Research On Tseng Kuo-fan's Political Ethics

As a political,military and ideological figure,Tseng Kuo-fan not only had an important influence in modern Chinese history,but also act as a representative symbol(idol)of Huxiang culture in recent history.With the rise of a new round of cultural fever at the end of the last century,people who research Tseng Kuo-fan are growing rapidly.The majority of people in the world have a tendency toward pragmatism in the study of Tseng Kuo-fan.By explaining or deducing some quotations and expressions of Tseng Kuo-fan,they are trying to guide the folks to get rich.Through the analysis of the core part of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics thought,this essay is designed to systematically display the spiritual background and value of the important experiences of Tseng Kuo-fan,such as running the state,running the army and deal with Foreign Affairs.The author believes that is exactly the key to opens the treasury of Tseng Kuo-fan's achievement.This article states from the following three parts:The first part briefly explains the social background and ideological origin of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics.The social background of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics mainly includes the influence of Xiangxiang culture,the introduction of western culture and the official experience of Tseng Kuo-fan.The ideological origins of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics mainly come from three parts:one is ethics of traditional Confucius's inner priests and outer king,the other is moral ethics of Noninterference of Taoist,and the third is Huxiang culture's practical thinking.The second part focuses on the basic content of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics.First,outlook of respecting the talent:verifying talents based on morality,seeking the talents with good manners,keeping the talents with strictly rules,and recruiting talents with caution.Second,outlook of governing with the power of virtue:focus on self-cultivation and governing on the basis of virtues,based on the principles of pragmatic,for the purpose of recruiting talents and accepting advises humbly,in the method of anti-corruption.Third,outlook of the loyalty to the country:cherish the world,worry for the country,and in search of wealth and power.Fourth,outlook of benevolence:rely on the people,protect the people and benefit the people.The third part,an objective evaluation of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics.First,Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics has distinctive characteristics of the times and the culture.lt mainly reflects as follows:conservative nature of restoring the national morals,innovation of advocating the social reform,the moderation of implementing temper justice with mercy.Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics has had a wide range of influence in the world,which could be described as:the impact on the family,the impact on the Huxiang culture,and the impact on the bureaucratic groups in the late Qing Dynasty.Second,the modern value and limitations of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics.The modern values of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics are as follows:It could be helpful to the formation of people-oriented thinking and service-oriented government,it could be helpful to the cultivation of a service-oriented administrative personality,it also could be helpful to govern the army in a proper way and rejuvenate the nation.The historical limitations of Tseng Kuo-fan's political ethics mainly include:conservatism and openness,loyalty and patriotism,honesty and connivance.The main conclusion of this paper is:Living in troubled times,Tseng Kuo-fan,even with good governance and dedication,ultimately failed to stop the Qing Dynasty moving towards the collapse.Looking at the literature resources that Tseng Kuo-fan preserved for future generations,we can see that Tseng Kuo-fan regarded the maintenance of Confucianism and the governing of Qing dynasty as his life-long pursuit.He attempted to open up the Taoism and spring up the political system along his own understandings.