Wealth

　　Of all ages and in every country, all kinds of corruption stem from money. No matter how rough the man is, and in what despicable way he earned the money, he can grease the palms of or buy over some very decent officials or even intellectuals. Can you see how crucial a role money is playing? (A case in point is the bankrupt of the company)

　　Some people or organizations like some religious groups claim that they have seen through the human vanity and can take money lightly, but to people's puzzlement, they are also accumulating money, either to renovate the temples, or to regild Buddha's statues, in whatever pretexts. They are not engaged in production, so they can only depend on the donations from the devout believers. Sometimes your sincerity relies on whether you donate and how much you donate. Do the monks care about money? The answer is affirmative. What's more, many monks are already provided with a salary.

　　We are living in a material world, and it's really difficult to deny the function of money or wealth. We need money for food, clothes, education, hospital, housing and transportation, etc. There's rarely anything that doesn't need money. What we can discuss now is not the importance of money, but whether money is almighty and whether more wealth can bring us more happiness.

　　We must say that money is not almighty, and there are many things which money can't do. For example, many emperors like Qin Shihuang longed for elixirs. As wealthy as they were, and as mighty as they were to take every measure to search for long life medicine, they still could not avoid the sad denouement that “their graves are a covered with weeds”.

　　Many great men suffered from fatal illness. Even though they were treated with the best medical means, they had to suffer as much as the ordinary people, and met with the same inescapable fate. Rich or poor, great or ordinary, we come and go with nothing belonging to us.

　　Huang Shiren, the cruel hearted landlord, was rich but Xi'er would rather hid in the deep mountains and turn into a white-hired girl than marrying him;

　　Wang Baochuan wouldn't give up her marriage with Xue Pinggui even though she had to live in the cold cave for over ten years;

　　Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty owned the whole country, but just because of the death his beloved concubine, he eventually became disillusioned with this world and spent the rest of life in the temple as a monk (it's all right even if it is a legend).

　　Many love stories can never be bought with money. The ever-lasting folktale of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai shows people's identification with this point of view.

　　Wealthy men also have a lot of worries: afraid of being stolen or kidnapped, they may have to hire a bodyguard; they're concerned about their spoiling the children, or worry about the family discord because of the legacy disputes after their death; Fearing devaluation if they don't invest, while fearing of bankrupt if they invest; Where is their happiness?

　　How much is enough? No limitation. As poor as beggars without a penny, they can make a living by begging. It's said that some have become millionaires through begging. As wealthy as a billionaire, they can only enjoy a couple of dishes each meal. If someone is allergic to seafood, or tired of rich dishes, he may enjoy the pickled vegetables just as much.