by agriculture, and the phenomenon of loose sand is more serious. This phenomenon began to change after the Xiang army was formed. When the Xiang Army was formed, people were deliberately United by ties of blood, geography and industry, so that everyone could take care of each other on the battlefield and live and die together, so as to overcome the common disadvantage of green camp's "winning without arrogance and losing with grace". The cruel battlefield educates the courage of the Xiang army with the simplest and straightforward truth: if we unite, we can win the battle, win the battle, be promoted and make a fortune, and everyone will be fine; If you lose the battle, you won't get any trophies, and everyone is not good. Yang Du's "Hunan Youth Song" once praised the team spirit of Xiang Army as follows: "Father and brother strive for each other, and friendship helps each other to form unity. Who wants to be alone and swear to die in the battlefield? The military song went out of the lake and went straight into the enemy. " After the Xiang Army, the concept of team has been recognized by the broad masses of people in Hunan, and everyone can consciously gather and fight in groups. The most famous teams in Hunan in modern times, Huaxinghui and Xinmin Society, are not only models of China's team, but also models of successful teams in world politics. It is no accident that Mao Zedong, a native of Hunan, was the first to shout out the slogan of "great unity of the people" to the people of the whole country in New Youth. During the Great Revolution, the peasant association in Hunan was the best organized team in China, so it was no accident. Even monks in Hunan know the importance of teamwork. The first president of the Chinese Buddhist Association, Eight Fingers Toutuo, was from Hunan. Because of the terrain, Hunan has always been closed, and people can't move out of Dongting Lake. The word "out of the lake" in southern Hunan dialect means capable and promising, and that's where it came from. It was the war that made Hunan people walk out of Dongting Lake and gallop across the country. It was also a war, which brought Hunan people into contact with western weapons for the first time and realized the power of building strong ships and guns. According to Xue Fucheng's Yong 'an Notes, Hu Linyi died of seeing a foreign ship "as fast as running a horse". He believes that "the potential of foreigners is unstoppable, hopeless and extremely embarrassing, although they want to worry but can't get it." At this point, Zeng's knowledge of instrumental music is far greater than Hu's. As the commander-in-chief of the Xiang army, the war forced him to become the first senior government official to think deeply and find countermeasures at that time. His thoughts and responses were written in the memorial of the eighth day of November in the eleventh year of Xianfeng: "At present, we should help suppress the economic movement and relieve the temporary worries; In the future, it will be particularly beneficial to learn from Zhiyi to build a cooking boat. " Zeng's suggestion soon became a national policy. The Foreign Affairs Office of the Prime Minister, the first Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the history of China, was established, and the first modern arsenal in China, Anqing Inner Ordnance Institute, was founded. A Westernization Movement with the introduction of western science and technology as its main content began to rise in China. One year before his death, he joined hands with Li Hongzhang to invite officials to send overseas students to study skills in western Thailand. "Return to China after graduation" so that China can "gradually strengthen itself". In July of the year of his death, this suggestion was put into practice. Because of the Xiang army, "Westernization" has a great influence on Hunan, greatly expanding the horizons of Hunan people. Since then, ordinary people in Hunan have begun to have the concepts of the West and the East in their minds. Because of this, the first and second envoys sent by the Qing court to the west were all from Hunan (Guo Songtao and Ceng Jize). In the last century, Hunan had the largest number of students studying in Japan, and even old ladies over 500 took their feet and crossed the ocean, such as Yang Du's mother Li, Cai Chang's mother Ge and so on. Team concept and world vision are the two most important points that have been injected into the new era connotation of Huxiang culture. Third, lay a solid foundation for the promotion of Huxiang culture. The success of Zeng's career laid a solid foundation for the promotion of Huxiang culture in at least two aspects. One is spiritual. Huxiang culture is originally a culture with great power, but due to the lack of opportunities in the times, this great power has not been greatly demonstrated for a long time. The victory of Xiang Army fully verified the powerful power of Huxiang culture, and also gave Hunan people unprecedented self-confidence, and even bred a narcissistic complex with some arrogance. Yang Du's poems are the most representative: "China is now Greek and Hunan is Sparta;" "China will be German and Hunan will be Prussia." "China is dead, and all Hunan people will die." This self-confidence and even narcissism complex has created an extremely favorable atmosphere for the promotion of Huxiang culture. Hunan people are proud of their outstanding fellow villagers, proud of the land where I was born and raised in Sri Lanka, and proud of the long-standing regional culture. In such an environment, Huxiang culture has been extremely well inherited and inspired. The second is material. Xiang army is the teacher of victory. Because of the victory, a large number of talents were born. There are more than 30 ministers, assistant ministers, governors and governors coming out of the Xiang army, and there are more officials below ministers, thousands of military attaché s above the second class, and countless below the third class. With their power and prestige, these people have contributed their tangible or intangible strength to the promotion of Huxiang culture. Also because it is a winning division, it has won many trophies. In Nanjing alone, it is called "gold and silver are like the sea, and wealth and goods are like mountains". Most of these gold and silver goods fell into the pockets of the auspicious word camp of the Xiang army. A group of rich people soon appeared in Hunan. They work in business, build schools and run education, and send their children to study in big cities until they go to sea. It plays an important role in opening up the modern atmosphere of Hunan. 1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Hunan became the most dynamic province in China. At that time, Hunan's education was developed, and many new schools were among the best in the country, especially current affairs schools. Hunan's media industry is developed, and Xiang Bao is world-renowned. Hunan's reform industry is developed, and a large number of organizations such as the Southern Society have made great contributions to promoting the reform movement in China. Hunan's constitutional industry is developed, and the people of Hunan actually formulated the Hunan Provincial Constitution, which is the only provincial constitution in China. Hunan's industry is not backward, and mineral exploitation and inland river shipping are in the forefront of all provinces. Wang Xianqian, the famous leader of the old school, is not only the head of Yuelu Academy, but also the major shareholder of Huhu Shipping Company. This is probably the most famous example of China literati going to sea in modern times. In this way, it finally created a brilliant situation of talented people in Hunan for a hundred years. 4. Promote Huxiang culture out of Hunan and into the world. Since ancient times, Hunan has lagged behind the Central Plains and Jiangnan in politics, economy and culture. Wang Kaiyun said: "Hunan has never been the best in the world since the county." Since the victory of the Xiang army founded by the Zeng family, Hunan has been looked at with new eyes by the world. It has been recognized by the world that "Hunan is indispensable for a day". It is also obvious to all that "ZTE will be a general, and there will be nine lakes and Hunan". Tan Qixiang, a famous historian, said: "Since the Qing Dynasty, there have been many talented people in Hunan, and their achievements are unparalleled in the world." The big economy comes from universities. Therefore, Huxiang culture came out of Dongting Lake and was valued by the sea. During the May 4th Movement, Chen Duxiu wrote in "The Spirit of Hunan People": "What kind of scholars Zeng Guofan and Luo Zenan and their colleagues were decades ago, and how they worked hard! Huang Keqiang went through all the difficulties and led a brigade of Xiang troops to stop the Qing army in Hanyang. Cai Songpo took 2,000 Yunnan soldiers who were sick and short of bullets to fight to the death with100000 Yuan Jun. What persevering soldiers they are! " During the period of social unrest in China, the indomitable spirit of Hunan people inspired scholars and people all over the country. The spirit of Hunan people has also attracted the attention of the world. American anthropologist O 'Tian Bai is an expert in studying human blood types. He once divided human humanistic blood types into six types, the third of which was named Hunan type. Huxiang culture is the common wealth of more than 60 million children in Sanxiang, and we should cherish it more. Zeng Guofan's contribution to Huxiang culture is a historical existence, and we should face it squarely. Of course, that period of history was written by thousands of Hunan people in Qian Qian, and Zeng Guofan became a representative symbol to study that era only because of his leading position. I hope everyone will agree on this point.