People living in the world can't escape from hunger and cold if they don't think about the difficulties of their parents and grandparents, postpone sacrifices, and think that their children and grandchildren have nothing to rely on. Give birth to more men and women, regard them as passers-by, indulge in debauchery, wander around in games, and destroy family property in order to make a quick decision. This is unfortunate. In this way, if you accept the punishment, you will not get sympathy. Teach, persuade and scold, what can you do? There is nothing we can do about it.
Some people live in the world, regardless of the difficulties of their ancestors and fathers in starting a business and inheriting the family business, or if the family business declines in the future and future generations lose their dependence, they will be hungry and cold. They gave birth to many children without restraint and showed no concern for them. Like strangers, they indulge in debauchery, gamble and play chess, do nothing, lose everything and seek temporary enjoyment. These people are unfortunate at home. These people are not even afraid of breaking the criminal law. How to change their minds by teaching, persuading and scolding? They can only be helpless and let nature take its course.
Comment Yuan Cai has repeatedly warned future generations that we should always consider the difficulties of our ancestors in starting a business, and we should not indulge in debauchery and pursue a dissolute life. We should think more about future generations and try our best to maintain and inherit the family business. Feudal society is hereditary, official titles can be hereditary, and ancestors can make meritorious deeds and influence future generations. But as the saying goes, "once every emperor is a courtier." After the feudal monarch ascended the throne, in order to consolidate his rule, he always supported some people and hit some people. The struggle for power and status within the imperial court will also involve ministers. Cao Xueqin, the author of A Dream of Red Mansions, was born in a feudal bureaucratic family. Cao Jiazu was originally a Han Chinese. At the beginning of Qing Dynasty, Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao Yanzhen entered the customs with the Qing soldiers, made meritorious military service, and the family began to develop. Cao Xueqin's great-grandfather Cao's wife was a nanny of Kangxi, and his grandfather accompanied Kangxi to study when he was a child. With such a special relationship, after Kangxi ascended the throne, the Cao family was deeply loved. Cao was awarded Jiangning Weaving. Since then, Cao Yin, his father Cao Fu and his uncle Cao Qing have been appointed to this position for more than 60 years. Jiangning weaving is nominally to purchase cloth and daily necessities for the imperial court, but in fact it is a private confidant sent by Kangxi to inspect the military, political and people's feelings in the south of the Yangtze River. Kangxi made six southern tours, four of which were taken over by Cao Yin, who made Jiangnan Weaving Institute his palace. At that time, the Cao family was still a minor celebrity.
But after the death of Kangxi, the Cao family has also undergone earth-shaking changes. Yongzheng won the throne after a complicated internal court struggle. In order to consolidate his rule, he began to purge his father's cronies and ministers.
In the fifth year of Yongzheng, Cao Fu was dismissed and his property was confiscated on the charge of "weaving money deficit". Later, after some changes, the Cao family was completely bankrupt, and his children also reached the bottom of society. Cao Xueqin's family was well-off when he was young. After his downfall, he lived a poor life of "eating porridge for his family". It was in this poor situation that he wrote the immortal masterpiece A Dream of Red Mansions.
Thrift should continue.
If a person has property and is afraid of being stolen by others, he will keep his mouth shut and seal his knowledge very tightly. If you are worried about the dissipation caused by excessive expenses, you must count it as a contest and save money. However, those who are very strict and lose will be strict for a hundred days, and there will be no loss for a day. A hundred days is strict and one day is loose, so a day's loss is the same as a hundred days' pine. Those who have several festivals and are ultimately in want will not be in want if they establish Pepsi Festival without sacrificing one thing. If there is nothing in Pepsi Festival, it will cost as much as there is nothing in Pepsi Festival. The so-called Pepsi people play well in food, clothes, houses, gardens, horses, servants and equipment. Rich and frugal financial resources, it is not an expense. Do it without measuring financial resources, or be too extravagant and almost in no hurry. Even if financial resources can be done, it is a waste of money. Young people, masters, should be very clear.
When people have property, they are afraid of being stolen by others, so they are tied up with ropes, locked and strictly labeled and sealed. I'm afraid the daily expenses will be scattered without planning, and I will be careful with all the expenses. However, although some people are careful in their daily expenses, they still lose everything. This is because they have spent a hundred days strictly and cautiously, and they will not go bankrupt without a day's negligence. One hundred days of strict budget, and only one day of negligence and indulgence, then the consequences of this day's negligence and indulgence are the same as those of a hundred days of carelessness. Some people are frugal, but in the end they lack resources. This is because they are frugal in all kinds of things, so the cost of this thing is the same as the consequences of not being frugal in all kinds of things. All kinds of things mentioned, such as diet, clothes, houses, gardens, houses, chariots and horses, servants, utensils and antiques, can't be explained clearly in one or two sentences. The use of these things, according to their own financial wealth or thrift, is not a waste. If you don't do it according to your own financial resources, or if you have financial resources, it will be too extravagant and wasteful. Doing something that is not urgent is a waste of money. Young people in charge of family affairs should be deeply aware of this.
Comment on Yuan Cai's warning people to be thrifty in financial management. Although some people think they are frugal, they are defeated because they can't persevere and think that it doesn't matter if they spend money occasionally. Spending money on only one thing will not affect the overall situation. Yuan Cai pointed out that it was this negligence that caused some people's losses. If they really want to be frugal, they must persist in frugality year after year. Daily expenses should be determined according to one's own financial resources, live within one's means, and even if the property is abundant, it should not be extravagant to maintain the prosperity of the family business.
Yuan Cai's idea of being the master of financial management is reasonable and feasible in any society and any era. In today's socialist society, people's lives are basically guaranteed and society is prosperous and stable. Many people forget frugality and are generous in food, clothing, housing and transportation. Wearing brand-name clothes, eating western food, riding mountain bikes, getting together with classmates and celebrating birthdays are the common pursuits of many middle school students. Many children are spoiled by their parents, accustomed to extravagance and waste, and have no concept of thrift in their minds, which is not good for their healthy growth. Since the reform and opening up 20 years ago, China's comprehensive national strength has been significantly enhanced, and people's lives have become more and more affluent. But can we forget to be frugal when we get rich? Numerous examples in ancient and modern times tell us to forget thrift. Everyone or a small family is in danger of losing everything. A family should pay attention to thrift, and our country with a population of1200 million should pay more attention to thrift. After the once-in-a-century floods in the Yangtze River basin and Northeast China this year, the State Council ordered to reduce the number of buildings, halls and venues, reduce all kinds of meetings, and reduce the number of delegations visiting abroad. These measures are based on the principle of thrift. Only by thrift can the people unite to tide over the difficulties and make our undertakings more prosperous.
Get everything ready.
In a middle-class family, you must worry about everything early. There are men who make a living, and teaching is considered early.
As for the adopted daughter, it is easy to get married by saving clothes as soon as possible. What's the use of calling it temporary if you don't ask? However, it's a shame to meet people temporarily and not take care of women. As for the old people at home, the tools of death are also called temporary. There is no other way, it is also a temporary funeral, not as good as paperwork. If today's people have a daughter and plant 10,000 Chinese fir roots, they will think that she is married when she grows up, so that her daughter will not waste time. Those who buy shrouds and life utensils in their prime will not be buried for three days and five days without clothes and coffins.
A moderately wealthy family can't help thinking about everything earlier. A family with a boy should find him a living and teach him how to make money. All these should be planned as early as possible. Families with girls should also prepare clothes, bedding and toiletries for her as soon as possible, and when they send her to get married, they don't have to work hard to prepare. If we ignore all these things, what can we do once it is over? I can only sell my property and land temporarily, but I still ignore my daughter's face.
If there are elderly people at home, they generally don't prepare funeral things, and when things come to an end, it's hard to think of other ways, so they have to sell their fields temporarily, or simply ignore whether the funeral is ceremonial or not. Now, if you have a daughter, plant 10 thousand fir trees. When the daughter grows up, they will sell the fir tree as a dowry for her, so that the daughter will not be unable to marry because she has no dowry. When someone is young and strong, he will buy a shroud and a cemetery. This man will not die for three or five days without a shroud coffin to collect, and there will be no cemetery to bury after three or five years.
No matter what you do in your daily life, you should plan ahead and make preparations early, so as not to be helpless at the last minute and fall into an embarrassing situation. This is the truth of Qin Keqing's dream in A Dream of Red Mansions.
Qin Keqing gave Xi a dream before he died, saying that there was only one wish. Xi An asked what it was, and Qin Keqing said, "Auntie, you are a hero in the pink team, and even the top man can't pass you. How can you not even know two proverbs? As the saying goes,' when the moon is full, it will lose money, and when the water is full, it will overflow', and there is also a saying that' he who climbs high falls hard'. Today, our family has flourished for nearly a hundred years. If a day's happiness brings sorrow, if you accept the phrase' the tree falls apart', you will not be called a family of poets and writers for life! " After listening to Ke Qing's words, Feng agreed and asked her how to make her family business prosperous and never go bankrupt. Qin Keqing said, "Aunt is so stupid. Regardless of the Qin dynasty, human resources have always been guaranteed since ancient times. But now I can plan my future career in Rongshi, so I can always be safe and secure. " In other words, everything is fine now, except for two things. If we do this, we will be safe forever the next day. "
Xi-feng asked what it was, and said, "Although my ancestors offered sacrifices at four o'clock, they just didn't have enough money and food. Second, although home schools have been established, there is no certain supply. Personally, there is no shortage of sacrificial offerings in today's prosperous times, but they will decline in the future. Where did these two things come from? In my opinion, taking advantage of today's wealth, Mo Ruo will set up several acres of grange courtyard near his ancestral home in order to prepare sacrificial supplies. All the expenses will come from here, and the home school will also be located here. Contract clans, old and young, made a rule. In the future, they will be responsible for the supply of land, money and food, and in this year according to the sacrifice of the house. There is no competition in this way, and there are no disadvantages in sales.
Even if you are guilty, you can enter the official. This sacrificial industry does not even enter the official. It was defeated, and the descendants went home to study and farm, and there were setbacks. The sacrifice was sustainable. It is not a long-term solution to think that today's glory is endless without thinking about the future. I saw another very happy thing in a few days. It's really a fire, bloom. You know, it was just a moment of prosperity and joy. Don't forget the proverb "The feast must end". At this time, if you don't worry early, you may regret it. "
The dream that Qin Keqing told Wang Xifeng before he died just illustrates the truth that "the important thing is to plan before you lose time".
Principles of employment and family management
The original place of residence should be like home, and there should be references; Being an official at home requires discipline.
An official should love the people as much as his own children. To be a master, you should also use rules to manage your house, just like being an official.
The comment on this principle is about the relationship between residence and home.
Feudal society is autocratic monarchy. The emperor is called the "son of heaven" and governs the people on behalf of heaven. Officials at all levels are called "parents", which means to treat the people like their own children. Good officials are like the parents of the people. So Yuan Cai said, "Being an official should be like being at home."
This is fundamentally different from today's democratic thought. Today's democratic thought holds that the people are the masters of the country and cadres are "public servants of the people". This change in concept reflects the different status of "people" in ancient and modern times.
"Being an official at home" means having discipline in managing the family. The so-called "Fiona Fang cannot be made without rules".
In feudal society, one of the "three cardinal guides and five permanents" is "father is son", and parents have absolute authority over their children. Jia Baoyu in A Dream of Red Mansions was severely flogged by his father Jia Zheng for disobeying feudal etiquette, making friends with actresses and associating with female servants. Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu have been in love for a long time, but they are Xue Baochai in the eyes of their parents. He had no choice but to marry Baochai. Feudal families had strict discipline, so Yuan Cai said that "staying at home is like living together as an official".
Children should be educated.
The children of the former scholar-officials have no worldly wealth to keep, and they can rely on impermanence. However, they should be educated, just like Confucianism. Its talent and quality are beautiful, and it can be learned from scholars. The world can be valuable, and it can be taught next time to make it serve the discipline. He can't learn a scholar, but he can do things in class instead of writing notes. Next time he learns a little literacy, he can be a child's teacher. If you can't be a Confucian, you can be a doctor, an astrologer, a farmer's nursery, a businessman and an emissary. Anyone who can preserve one's health without humiliating his predecessors can do the same. The vagrancy of children, as for begging and stealing, is the most humiliating. But the world can't be a Confucian, but it doesn't want to be a beggar or a thief for doctors, astrologers, farms, businessmen, geisha and the like, and it can be severely punished. Anyone who insists on being superior to others and asks them to respond; Bend over the rich and pretend to be a fake loan; Swimming in the temple is accused of going through the clouds and begging. Living in an official position, hiding people's eyes and ears, stealing money into oneself, living in my hometown, bullying the weak and being afraid of the hard, taking it all away. Tea, salt, wine and vinegar forbidden by private officials are thieves. How can the world not be ashamed of itself?
If the children of scholar-officials want to serve their parents and raise their wives and children, they should be Confucian scholars. If you have extraordinary talent, you can prepare for the Jinshi entrance examination. The ideal result is that you can get into the imperial examination, be the top scholar and make a fortune. The second kind can run private schools to educate students. Make a living by student tuition. If you can't take the imperial examination, you can write to others. Inferior teachers can also be children's first teachers. You can't be a Confucian scholar, but you can be a doctor, a monk, a Taoist, a farmer, a gardener, a businessman and a craftsman. You can do anything as long as you can make a living and don't humiliate your ancestors. Our children idle away and become beggars and thieves, which is the most humiliating thing for our ancestors. Those who can't be Confucian scholars, refuse to be doctors, monks, farmers, gardeners, businessmen and craftsmen, and are willing to be beggars and thieves are the most to blame. Those who smile in front of powerful people in order to get food and drink; Bow before the rich in order to borrow money and things; People who go to temples to beg for food are called beggars. Being an official hides people's eyes and ears, taking bribes, bullying the old and weak in the village, seizing people's property, selling tea, salt and wine privately and other things prohibited by the state. They are all thieves. There are people in the world who do this without shame. Why?
Commenting on this kind of teaching to children shows that Yuan is a very practical person, and in modern words, Yuan has a "pragmatic spirit". He did not stick to the old adage that "everything is inferior, only reading is high" in feudal society. He taught his children that if they want to occupy a place in the society, they must first "learn Confucianism" and take the imperial examination, which is the best way to seek fame and profit. If you are a scholar, you can't take the imperial examination. You can also run a private school to educate your children. At worst, you can write to others to support your family. As long as you don't be a beggar or a thief, you won't be ashamed of your ancestors. Agriculture, industry and commerce were despised occupations in feudal society. Everyone remembers the character Kong Yiji in Lu Xun's novels. Although he is reduced to working for others to make a living, he is unwilling to admit this position from the bottom of his heart, and he still wants to distinguish himself from ordinary farmers. Became "the only one standing and drinking and wearing a gown." Starting from reality, Yuan Cai realized that survival is the first need of human beings, and it is not shameful to adopt parents and marry and have children through a proper career. He despises beggars, thieves or people who are equal to beggars and thieves, and thinks that it is the greatest insult to his ancestors. All these reflect that Yuan Cai is an upright scholar-bureaucrat, not completely bound by feudal thoughts, and has a certain "pragmatic spirit".
Prostitution is a disaster.
Anyone who is born without a job, is interested in ease and is unwilling to do his best will become dirty when he is rich and become a beggar when he is poor. Anyone who is born to drink is not counted, eats too much meat, is addicted to sex, learns to play games, has money at home and is poor at home, which is bound to be theft.
People who live without a suitable job, or people who like ease and enjoyment even if they have a job, refuse to do their best. If his family is rich, he will do nothing and become a dirty and shameless person. If his family is poor, he will become a beggar. Anyone who drinks and eats meat without restraint, is bohemian and has gambling habits. If his family is rich, he will destroy his property; if his family is poor, he will become a thief.
Comment on idleness, idleness is not the right way of life. People like that will destroy themselves and their families sooner or later.
Ximen Qing in Jin Ping Mei is a luxurious, dissolute and shameless person in life. He is a layman who runs a drugstore. Because he earned a few foreign dollars, his business grew bigger and bigger. At the same time, he courted the imperial court, became the adopted son of Master Cai in North Korea, was appointed as a local official, was a profiteer and corrupt official, and plundered countless money. He had a concubine named Sun Xuee, who took care of his diet and invited Song Cai and two imperial envoys to have a meal, which cost nearly 2,200 silver. In terms of housing, Ximen Qing has built a large number of gardens and ponds, which are full of exotic flowers and plants from all over the world. Even Cai Zhuangyuan, who came all the way from Beijing, couldn't help but admire: "Sincerity wins prosperity."
Ximen Qing is bohemian. He seduced Pan Jinlian, killed Wu Dalang, angered Hua Zixu, hit Jiang Zhushan, and married Pan Jinlian and Li Pinger back home. He married six wives, drove away Lai Wanger, a domestic slave, and forced his daughter-in-law Song Huilian to death. Occupy Wang Liuer, rape Mrs. Tong Liner, and the maid-in-waiting was trampled by him. Ximen Qing's indiscretions in life are outrageous. There are many geisha and dancers at home. Almost every day, they are drinking and dancing. I also made friends with a group of gangsters.
Although Mrs. Simon was once arrogant, she died of indulgence in the end, and her wife and concubine separated. Her own son also wanted to become a monk to pay for his injustice, and ended up in a shameful and sad end.
Zhou Ji wants to choose someone.
The original text is that people in trouble can't help, there is nothing to complain about, the poor don't help themselves, and those who are simply ashamed won't tell others themselves. Although I have nothing to spare, I will use my strength to help them. This person will be grateful even if he can't report it.
If he is not embarrassed, but takes it as his profession, holding the skill of squatting in the pit, visiting the door of the rich and crossing the counties, he thinks that he can do whatever he wants if he has income, and that there is hatred if he has no income. There is no gratitude today, and there is nothing to repay another day. You can treat it without mercy. Can I cut off what I dare not use and subsidize his improper use?
Some people encounter insurmountable difficulties, and they have nowhere to tell their hardships. They are too poor to live, and this man is simple and dull, ashamed and embarrassed to ask for help. Although I am not well off to meet such a person, I will try my best to help him. Even if this person can't repay it, he will certainly appreciate my kindness. If someone is not poor at first, but flatters the rich and powerful everywhere and asks him for food, he will do it no matter how he passes through the counties. When he gets charity from others, he will brag about his talents. If he can't get charity from others, he will make enemies with others. This kind of person will not appreciate the kindness of others now, and will not repay others in the future. You can completely ignore such people. How can I give up money I don't usually want to use to help him do things he shouldn't do?
Comment on Yuan Cai's warning: It is a good thing to help others, but we should not lose sight of one thing and lose sight of another. We should make choices and make differences to help those who are kind and helpless and really need help.
In A Dream of Red Mansions, Granny Liu's family used to be an official, and they also recognized their family with the Wangs in Jinling. However, after the decline of family wealth, I only lived on a few acres of thin land, and my life was tight. In winter, you can't buy cotton-padded clothes and have no place to live in winter. Son-in-law and dogs only care about drinking and getting angry. The old lady can't help it, so she wants to walk around Rongfu, climb old relatives and ask some charities.