Chinese virtue

Chapter 5 Hard Work
Diligence means that no matter what you do, you are very attentive.In today's society, hard work is a virtue that deserves to be highly praised and admired.

Diligence is generally composed of three characteristics: length, width and thickness, of which the first two characteristics represent extension, and the third characteristic represents connotation.Length refers to the duration of hard work, width refers to the number of hard workers, and thickness refers to the concentration of doing things.

Only by comprehensively considering these three characteristics can we measure whether a person is hardworking.A person who occasionally travels to China will have a different impression of Chinese residents than an expatriate who has lived in China for a long time.However, they have one thing in common, that is, they all think that the Chinese are hardworking.A person who has just arrived in China will think that the Chinese people "do our best and persevere" as the famous British Christian pastor John Wesley said.In China, it is rare to see idle people, as if everyone is very busy.Of course, there are many rich people who can live well without doing anything.However, these rich people make up a small proportion of the total population, and their lives are not as mediocre as foreigners think.They are not doing nothing, but they are very focused on their careers, just as they were when they started from scratch.

The Chinese are divided into the following classes: intellectuals, farmers, workers and businessmen.These classes are all working hard in their posts, let's take a look at the specific situation below.

There are many serious drawbacks in China's education model, so it is difficult for Westerners to accept it.

However, one of them is very eye-catching, that is, the Chinese believe that "hard work will pay off".It is true that there is a situation in China where money is used to buy officials, which dampens the enthusiasm of scholars to a certain extent, but this is not the main result of selling officials.Provinces are complaining that there are too few vacancies to be filled and far fewer qualified candidates.Examination rooms at all levels are crowded with people, and there are often tens of thousands of candidates competing for one position.Even so, the Chinese still try their best to enter the examination room, which shows how hardworking the Chinese are.There is a book in China called "San Zi Jing", which mentions many examples of diligent study.For example, reading books by the light of fireflies, and the story of fixing a book on the horn of a plowing ox and reading while plowing the land.Even today, such stories are still the object of many Chinese people's hard work.Generally speaking, many people will slack off after a small achievement, and no longer study as hard as before.Such a person is not considered a scholar at all in China.Only those who dare to cut through thorns and thorns, persevere, and finally achieve fame are worthy of the title of "scholar", which represents honor.In addition, grandfather, son and grandson may appear in the same examination room, just to fight for the same title.In order to achieve this goal, they have worked hard.This situation is only possible in China.

In the spring of 1889, several memorials were published in the "Beijing News", which talked about the situation of elderly candidates taking the provincial examination.According to a Fuzhou official, in Fuzhou's autumn exam, there were nine candidates over the age of 35, and two candidates over the age of [-].These older candidates all passed the exam because their test-taking essays were well-structured, precise in their use of words, and powerful in their arguments.The official also said that these elderly candidates are talents who are over [-] years old. In order to advance, they took three general examinations.If the fourth promotion fails, the imperial court will award them honorary titles.An official in Henan also reflected the same situation.He said that in the autumn examination in Henan, there were thirteen examinees over the age of [-] and one examinee over the age of [-]. They also passed the examination because of their concise writing.You know, this kind of exam lasts for nine days, but during this period, they don't behave like old people at all.The most surprising thing is the situation in Anhui. In Anhui's autumn exam, there were [-] candidates who were over [-] years old, and as many as [-] candidates who were over [-] years old!This situation is simply not possible in other countries.

Chinese scholars live a life of continuous hard work, especially Chinese farmers.The work of Chinese farmers is like housework, which is never done.Take northern China as an example. Farmers in various provinces can only get a short rest during the cold winter. At other times, they have a lot of work to do and can't relax at all.Of course, farmers in other countries are likely to face the same situation.However, in comparison, Chinese farmers are still the most industrious.

The condition of the workers is worse than that of the peasants.Life was too hard for the workers, who lived so long in extreme poverty.Farmers plant cabbage and carefully remove pests.Workers do everything they can to support their families.In some places, even if horse-drawn carriages can be hired, some people who go out to work will not take a horse-drawn carriage, but are used to leaving in the middle of the night and walking to their destination step by step.At any time, you can see some small farmers busy.

With dung forks in hand and dung baskets on their backs, they searched for dung everywhere.If there is nothing else to do, they pick up manure.To this day, it has become a custom, and it seems that it will never be done.

Some people are often forced to work two jobs in order to support a family.For example, the boatmen in Tianjin could not continue to sail when the river was frozen, so they thought of pulling ice sleds to provide people with a fast and low-cost transportation method.The same is true in some rural areas.In order to earn more money, farmers would sneak in to make hats or twist straw ropes, and then sell them.Almost all rural women do not wear the soles of their shoes.Even when they were chatting at the entrance of the village, their hands were still busy.They also knead cotton for spinning...they're not idle anyway.

The most industrious are the merchants and their associates.Of course, folks in Western countries are busy too.

However, in comparison, the Chinese guys are the busiest, and they seem to never finish their work.Their work is very heavy, and there are almost no holidays, and they can only rest for a while when they are a little dizzy from being too busy.

Chinese shops always open early, but never close.The bookkeeping adopts a meticulous and cumbersome double-entry bookkeeping method. The accountant always has to be busy until late at night to record sales and income.As for the guys, they can't leave work when they have nothing to do, so they have to pick out valuable copper coins from the received coins to amuse themselves.

It is a surprise that the hardest class in China is the officials.At the same time, this class is also the most envied.Any aspiring Chinese would be happy to be an official.As a Chinese official, no matter your rank is high or low, you must be busy with official duties and be responsible to the end.The official business is very complicated, which is also unexpected.An ambassador to China once interviewed an important political figure in China. The following is his interview report: "Once, I heard a cabinet minister in China complain that they were tired of daily work all day long. He said that every morning At two o'clock, he had to leave home to be on duty in the palace, and he did not start to handle official duties as a cabinet minister until six o'clock in the morning; from nine o'clock to eleven o'clock, he was in charge of the Ministry of War as an official of the Ministry of War; From [-]:[-] to [-]:[-] in the afternoon, he has to stay in the Yamen, because he is a senior official of the prime minister's national affairs. This kind of day is repeated every day. In addition, he has to take time off Attend various special meetings, unless he is too busy to leave his body. It is almost seven or eight o’clock when he comes home every night.” It is said that about half a year later, the official died of overwork.I wasn't surprised at all when I heard the news.

Indeed, there are many officials in China who have made great contributions to the government, but they eventually died of exhaustion in their careers.

We have said before that the extension of hard work includes both the duration of hard work and the number of hard workers.In these two aspects, the Chinese are doing very well, there is no doubt about it.Every day at dawn, Chinese people start their busy day.In fact, a new day in China often starts after midnight.When the Chinese emperor went to the early court, the emperors of European countries had not yet woken up from their deep sleep.It seems very natural to the Chinese that the Chinese emperor should go to court so early in the morning, but Westerners cannot understand it.In China, many people will follow the emperor's words and deeds.Whether it is coppersmiths in Guangzhou, tinsmiths in Fuzhou, carpenters in Ningbo, millworkers in Shanghai, or textile workers in the northern provinces, they all work from dawn to dusk.Before dawn, vegetable farmers appeared in the market. They came from their homes several miles away, and they only waited for dawn to sell vegetables.Westerners eat breakfast around the same time as the Chinese market closes.In Shanghai in summer, if you go for a walk on the main street after 05:30 in the morning, you can clearly find the strong contrast between the East and the West.Europeans built some high-rise buildings along the Huangpu River, and then did business in them.Every morning, before the Europeans have moved, the Asians appear on the streets, and have been active for a long time.A few hours later, the Chinese had finished their half day's work.Until then, Western talents slowly came to the market and competed with Westerners for business.

Regarding the industriousness of the Chinese, John Davies, the British Minister to China, once made a correct evaluation.In his view, the fact that the Chinese are so industrious shows that the Chinese government has succeeded in making the people self-sufficient.Diligence is one of the characteristics of the Chinese people, which should be valued and maintained for a long time.

Next, let’s talk about the connotation of hard work.Chinese, who are Asians, also reflect this when they work.Chinese people are full of vitality, if we try to change them according to our own model, it will be futile.In addition, we are full of enthusiasm no matter what we do, and we admire this enthusiasm very much, but the Chinese are different.We, being Anglo-Saxons, know that it is important to work with your heart, even if there is no biblical hint.As for the Chinese, even though they have the common influence of mature religion and philosophy, they still haven't changed much, because they value the experience that has been handed down for thousands of years, and they always look calm when they do things.

Some people can't help but ask: if one day, white people and yellow people inevitably start a fierce battle, which side will lose from the perspective of hard work and enthusiasm?The answer is self-evident.

Solomon, the third king of the ancient kingdom of Israel, believed that hard work can make you rich.If this view is correct, China should undoubtedly be the most prosperous country on earth.It's a pity that the Chinese obviously lack some virtues, so they can't do this.If the Chinese can develop the various virtues in a balanced way, it is entirely possible for China to prosper.The virtue that the Chinese lack is mainly honesty.If the Chinese manage to recover this virtue by all means, it will not be long before their industry will reap great rewards for them.

(End of this chapter)