introduction
Family style, that is, a family/family style passed down from generation to generation, is very important for the spiritual outlook and humanistic cultivation of family members, and the "Southern History" praises the family style: "Qi has people, Yu Si is prosperous." The rest are elegant and confucian, and each has its own family style. "Among many famous and prestigious families, family style has become an important factor in the continuation of these families.
In every historical period, there will be some famous families, and most of the founders of these large families are famous courtiers, giants, or royal relatives at that time. Some families have been passed down for thousands of years, while others have fallen early. During the period of the Republic of China, there were three large families that were very famous, and their family members all had their own achievements in the fields of politics, economy, and literature in our country.
▲Wedding group photo of the Republic of China family
01
First, the Zeng Guofan family. Zeng Guofan was a major minister in the late Qing Dynasty of China, and although his historical evaluation was mixed, his family style was greatly appreciated by people. Zeng Guofan's grandfather was named Zeng Yuping, and when he was young, he was not self-motivated, and he worked hard all day and did not learn any techniques. Later, after Zeng Yuping was educated by the elderly in the same village, he decided to work hard, and since then he has honestly run the family, worked hard, and gave birth to three sons after marriage. Zeng Yuping's eldest son, Zeng Linshu, participated in 17 township examinations, and finally passed the Xiucai examination at the age of 43, and Zeng Linshu's eldest son was Zeng Guofan.
By the time Zeng Guofan was born, his family was considered to be prosperous in the local area, much better than his grandfather Zeng Yuping at that time. Therefore, Zeng Guofan began to receive a good education from an early age, and under the words and deeds of his father and grandfather, Zeng Guofan can be said to be hard-working in the matter of reading. And he himself is quite talented, at the age of 15, he participated in the Changsha Provincial Boy Examination and ranked 7th.
▲Portrait of Zeng Guofan
Since Zeng Yuping's family, Zeng Guofan's family has attached great importance to the education of future generations, and Zeng Guofan naturally inherited this family style, so the descendants of the Zeng family are even more talented. In the fields of politics, military, science and technology, and culture, there are very outstanding professionals, and there has not been a single idiot in the eight generations. Zeng Guofan's son Zeng Jize was a diplomat in the last years of the Qing Dynasty, and another son, Zeng Jihong, was a mathematician. In his grandchildren, Zeng Guangjun participated in the scientific examination to enter the army, Zeng Guangquan also served as an official in the imperial court as an ambassador abroad, zeng Guangzhi threw himself into the scientific community, and became a famous organic chemist. The Zeng Guofan family has produced so many talents, which is closely related to the family style that has always been continued by this family.
02
Second, the Qian family. The Qian family has a very long history of thousands of years from the five generations, and the founder of this family is Qian Wei, who once established the Wuyue kingdom in jiangsu and Zhejiang in the five generations. This small imperial court is quite legendary, although there are only 13 states under its jurisdiction, but after nearly a hundred years of governance, it has made the Jiangnan area prosperous. The evaluation of Qian In the "History of the Old Five Dynasties" is: "Learn books, good chanting." ”
▲ Portrait of Qian Gong
In the subsequent dynastic changes, the descendants of the Qian family have always been active in history, mostly becoming writers, poets and bibliophiles. In modern times, the Qian family is full of talents, and the "three coins" in the natural sciences, as well as Qian Xuantong, Qian Mu, Qian Zhongshu and others in literature, are all from this big family. The Qian family, like the Zeng family, has attached great importance to education from ancient times to the present. For example, Qian Weichang, when he was young, due to the early death of his father, the family was difficult, but Qian Weichang's mother let him stick to his studies no matter what, because this was the family training that the Qian family had passed down for thousands of years.
03
Third, the Li Hongzhang family. Li Hongzhang's family is too low-key than the above two families, but in fact, the development of this family is also very prosperous. Li Hongzhang himself has mixed reviews in history, but in any case, he played an important role in the imperial court at the end of the Qing Dynasty.
▲Old photo of Li Hongzhang
Li Hongzhang's ancestors were also ordinary peasant families, this kind of family wants to cross the class, only rely on their children and grandchildren to obtain meritorious names, Li Hongzhang's father Li Wen'an and Zeng Guofan once passed the entrance examination together, after the examination of the jinshi, Li Wen'an was able to enter the career. Because of his relationship, Zeng Guofan still took good care of Li Hongzhang, and Li Hongzhang and his eldest brother Li Hanzhang had studied with him.
The in-laws of the Li Hongzhang family are widely distributed, Li Hongzhang's daughter Li Juling married Zhang Peilun, a famous minister of the late Qing Dynasty, and the Li family also had a marriage with the Zeng Guofan family. In addition, the Li Hongzhang family has married with large families such as Sheng Xuanhuai, Duan Ruiqi, and Liu Yong, and has extensive connections among the upper families in China.
▲Old photos of the Li Hongzhang family
With the changes of the times and the turmoil of the political situation, the Li family has become more and more low-key, most of the clan is unknown, but there are still a few very famous. Li Daozeng, dean of tsinghua university's school of architecture, is the fifth-generation grandson of Li Hongzhang's third brother, Li Hezhang. In addition, there are three members of the Lee family who do business abroad - Li Jiachang, Li Jiajing and Li Jiashu, all of whom are rich and wealthy. Because they have been overseas for many years and live in a low-key manner, many people do not know that they are the descendants of Li Hongzhang.
epilogue
In fact, from the inheritance of these big families, it can be seen that a family has a good family style in order to maintain the strong vitality of the family. How to make the family style upright, mainly from education. After all, people do not learn and do not know righteousness, and if there is no good knowledge and learning as the basis, then even the largest family will soon collapse.
Resources:
History of the South
History of the Old Five Dynasties