"The Front and Side of Zeng Guofan" Author: Zhang Hongjie Publisher: Yuelu Publishing House

"The Front and Side of Zeng Guofan" tells the ups and downs of Zeng Guofan's life, revealing many unknown details: the five major setbacks he encountered in his life; the entanglement and friendship with Zuo Zongtang; his income and expenditure throughout his life; how he viewed feng shui, face reading, fortune-telling and destiny, etc. The author shows us a diligent, pragmatic and self-disciplined "Wen Zhenggong" Zeng Guofan, a conflicted and struggling professional official deeply embedded in the core of the system. Through Zeng Guofan, readers can get a glimpse of the subtle and complex "unwritten rules" of traditional Chinese officialdom and the unique survival philosophy of the system with Chinese characteristics.