By reading this part of Zeng Guofan's diary, we know that Zeng Guofan is a calligraphy lover. He has many original views on calligraphy, and his accomplishments in calligraphy are also very high.
He advocated that learning Chinese characters, thinking and learning should not be neglected, and he himself did the same. When he was in the Imperial Academy in his early years, he put a lot of effort into calligraphy. Even when he came to the military camp later, although he was busy with his official duties, he still insisted on learning a piece of calligraphy every day and never stopped.
It is this persistent study and thinking day after day that makes Zeng Guofan's achievements in calligraphy so high.
In fact, it's not just about writing. When learning anything, we should also learn to think and learn at the same time.
Although Zeng Guofan has a soft spot for calligraphy, he doesn't have any collection. What's even more rare is that he has repeatedly rejected valuable calligraphy works presented by others.
One of the things is that Li Shoumin, the son of Li Yueqiao, an old friend of Zeng Guofan, sent Zeng Guofan a copy of Preface to Lanting by Liu Yong and Weng Fanggang, which was a rare treasure at that time. The purpose is to ask Zeng Guofan to make a manuscript for his father.
Even if this gift was accepted, there was no problem, but Zeng Guofan refused it on the grounds that it was too expensive.
Another thing is that Qu Futian, the magistrate of Xiuning County, sent Zeng Guofan a copy of Wang Xizhi carved in the Tang Dynasty. When Zeng Guofan saw this copy, he was extremely happy. This gift was sent to Zeng Guofan's heart.
However, Zeng Guofan only tried to play for a moment, and then he returned it. The reason why he gave it back was that "the stunners in the world dare not take it in vain."
From these two things, we can see that Zeng Guofan is a very self-sustaining person, and he doesn't take things that don't belong to him, even if the temptation is great and he likes them in his heart, which is very rare.