Zeng Guofan (曾国藩), The Last Confucian Sage of China
Zeng Guofan (曾国藩) (1811-1872), Confucian scholar, philosopher, poet, diarist, soldier and empire-saviour, was the last Confucian sage of China and the only man to have achieved such status within 500 years of his time. For those who are new to the Chinese history class, it is hard to comprehend the magnitude of a man of such prowess, both in intellect and in battle, without weighing him against great men of the West, however, Napoleon would have lacked the poetic aura, Dante short of his political flair, and Saint Francis would have been alright had he not proven himself merely a military dilettante when fighting his native Assisi wars. The man was a sage.
Then comes the question: what makes a Confucian sage?
The answer lies in the four stages of a Confucian scholar’s life (if he lives long enough to go through all).
Stage 1: self-cultivation (修身 Xiushen). The fundamental element of a Confucian personality. A self-cultivated man is a man of refined manners, noble taste and devoid of menace, or highly restrained from it, not only on the appearance but, more importantly, in the deep of his very true self, that is to say, above all, to be honest to himself. Zeng had achieved self-cultivation before the age of 40, mainly by meditation and an acidly introspective diary.
Stage 2: cultivation of one’s family (齐家 Qijia). This is self-cultivation being achieved and extended to provide for a happy family. A happy family is a family within which each member acts up to his or her supposed role, i.e. father being upright and exemplary, mother kind and loving, children studious and obedient. Zeng’s letters, written in the hiatuses of his military campaigns, addressed to his younger brothers and children were both numerous and patient, the collection of which has become the most widely read family-cultivating textbook in modern China. As a result, the Zeng clan had enjoyed generations of prosperity after Zeng’s death.
Stage 3: rule of a kingdom (治国 Zhiguo). In the Confucian idea, when one is cultivated in both self and family, one’s merit is bound to be discovered and inevitably put one in the public office, from which onward, one is to rule the kingdom. Zeng first gained fame by impressing the Emperor with a beautifully written essay on etiquette, thereafter, he was selected for high office to govern the central organs of the Empire.
Stage 4: to quell all land under heaven (平天下 Pingtianxia). This has often been the final but unsurpassable obstacle in a Confucian scholar’s journey to sagehood, for in order to quell, one first needs the provision of a rebellion or uproar of some sort. Many great men had achieved the previous three stages, however, only a handful of them had been fortunate, or unfortunate depending on how one views the situation, enough to have been put in the position to “quell the land”, usually in a military uniform. Zeng was what now we see as the last saviour of the last feudal dynasty of China from the philistine hand of the Taiping Rebellion (太平天国), in the purest of scholarly manner ever possibly adoptable by a Confucian, thus, he achieved sagehood.