Zuo Zongtang Family Letter 丨 Zhang Silian: Zuo Zongtang and his children and grandchildren talk about the way of reading

Cover of the book "Zuo Zongtang's Translation of the Family Book".

Zuo Zongtang talked with his children and grandchildren about the way of reading

Text/Zhang Silian

Since ancient times, the ancients have a tradition of revering literature and re-teaching, and the issue of children's reading and education is part of the self-cultivation and family style tutoring. Zuo Zongtang, as a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, successively served as the governor of Zhejiang, the governor of Fujian and Zhejiang, and the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, and later served as the minister of Qincha to supervise the military affairs of Xinjiang, recovered Ili, and made immortal contributions to consolidating the great cause of nationality in the northwestern frontier. How to inherit the tradition of the Zuo clan over the past hundred years of cultivating and reading heirlooms is a problem that Zuo Zongtang often worries about and worries about in addition to his busy military and political duties.

When Zuo Zongtang was newly married to Yan'er, he wrote a couplet of "No half an acre, worried about the world; read through a thousand volumes, God befriends the ancients", encouraging himself to be a reader with the world in mind, and also made his children and grandchildren deeply inspired by it in reading in the future, and took it as an example. Zuo Zongtang left more than two hundred family letters in his lifetime, one of the most important of which was to strictly instruct his children and grandchildren to study diligently: "Read hard, and take the world as the industry." "However, the books left by the ancients are full of sweat, what kind of value should be pursued to read? Which kind of book is the spiritual carrier for achieving self-cultivation? He also clarified what desirable reading methods were available to his children and grandchildren?

First of all, Zuo Zongtang believed that reading was by no means for the sake of glory and wealth, nor for the sake of becoming a great official, but in terms of reasoning, in terms of spiritual character, approaching the sages and cultivating a virtuous character. This is very different from the traditional Confucian value of "learning and excellence": "The noble reader, in order to understand things, learn to be a sage, is not in the name of the subject; if it is a gentleman with excellent character, he is not allowed to be a scholar of the first place." He always emphasized the cultivation of the book, and looked down on the name of the merit: "I look forward to my children and grandchildren, ploughing the field and reading, and there is no style of the door." ”

Zuo Zongtang hoped that his children and grandchildren would accumulate true talents and practical learning through reading, constantly improve their learning to use the world, and relay the heavy responsibility of inheriting the poetry family, rather than relying on the grace of their fathers to live. He repeatedly told his children and grandchildren in his family letters: "As long as you read books and reason, and pay attention to the useful learning of being a person and the world, you are a good son, not a subject name." "Children are not good at reading, they only want to be officials; they do not understand righteousness, they only want to be rich, but they can be lamented." Obviously, Zuo Zongtang's children and grandchildren were subtly infected by him and were determined to learn. Zuo Zongtang had four sons, except for the younger son Zuo Xiaotongguan to Jiangsu Tifa Envoy, the other few did not have outstanding influence in their careers, but there was no shortage of experts and scholars who had made achievements in various fields, which was a portrayal of the hard work and mechanics of the whole family.

Zuo Zongtang took the world as his own responsibility, but encountered the great changes that China had not seen in three thousand years, and the specific era environment doomed him to devote himself to the reform of the world and save the nation and the people. He taught his children to read the "useful" book: "First straighten out their hearts with righteousness, and then follow their ambitions with economy." "The disciples first take the character and style of the sages as an example to straighten out their minds, and the focus is on increasing their ability to govern the country through the world. He advocated pragmatism and opposed the study of excerpts from the rules: "Reading a thousand strange books, nothing is not practiced for literacy" and "the gentleman of pragmatic learning will be implemented." He admonished the children of the family to be practical, down-to-earth, and strive to become talents.

Regarding the exaggerated reading atmosphere in society, Zuo Zongtang believes that not only is it not beneficial, but it is harmful, and it is suspected of becoming a frivolous and debauched floating prodigal disciple. "Reading all day long, and not catching a village farmer, is a parrot ear." What good is it to be able to shake the Family of Wei and manifest itself in the world? What's in it for you? Not only is it useless, but it is also harmful. During the youth and middle age of his life, Zuo Zongtang searched extensively for books on agricultural affairs, military studies, and public opinion and geography, and took pleasure in immersing himself in the sea of books: "The most popular person I am here, I am rich in the first book collection, because I have to read the charter of the state dynasty and the book that is useful." "He used his personal experience to exchange reading views with his children and grandchildren, which was extremely convincing and played a role in the spring wind and rain and the silent moisturizing of things."

Zuo Zongtang believes that reading must be diligent, and it is necessary to have the spirit of hard work to learn and achieve success: "Reading is more diligent, why not?" Hundreds of craftsmanship, medicine, agriculture, are all one thing, and the truth is easy to understand. To read books, heaven and earth and people's things, can not be their own responsibility; the ancient and modern affairs of the universe, all need to be melted into the heart, and then applied as the foundation. Reading, more attention to the method, he believes that "reading to the eye, mouth to, heart to", but also must pay attention to step by step, thoughtful, not sloppy coping, is the best way to read: "Reading should be gradual, familiar with deep thinking, in a calm and humble swimming to bo its righteousness, not only do meticulous and sloppy work, so the heart nourisher is here, so the body nourisher is here." ”

Once, when the sixteen-year-old eldest son Xiao Wei accidentally made a typo in his letter to his father, Zuo Zongtang caught a "current": "Yesterday, Liling's 'Li' and Liling', why should they write 'heart', is it not ridiculous?" I am sixteen years old, and I am ashamed of what I have learned. "Sound homography, or lack of brush strokes and few paintings, is common in the handwriting of the ancients, even the most solemn and prudent royal decrees and official revision history, can not be an exception. However, a word of "shame" can be seen that Zuo Zongtang's strictness in educating his son, good family training and family rules are sincere, but it still needs to be practiced to produce practical results. Zuo Zongtang spent his life fighting horses, but he was able to find time to point out the subtle mistakes in his son's reading and writing, and ordered improvements in time, even if the small things were not sloppy. This is also an important reason why Zuo's family training has a profound impact on future generations and has become a model for the family training of future generations.

If you want to do anything quickly, you can't reach it, and reading is the same reason. Reading can be slower, but it cannot be stopped, there must be perseverance, not the amount of homework: "Reading can also nourish the body, as long as there is perseverance, not more than homework." Zuo Zongtang stressed that while immersing himself in hard reading, he should pay attention to his physical health, which probably has something to do with the physical weakness of his children and grandchildren, and also shows from the side that Zuo Zongtang taught his children and grandchildren to read and establish the world, and did not talk about the great truths of Chen Chen Xiangyin, but did not fall into the trap from the simple and simple reality of life, and mainly cared for and encouraged. This strict and warm way of reading is also enlightening for us today.

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Zhang Silian, a member of the Hunan Writers Association, works at the Hunan Library and publishes the book "Notes on the Translation of Zuo Zongtang's Family Book".