Zeng Guofan is a famous Neo-Confucianism. He is diligent, honest and self-disciplined all his life. He is not only loyal to the monarch and loves his friends, but also respects the old and loves the young. He also believes in Feng Shui and hopes to "change the fate of nature" through the power of "mountains and rivers"
Although in his letters to his brother, son, father and ancestors, he repeatedly flaunted that he didn't believe in Feng Shui and said that he didn't believe in ghosts and gods all his life, he also introduced his illiterate but famous grandfather Xing Ganggong's eight-character formula for managing the family: "Books, vegetables, fish and pigs" and "three unbeliefs", that is, he didn't believe in immortals (local Feng Shui master).
Grandfather Zeng Yuping, whose real name is Xing Gang, was "dissolute in his early years, but later" he was reprimanded and awakened, and his family was diligent ",thus" his family wealth gradually increased ",but" he was illiterate and the squire took the lawsuit as the basis ",and later" he angrily hired a school and vowed with high capital that future generations should also be literate ". The reason for an ordinary farmer's ideological change is "don't eat people and lose money", which seems simple, but it can persist and make Zeng extraordinary.
Mr. Xing Ganggong, the grandfather of Wenxi, not only had a great influence on Zeng Guofan in his early years, but also arranged a golden boat for the Zeng family to leave the gorge before his death, which became an unchangeable fact for later generations.
Zeng Guofan's great-grandfather named Zeng Jingxi was just an ordinary farmer. Zeng Guofan died when he was five years old. Zeng Xinggang, who hoped to get ahead day and night, secretly tried his best to choose this shady house.
On the whole, the place where Zeng Jingxi was buried looks like a chicken, and the grave is buried on the chicken's head. Behind the tomb is a long and narrow mountain, like a chicken neck. Behind the narrow mountain, there is a rectangular hill, like a chicken; On both sides of the rectangular hill, there are two fan-shaped mountains, just like chicken wings. In front of the head of a chicken is a small river called "Ploughhead Mouth". There is a fertile field by the river. Zeng Jingxi's tomb inadvertently formed a top feng shui-golden rooster pecking rice.
Soon after, the fate of the Zeng family really changed. Zeng Linshu, the grandson of Zeng Guofan's father Zeng Jingxi, is a 43-year-old boy. He passed 16 and still failed. After his grandfather was buried, he took part in the quiz of 17, and eventually became the first scholar of "Da Jie Zeng" for hundreds of years.
Zeng Xinggang, the son of Zeng Jingxi, is a sophisticated and shrewd man. After his father was buried in the Great West, he made a family rule of "three unbeliefs" for the sake of prudence. In case children and grandchildren listen to mediocre teachers and move their ancestors to Feng Shui. Zeng Linshu's scholar status can't satisfy Zeng Xinggang's wish to "honor his ancestors", so he included his eldest grandson Zeng Guofan in the training plan.
The rise of a family, in addition to their own efforts and talent, the shadow of their ancestors is also particularly important. In the old days, the greatest "magic" of this "shade" came from the "blessing" of the deceased ancestors. The most direct connection between Yin and Yang is the tomb.
The quality of the burial place is directly related to the rise and fall of the family's fate. The dead ancestors seem to have supreme power, and even this power can directly affect the rise and fall of future generations.
Zeng Guofan is the best candidate for his grandfather Xing Ganggong to "support the door" of the Zeng family. In his early years, he was influenced by Xinggang's words and deeds, and he kept it a secret. On the surface, he pursues "three unbeliefs", but in fact he has a high degree of confidence in his Feng Shui.
Zeng Guofan wrote in his diary: "Generally speaking, auspicious places are the most cherished by creation, and there is no room for deception. Those who are blessed by the earth's veins must be poor and humble and inexperienced at first. After they become famous, it will be difficult for them to be blessed if they have a heart for land. ..... The creation is not brilliant, but it should not be intentional. "
In the 26th year of Daoguang (1846), Zeng Guofan's grandmother died on September 18th. Dissatisfied with the location of his grandmother's grave, he wrote to his grandfather, saying, "Sun was blessed by his grandfather and died as a lay doctor. The situation of his grandmother's grave must be open, the ground under it must be wide, and a memorial archway must be built outside it." Mudouchong is a small pass, too close to the river, and there is no memorial arch or tombstone, so Sun is not at ease. I want to find another place to be buried in peace. I don't want wealth, I want waterless ants to be harmless. I don't know what adults think? " The next day, he wrote another letter to his father, expressing the same meaning.
At about this time, Zeng Guofan's younger brothers Zeng Guohuang and Ceng Guoquan also hoped to rebury their grandmother, but Zeng Xinggang refused. Zeng Guofan was worried that his grandfather was not feeling well and had worked hard, so he wrote to persuade his younger brothers to respect his grandfather's opinion and recorded: "I can't believe what I said the other day. Mountain to say, geography also; It is natural that grandfathers have lives and children have lives. Grandpa's mind has been firmly established, and those children and grandchildren have changed their minds against his will. If grandpa is angry, his liver will be depressed and his condition will get worse. Is it a big violation of heaven? Although he is lucky, he will become fierce, but the situation is not necessarily good? From then on, there is no need to talk about reburial, whether it is good or bad, it is resigned to fate. "
Zeng Guofan's grandmother was buried for less than half a year, and three things made him "superstitious": First, his grandfather recovered from illness; Second, his stubborn tinea disease has improved; Third, Zeng Guofan's official title "suddenly rose to second class."
Therefore, Zeng Guofan wrote to several younger brothers, stating that grandma's cemetery is "feng shui is good, and it must not be reburied." It would be ominous and unfilial to be reburied again. "
Two years later, Zeng Guofan was even more convinced of this, and recorded the original text: "Since the burial of Adult Zucong of Bingwu and Dongdong Pigeonpea (Douchong), three more people have been added to my family, and I have been promoted to assistant minister of the Cabinet School, and my ninth brother has been promoted to study to make up for it. The land of cajanus cajan (douchong) has been proved to be effective and given to weekdays.
In the seventh year of Xianfeng (1857), Zeng Linshu, Zeng Guofan's father, passed away. In order to seek an ideal "ghost house" for the elders, he has invited Liu, Du Maocai, Xu Jiuxia and other "local masters" to exchange visits for more than a year.
Zeng Guofan, a very important minister, said in a high-profile way that he didn't believe in Feng Shui, but in fact, he carefully cared for the graves of his deceased ancestors at home, because "only the deceased elders have the power to protect them in the spirit of heaven." Has been taking care of the whole family. "Home and country are glorious, and people are fortunate; The court does not exist, and the family is still there. " In the war to pacify the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, regardless of the salary schedule, Zeng Guofan was desperate to "speak out of turn" and obviously favored his own brother, "for the future of his brother and the glory of his family."
It is believed that a great-grandfather Yin Zhai "covered" the descendants of the Zeng family. Zeng Guofan also believes that the burial place of his mother Jiang Zu is also the reason for the prosperity of the Zeng family.
Great-grandmother Jiang was born in Jiangxi. After she moved to Xiangxiang, Jiang Jiajue, the twelfth ancestor, died and was buried in fairy mountain, Xiangxiang, without asking Mr. Feng Shui to be a "haunted house", which was called "naked fairy" in history. Later, according to Mr. Feng Shui, this fairy is a virgin, and the people buried here have to "wash their daughters" for the ninth generation, that is, the first-born girl of the ninth generation can't live, otherwise it will be bad for the man she married.
Jiang Jiajue spread to Zeng Guofan's ancestor Jiang Peilin, during which he gave birth to 28 boys, none of whom were girls. After Zeng Guofan's mother was born, Jiang Peilin secretly threw her under the bed in an attempt to make her die of hunger and cold. But she was lucky to be alive in the middle of the night. Jiang Peilin was startled: "Poor, poor, it's my fault, you don't deserve to die!" " "So I took it back and named it" pity sister ". Six generations of "washing women" in the Jiang family. Some people say it may be a man's house. After Jiang and Zeng Linshu got married, the husband won the scholar and the son won the prize, which was extremely glorious. Therefore, the Chiang family believes that the prosperity of the Zeng family depends on this "fairy bare land" where the ancestors of the Chiang family are buried.
However, this "female-killing" burial of Jiang Jiazu is the "root" of the fate of Zeng's daughter.
When I married the Zeng family, there were two generations of old people in the world and a brother in law in the next. Zeng Fu studied in Linshu for many years, and the whole family was supported by his own family.
Zeng Guofan's four brothers and four sisters, you can imagine what happened to Zeng's mother.
Zeng's mother suffered for a long time without any return, and even after her death, she had to be commemorated by her son Zeng Guofan.
Zeng Guofan is a famous official of Neo-Confucianism. The education of his five daughters is different from that of his son. Zeng Guofan thought that "women without talents are virtue" and trained their daughters in the direction of being a good wife and mother. He personally made a daily "homework list" for his daughters, as follows: after breakfast, make side dishes, snacks, wine sauce and the like and eat them; At noon, spinning flowers or hemp, clothes matter; Do needlework and embroidery after lunch, and work hard; Unitary carving, making men's shoes, women's shoes or sewing clothes, rough workmanship. And you should personally "inspect the work": food inspection once a day, clothing inspection once every three days, precision inspection once every five days, rough inspection once a month, and you must make a pair of men's shoes every month. He also said: "Men in my family are indispensable for reading and writing, and women are indispensable for food and clothing.
Later, Zeng Guofan took great pains to choose a husband for a woman.
To sum up, Zeng Guofan's son-in-law has the following common characteristics: they are all children of Zeng Guofan's Hunan friends or colleagues; The father of the son-in-law is a man of insight with both ability and political integrity; The sons-in-law all passed Zeng Guofan's interview, which can be described as knowing the root of the matter.
Zeng Jijing, Zeng Guofan's eldest daughter, was 6 years old. Zeng Guofan booked a young marriage for her. On the other side is Yuan Yusheng, the son of Yuan, who is the editor of imperial academy. After marrying Yuan Jia, I found that Yuan Bingzhen's bad behavior was not just gambling and drinking. Before she came in, he had married a concubine, but he didn't tell the Zeng family that he was unmarried, which was a joke and shame in the aristocratic family at that time.
At the age of 29, he died of depression in the indifference and hostility of the Yuan family (Zeng Guofan and Yuan Yusheng broke off their relationship with Weng Xu) and had no children.
Zeng Yaoji, Zeng Guofan's second daughter, married Chen Yuanji, Zeng Guofan's adopted son, at the age of 18. Chen Songsheng's biological father, Chen, was a close friend of Zeng Guofan, a fellow countryman and a scholar in the Reform Movement of 1898. At the same time, he was elected to Jishi Shu, imperial academy. The two families have always been friendly. Chen Yuanji's parents died when he was young, which is equivalent to Zeng Guofan's watching. Chen Songsheng is paranoid and impatient. Once childless and weak. He was also "depressed all his life" and "unhappy with strangers" and died at the age of 39.
The fate of the third daughter Zeng is even worse. She married Luo, the son of a famous god of war. In order to help Zeng Guofan, who was caught in the war, he rushed to Wuchang City and died, so that the young Luo lost his father in his early years.
After this hero, he was "ignorant" and "shallow". He was born to his father's concubine, so "arrogance and extravagance" could not be taught. Ji Chen had to take her husband to his father's office, hoping that "his father would teach him to become a useful man" and gave birth to a boy with her husband Luo in his father's Liangjiang Governor's office. Just two months ago, because his father Zeng Guofan was ordered to go north to suppress twisting, the amphibious forces raised their guns to see him off, and the baby boy was frightened to death by gunfire. After Ji Chen took the initiative to arrange concubines for her husband, who died with the concubines;
The fourth daughter was married to Guo Yiyong, the son of Guo Songtao. This son-in-law is excellent in character and knowledge, and inherits the excellent qualities of his father. Unfortunately, he was in poor health and passed away at the age of 2 1. Out of guilt for his friends and compensation for the Luo family, Zeng Guofan set a marriage for the two families. This is the third time Zeng Guofan married his daughter, because the son-in-law has strong ability, good character and friendship with him. As it turns out, this marriage has failed even more.
Guo Yiyong's mother is Guo Songtao's concubine, who is bitter and hostile to Zeng. I once said, "(Fourth Sister) only uses the vegetable garden as a dish, and the cost of one or two pieces of silver a month is also stingy. Its situation is hard to know. " Later, Zeng Ji Chun raised two children alone, and his life was very poor. He died in his thirties because of overwork.
The fate of the four daughters of the Zeng family is so ill-fated, it is not unheard of for their father Zeng Guofan to "expose the fairy skin" and "wash the daughter", and the extremely sad consequence of "hitting the wrong girl" is not unexpected. Between "man and fate" and "there is no perfect choice in a land of feng shui", the only choice is to "send men instead of women" or "wash the nine generations"
However, Ren is a daughter, and she is also the blood of her body. After seeing the four daughters' marriages suffer many misfortunes, Zeng Guofan finally hired a senior Feng Shui master to adjust Jiang's cemetery. However, all the written documents belonging to the Zeng family's top secret were destroyed. What outsiders see is that Zeng Ji Hong, who Zeng Guofan always disliked, died at the age of 34, versatile and charming. Of the three sons raised by Ceng Jize, only one grew up childless, so he had to adopt Zhao Yan, the fourth son of Ji Hong, as his heir. The Zeng family was actually inherited by Zeng.
Zeng Guofan adjusted his feng shui and declared that he no longer cared about his little daughter's marriage.
As luck would have it, Yao married Nie's family at the age of 24. Before getting married, her father, mother and Nie's father died one after another, and the young couple lost the shadow of their parents. They struggle on their own, but they live an unprecedented happy life.
Nie successively served as Zhejiang provincial judge, Jiangsu minister, Anhui governor and Zhejiang governor. Later, Nie, who was not an official, actually started a business, went to the Dongting Lake area to cultivate seeds, accumulated abundant capital, and bought a textile company at 1908 for 322,000 silver, becoming a famous national capitalist in early modern times. His son Nie Yu 1920 became the president of Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, and Nie's family played an important role in Shanghai's industrial and commercial circles.
Nie Jijun's development was also very smooth, and finally he became the governor. The husband and wife have always respected each other and lived a very sweet life.
Like Zeng Guofan, he can't escape the shackles of Feng Shui, and his fate is so unpredictable that "man can conquer nature"?