was constantly to remember the hard circumstances out of which they had emerged. In 1867 he wrote:[1]
Although we are now prosperous, our family must not forget the customs of simple gentle-folk. The junior members must sternly overcome pride and laziness. To overcome pride the first step is to refrain from loudly upbraiding servants and dependents. For my part, I never forget the circumstances in which I peddled vegetable baskets in Chiang Shi Chieh, and you brothers must not forget that Chou-shan pulled carts laden with stone — that our former days were very bitter.
Nevertheless, there is also a strong sense of family pride, coupled with a desire that its members will always conduct themselves according to the dignity of their standing. This implied both that they keep away from the lower officials, lest their intercourse injure the highly placed brother in Peking, and also lest they seem to abuse their power. When Tsêng Kuo-ch'üan received his degree in the examinations, Tsêng, according to etiquette, should have written the literary chancellor a note of thanks, but he wrote home that he was unwilling to do so because the official in question bore an unsavory reputation, and he added: "Our family, since they belong to the country gentry, must under no circumstances enter yamens and speak of public matters, running a risk of being shabbily treated by the officials. Even where our family has a matter of business we should rather be willing to suffer loss, but must in no case enter on lawsuits and lead the officials to suspect that we rely on our power to put others to shame."[2] And in addition to compromising the dignity of the family by such conduct their relation with the officials would cause the higher officeholders in Peking to give Tsêng black marks because of the activity of relatives at home.[3]
