Revealing Zeng Guofan’s health regimen: eating “white rice” without adding vegetables

Zeng Guofan

In ancient China, if you want to be a sage, one of the indicators must be met: light taste. The so-called indifferent and clear aspirations can be said to have a light taste and low desires. Only then can the ideals in the heart grow without obstacles and cultivate the temperament of an outer sage and an inner king.

Having a light taste does not mean that you can endure hardship. Some people who endure hardship drink spicy food in order to be popular in the future. This person is not considered a sage, but at most an inspirational person. Sages and inspirational people are not on the same level. Sages can be indifferent at any time, no matter how poor or rich they are. What are the specific manifestations of weak taste? Let Lao Liu talk about Zheng Banqiao and Zeng Guofan's "free rice". Phenomenon: Why do sages and capable people love to "eat free rice"?

I can’t remember which magazine I read a story about. It said that there was a cadre with a high rank who had 18 children at home. The ten-year-old mother was born in the countryside. This cadre was very busy at work and had a lot of social activities. However, his mother set a rule for him, an unbreakable rule: he must go to his mother's side every night and eat two bowls of white rice. No vegetables can be added. It was so unconditional. Eat it with seasoning, and then do whatever a son should do. The family letter advocates "eating free rice"

The author cannot judge whether this story is true or not, but the old lady's approach has some basis. The first basis comes from Zeng Guofan, and Take a look at Zeng Guofan’s letter home to his younger brother on October 23, the tenth year of Tongzhi (1871):

“I see that the younger generations in my family are all weak and have not made much progress in reading. Children: One is about taking a thousand steps after a meal, the other is about washing feet before going to sleep, the other is about having no anger in the chest, the other is about having a regular vagina, and the other is about practicing shooting at a regular time (shooting is enough to practice majesty and strengthen the muscles and bones, and the children should learn it) , I eat rice at dawn without ordering anything.”

Did you notice? "Eat white rice at dawn without ordering any dishes." There is no vegetable at all, not even seasoning. Eat a big bowl of white rice with white flowers. The emphasis is "eat white rice". There is no heavy-tasting breakfast dish. Brother Zeng said This can keep you healthy.

The second reason why the old lady wants the son of a cadre to "eat free rice" is the calligraphy and painting master Zheng Xie during the Qianlong period, also known as Zheng Banqiao. Let's look at the family letter Zheng Banqiao wrote to his younger brother when he was the county magistrate:

"I wrote that my son has a weak constitution and cannot bear the hard work of studying...The only way to remedy this is to maintain health and practice mechanics. A common man's body can be kept strong and his knowledge can be improved. There are five ways to maintain health: 1. , get up at dawn, eat a bowl of white porridge without vegetables; 2. take a walk after meals, taking a thousand steps as the pace; 3. sit silently at a regular time, and sit for a while after school every day; 4. don’t get angry when something happens ; Fifth, don’t think about it after going to bed.”

The two letters are so similar that I seriously suspect that Brother Zeng plagiarized Senior Zheng’s writings, such as walking a thousand steps after a meal, not getting angry when encountering problems, and learning how to be honest. , especially eating a bowl of white rice without adding vegetables every morning, and eating it mainly in the morning, but Brother Zeng secretly replaced the porridge with dry rice. These factors overlap.

Of course, this is a joke. Brother Zeng clearly learned from Senior Zheng’s health regimen, rather than plagiarizing it, because when Brother Zeng wrote the letter to his family, it was not for publication and he did not think of it at all. It later became a bestseller.

Summarizing the ways of self-cultivation of these two capable people, there is a striking similarity: they advocate "eating free rice". Of course, this does not mean eating for free, but eating without adding vegetables. Why is this? Analysis: Only by eating moderately can one become a sage

There is a very inspiring saying: "Only by eating moderately hard can one become a great person." This sentence has both positive and negative energy.

Positively speaking, it encourages poor boys to endure hardships and work hard, so that they can improve their material treatment and status in life in the future. Bearing hardship today is to become a superior person in the future; negatively speaking, this "being a human being" The ideal of "Master" shows that the motivation for enduring hardship in those days was not very pure. It shows that although the material treatment and status in life have improved, the realm of life has declined. Therefore, once some people who can endure hardship become "Master" , is greedier than anyone else, and crazily makes up for the price of hardship. There are many examples of this in ancient China.

The realm of life advocated by Chinese Confucianism is actually not to "be superior to others", but to be a sage. If Confucius, the ancestor of Confucianism, really wanted to be a "superior", he would not have resigned from the post of acting prime minister of the State of Lu, but would have been looking for work everywhere in panic like a bereft dog.

The Taoist Zhuangzi looked down upon the practice of losing dignity to seek power and wealth, calling it "the art of licking hemorrhoids." To "lick hemorrhoids" for the King of Qin can be said to be "suffering a lot of hardships", and then in exchange for the treatment of glory and wealth, it can be said to be "superior to others". However, is it interesting to be such a "superior to others"?

The life mission of a sage is not to be "superior to others", but to "help the world if he is successful, and be good to himself if he is poor." There is not even a word about his own treatment. Between the two extreme states of "adult" and "poor", maintain a state of indifference, that is, a state of light taste. Yes, the realm of sages is the realm of indifference. "Eating free rice" is training

Therefore, we have to understand why Teacher Zheng Banqiao and Brother Zeng advocate that the next generation should "eat free rice" every day. It not only stops at the level of health care, but also extends to life. level. Eating rice with white flowers, not chaff, cornbread, or wild vegetables, is not considered a hardship; however, there is no meat, no seasoning, neither salty, sweet, spicy, nor sour, so you have to have a big bowl. Eat it in bowls and endure the blandness every day. Gradually you will get used to this bland taste, and gradually your pursuit of life will become much lighter, changing from taste to character, and then to personality. Only by eating light food can you resist the temptation of society's heavy tastes.

In the process of eating white rice, you will also understand a truth: the conditions for maintaining a person's survival are actually very simple. It is nothing more than a bowl of rice with white flowers. Do not eat bird's nests or drink famous wines. You can still live a long life. If you can tolerate indifference and do not deliberately endure hardships, your material desires will be much more indifferent. Once you are indifferent to material desires, you will be much more clear-headed in your work, and there will be many fewer personality roadblocks.

Therefore, "eating for free" is a kind of personality training. It actually develops from cultivating living habits to cultivating personality. Does the so-called great personality fall from the sky? No, it is accumulated from small habits in life.

It can be said that "eating free rice" has become the secret energy for Zheng Banqiao and Zeng Guofan to improve their life realm.

Zheng Banqiao has always maintained a "free rice" state in his life. He is not poor, earning three thousand taels of silver a year by writing and painting, but he can be indifferent and not greedy, so he left office He wrote a poem at that time: "Throw away the black gauze and not become an official, the bag is rustling and the sleeves are cold. Write a thin bamboo and use it as a fishing rod on the river in the autumn wind."

Zeng Guofan's political stance should be denied, but My personal life is indeed very light. I became the governor of Liangjiang and the crown prince's Taibao. However, my taste was still so light. I had vegetables soaked in broth every night for supper. Later, I even removed the broth and only drank vegetable soup. I was still happy. Like a god, from a materialistic perspective, Brother Zeng is indeed too unscrupulous as a human being. Improvement: An indifferent person can achieve great things

Zheng Banqiao is an indifferent person. After ten years as a county magistrate, all the money he paid to build a house when he returned home was from selling paintings. Because of his indifference, he did not indulge in the entanglement of material desires, so he Being able to wake up and clearly hear the rustle of the bamboo forest in the county government office is the voice of the common people: "Every branch and leaf is related to love." His so-called "rare confusion" is actually confusion about personal material desires and personal treatment. You can afford to take it up and put it down: "Let it go, take a step back, and feel at ease now, not for the sake of future blessings." What I seek is "peace of mind at the moment", and "peace of mind" means "lightness". Yue Fei also has a light taste.

According to the view of feudal society, Zeng Guofan has done a lot of great things. Precisely because of his light taste, he has always been able to win without being arrogant or discouraged by defeat, and maintain a sober attitude.

"Light" can distance the blockages in the heart, open the eyes and open the wisdom. And because the pursuit of taste is not big, it can resist the temptation of heavy tastes such as sensuality, wealth and so on, so it can do big things in a clear mind. From then on, Ergong looked at the sages and saints who achieved great things in Chinese history, and their life realms were all guided by the word "light". The most obvious sign is "eating without taste", that is, eating only one dish during a meal. For example, Wang Anshi can do great things, but every time he eats, he only eats the dish in front of him. The indifference of meals develops into the indifference of life. Indifferent people can achieve great things and achieve great things. Zhuge Liang can achieve great things, but he is indifferent. After death, "there will be no silk inside and no wealth outside." Cao Cao can achieve great things, but he is indifferent, but the women in his family cannot. Wear silk and satin; Fan Zhongyan can achieve great things, but he is indifferent, and his salary is used to support the poor; Yue Fei can achieve great things, but he is indifferent, and his pursuit in life is "not loving money, and he is not willing to die"; Zhang Zhidong can achieve great things, but he is indifferent, and after death Even burial is a problem...