Although keeping pace with the times is the spirit advocated today, the ancients have long had vivid examples to prove its necessity.
Although Zeng Guofan could not learn modern western science and technology, what he did was unprecedented, which showed his superhuman foresight. At the same time, his down-to-earth style enabled the action of learning from the West to be implemented. But the effect was not obvious at that time, and it didn't appear until decades later.
Zeng Guofan's exploration of western science and technology did not stay on the surface, but pursued cultural spirit, which made people deeply admire. Zeng Guofan said that the skills of westerners are wonderful because they concentrate on everything and keep one thing, getting deeper and deeper, so they gradually reach the extreme. It can be said that he realized the fundamental law of the development of modern western science.
Western disciplines were divided earlier, so they also had different categories earlier, and entered the stage of studying the laws of different fields and objects. Standardizing the scope of different disciplines through classification helps to concentrate on achieving results. Zeng Guofan also has a positive attitude towards this.
When Zeng Guofan was a Beijing official in his youth, he realized that there was specialization in the technical field. He classified the knowledge he had to master related to the plan of governing the country and keeping the country safe into the category of 14. In his Mumuzhai Diary, he left a passage like this:
There are fourteen people who have studied major issues in the world: Japanese official system, Japanese fiscal use, Japanese salt policy, Japanese water affairs, Japanese money law, Japanese crown ceremony, Japanese faint ceremony, Japanese funeral ceremony, Japanese sacrifice ceremony, Japanese military system, Japanese military law, and Japanese land and rivers. They are all based on this dynasty, tracing the evolution of the previous generation, showing benevolence and returning to Yi Jian.
People who were attacked in their previous lives can improve themselves, and people who have no previous lives can create their own. Unwilling people know that the future will be difficult, and unwilling people know that the future will be necessary. The so-called eternal knowledge also.
Although this division was unscientific and imperfect, it was the most critical knowledge and skill at that time, and its scope involved politics, military affairs, water conservancy, finance, transportation, taxation, law, geography and other aspects. Zeng Guofan's spirit of "self-improvement" and "self-creation" coincides with the innovative spirit of modern science. With the deepening of understanding, Zeng Guofan became more and more aware of the importance of classification. In the eleventh year of Xianfeng (186 1), on the fourth day of September, he expressed his emphasis on scientific classification in his letter to his son and summarized the importance of classification to scientific research.
Zeng Guofan's understanding of "specialization" is not limited to the appearance of discipline division. For him, method and spirit are more important, which is also the main purpose of his admiration for western science and technology. In his view, the single-minded thirst for knowledge was what China people lacked and what China needed most at that time.
In the traditional China society, there are many "generalists" who try to cover everything, and there is a lack of experts who specialize in one skill. Confucian education itself is a kind of "generalist" education, which involves almost everything from self-cultivation to managing the country, trying to cultivate all-round quality. An intellectual with a Confucian background becomes an official in governing the country after entering the official position, and he must be able to afford everything. The positions held by a feudal official included administration, military affairs, justice, finance, social welfare, school education and so on, covering almost all aspects.
If you want to have a smooth career, you must pass all the tests. The result of this "all-rounder" requirement is that "experts" are buried and obliterated. Where there is no survival because of discrimination, the whole society has also formed a kind of "inhibiting experts"
Atmosphere. This is the main reason for the lack of specialized talents in feudal times, and it is also one of the reasons for the backwardness of science and technology.
Therefore, Zeng Guofan advocated the application of specialization in administrative management. Zeng Guofan never blames others for employing people. He believes that perfect people don't exist. His principle is to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses and give full play to everyone's strengths, so he has absorbed a large number of professionals. Most notably, it includes some modern scientists.
After Zeng Guofan's teaching, his son chose a professional road. Zeng's talent is not high and he is not diligent enough. He is not good at writing eight-part essay, poetry and calligraphy. Zeng Guofan once decided that he would definitely fail the exam, so he guided him to develop in his own field. So I chose the mathematics I was most interested in, and after painstaking research, I finally became a generation of mathematicians. In the Draft of the History of Qing Dynasty, he was specially listed in Biography of Domains, and Principles of Geometry became his preface after being translated into Chinese by Li.
Zeng Guofan's advocacy of specialization injected scientific spirit into the dull traditional society, and China intellectuals embarked on the journey of modern science. It is precisely because of the constant changes at any time that Zeng Guofan changed from a pedantic traditional Confucian intellectual to a hero who managed chaos and recreated "prosperous times", and achieved a major leap from "inner sage" to "outer king" and from "self-cultivation" to "leveling the world".
Zeng Guofan's insight into the general trend and foresight on major issues related to the fate of the country and individuals are essential qualities for great success. If a person wants to be creative in a certain field, he must aim at it. But things are often related. If you specialize in something you shouldn't specialize in, or if you are too single-minded, you will greatly limit your room for manoeuvre. The more single skills, the more passive they are in a rapidly developing society.
Therefore, it is easier to find a balance between specialization and broadness, return from blog and bypass analogy. This is also what Zeng Guofan earnestly warned future generations.
Therefore, when the times require specialization, we must learn to specialize. The requirements of the times are not allowed to run counter to each other. Only those who keep pace with the times and conform to the choice of the times can achieve better personal development.