Because a large number of histories of the rise and fall of families at home and abroad in ancient and modern times show that no matter how a family gets rich, it rarely stays wealthy for more than three generations. Therefore, the world has summarized a law called "wealth". But three generations."
The reason why "wealth cannot last more than three generations"
Mencius said: "A gentleman's good fortune will be cut off in five generations; a villain's good fortune will be cut off in five generations." He said that a gentleman, Even if he is the most remarkable person, his lofty spirit can only be left to future generations for five lifetimes at most, and it will be cut off after one hundred and fifty years. This is a matter of course. The same is true for "Ze of Villains", good and bad are completely equal. But in our decades of life experience, we have seen that for many people, no matter whether they are good or bad, their legacy will be broken within three lifetimes at most. Once upon a time, there was a man who started from scratch and never wasted a dime. He was very frugal and even stingy, and when he was about to die, he would not die. The family thought it was strange, and they didn't understand until they saw two lamp grasses in the lamp. They quickly picked off one and the man died with peace of mind. The money he saved was given to his children, but they were already living a life of buying new cars every year. In the hands of the grandson, it was even more luxurious. As a result, even three generations later, the family was completely ruined. When the great-grandchildren generation comes, they have to start all over again with bare hands. Life is such a cycle. Except for cultural ideas that can last for thousands of generations, nothing else is permanent.
That’s why it is said that “after one is born, one will be defeated.” If you look at the wealthy families in society, there are almost no honors for more than three generations. It is very hard for parents to start a family from nothing; although the second-generation sons are not too excessive, they can still spend more money than me; when it comes to the grandsons, they can spend a lot of money, which is completely the style of a playboy, and some even lose immediately; therefore, It is the turn of the fourth generation great-grandson to be poor again. When you are poor, you start frugally and start a family again. This cycle repeats, always like a wheel spinning.
Children of wealthy people, the so-called "sons of aristocratic families" or "rich ladies" in ancient times, the so-called "children of high-ranking officials" or "rich families" in modern times, and the small bosses of wealthy families, because of their family background and influence since childhood. Affected by the environment, unknowingly, if you are used to being "arrogant", you will be "lazy" to do anything, and become "dictating"; licking your lips, raising your hands, or nodding with one finger, or using your eyes. Stare and tell others to do it. This is the image of "arrogance and laziness". Because of being "arrogant", one develops the habit of "laziness".
I see that many young parents nowadays specialize in the so-called "loving" education, and often train their children to order their parents to do things. Instead, the children act arrogantly, sitting there and putting on airs. This is really "daunting"!
When we chat among people, we often encounter people asking: What do you think the future society will be like, or what the future situation will be like? It is a matter of concern to everyone. In the past, there was an idiom for fortune tellers who traveled around the world to make a living. This means that as long as you enter your door and take a look in all directions, you will already know whether your family is prosperous or not. There is no need to wait for you to announce your birth date. Your fate has already been calculated. You have to ask about the current situation and social trends in the future. If you look at the education and culture of children of the next generation, you can get a rough idea of ??the future.
Mencius has a passage that is right: "Children of rich years are more lazy, and children of unlucky years are more violent. It is not the talent that comes from heaven that makes you special. It is only the one who indulges his heart."
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This means that a wealthy family or a wealthy society will cultivate young people to be "lazy", love to show off, love to show off, love luxury, and be ambitious. If the society is bitter and cold and the family is poor, young people will easily embark on the path of "violence" and resentment. This is not the result of any difference in natural talents, but simply the result of psychological sinking caused by environmental pressure. Unless you can really work hard and be dedicated, you can certainly escape the "world network".
Another example is the idiom we read when we were young: "A talented man in a country is noble, but a child in a rich family is proud." Although it is only one or two sentences, if you can "hear one and know two", you can also understand that it has the same meaning as this passage said by Mencius.
"The family is prosperous and the ambition is high." Because people live a prosperous and prosperous life, everyone seems to be satisfied with their ambitions. When we read history today, we must pay special attention to these eight words. These eight words, from another perspective, are also a source of harm. When a country's economy is stable, its society is prosperous, and its national income increases, it often becomes wasteful, its lifestyle is mostly arrogant, and its spiritual life becomes morally degenerate, creating a sense of superiority and looking down on others.
When we look back at history, we find that each generation struggled through hardships when it first started; but in the hands of the second or third generation of descendants, it gradually succumbed. After political stability, economic prosperity, and social prosperity, leisure comes and begins to decline.
The same is true for ordinary families. In my grandfather’s generation, it was cold and fashionable, and his feet were bare. The tip of his nose was red from the cold. He held a hoe in the field and turned over the soil with hoe after hoe. Mud, ready for sowing in spring. When it comes to his son's generation, although he was raised by his father who farmed and went to college, he saw his father's hard work with his own eyes. Maybe he also helped out in the fields and knew how hard it was to make money, so he lived a simple life and worked hard to revitalize agriculture and continue to Buy property.
But when the generation of grandsons grew up in a wealthy environment, they no longer knew the hard work of their ancestors and fathers, so the problems of "pleasure, laziness and ao" appeared.
By the time of his next generation, not only did the cars have to be the most fashionable, they also had to be replaced every year, and they had access to everything from food, drink, prostitution, and gambling, so they began to decline. Maybe by the fifth or sixth generation, they will almost have to brave the cold wind and rain again, swinging the hoe and stepping on the mud in the fields. Things in this world always happen again and again. This is all a kind of inertia of human beings. Family, society, and national politics all rise and fall in cycles under this inertia.
If you are a person with status and wealth, or a child of a well-off family, if you are rich for a long time, you will develop a mentality of looking down on others and disrespecting others. This is very bad and will definitely fail. . Especially in today's families, all the rich and arrogant children are very pampered, and they regard everything and everyone in the world as easy. When we look at things in society, many people feel that they are great, but they are destined to become "unable to afford it". This is all true.
The reasons for the inequality and instability of human society are secondary to material and economic issues. The main reason is idealism, which is the relationship between psychology and desires that is difficult to calm down. For example, the situation described in "A Dream of Red Mansions" is only a reflection of the initial stability of society in the Qian (Long) and Jia (Qing) eras of the Qing Dynasty. Because the society is stable and the families are wealthy, especially in the imperial era, the princes, grandsons and ladies have nothing to do when they have enough to eat all day long. If they don’t want to do some special tricks to get around, they will feel that life is too idle to survive. . Therefore, Xiang Liansheng, a noun in the middle of the Qing Dynasty, said: "If you don't do useless things, why send a destined life." This kind of state of mind is indeed true, and it is definitely not that we "are born from sorrow and die from sorrow." what Chinese people in the 20th century can understand.
So, the main focus of issues in humanities, culture, and historical philosophy at home and abroad in ancient and modern times is still the issue of the heart, not the matter of matter. "If God does evil, you can still violate it; if you do evil yourself, you will not live." Therefore, regardless of individual or society, there is the prosperous era of the Grand View Garden in "A Dream of Red Mansions". If you don't know how to behave, there will be desolate consequences when you wake up from the Dream of Red Mansions. This is the law of history, the law of cause and effect in history, and special attention must be paid to it.
Compiled from "Mencius and Li Lou", "The Analects of Confucius", "Mencius Bypass", "Mencius and Gongsun Chou", "Yuan Daxue Weiyan" and "Liezi's Assumptions"