Today's international metropolis Shanghai, with little land and little money, the most expensive area has reached the point of 100,000 yuan a square meter. Many white-collar workers in Shanghai have emptied their parents' coffin books, and they may be able to barely have a place to live and live.
Shanghai
But did you know that there is a family that, in a place like Shanghai, which is "rich on earth", has nearly 1,000 houses, and is very rich. This family is the Bey Family. What did this family come to be? What is the state of family history? What is the secret of its 17 generations of prosperity?
Architect I.M. Pei, the Pei family is different
What we modern people are most familiar with is probably the 15th generation grandson of the Pei family, I.M. Pei.
The name I.M. Pei believes that people who like to watch the news will not be unfamiliar, and architecture students are even more thunderous. Pei is a very good architectural designer and is known as China's "last master architect". What are Pei's representative works? The East Pavilion of the National Gallery of the United States, the Bocq Tower in Hong Kong, and the building of the Louvre Glass Pyramid Show were all born from I.M. Pei's hands.
I.M. Pei
Pei's father was Pei Zuyi, who had a resounding achievement, which was the founding of the Bank of China. The superior family conditions provided a very good learning environment for I.M. Pei, and his father's extensive network invisibly gave Pei a lot of support.
Of course, Pei himself is also very contentious, he has opinions, ideas, once clearly told his father when choosing a university: "I want to study architecture!" Bei Zuyi did not recognize this: "Why can't finance?" Dad has paved the way for you, choose finance, and your life will go a lot smoothly. ”
"I don't want to go along, as long as the ideal, please believe me, I will definitely become a good master builder."
Firmly idealistic, I.M. Pei was admitted to Harvard University, where he studied diligently, did not dare to relax, completed his studies ahead of schedule, and obtained a master's degree in architecture. Teachers always look proud when they mention I.M. Pei, "This boy from China, a genius-like figure, my student!" ”
After completing his studies, Pei was involved in many American architectural matters. In 1963, the United States prepared to build the Kennedy Library. Pei's qualifications were so low that even he didn't feel like he had the chance to design it himself.
One day, Pei suddenly received news that Jacqueline, the widow of US President John F. Kennedy, was going to visit in person. When jacqueline was received, the eyes of the other party were attracted by details such as flowers that the studio had carefully arranged at a glance.
"Are these things your studio already has?"
I.M. Pei (right)
"No, it's specially prepared for your arrival. What I want to tell you is that architecture, like layout, is targeted. Today's flowers are for you, and the library is for Kennedy. I may not be qualified enough today, but I can guarantee that the Kennedy Library will be my proudest work. ”
Jacqueline was deeply impressed by the young man, and the fact did not disappoint her, the Kennedy Library became a very famous landmark in the United States. I.M. Pei, who has both talent and hard work, is the pride of the Pei family's descendants.
The Bey family
The family has a long history and has a deep ancestral accumulation
The Pei family, to which Pei belongs, has a very long history, which can be traced back to the Ming Dynasty, and has continued for hundreds of years. The reason why the Pei family can flourish for so long, I.M. Pei once gave a reason: "My ancestors have a unique vision, the industry will always be at the forefront of the times, and after deciding to cultivate deeply, they will definitely do fine work." ”
The Pei family began to develop from the Ming Dynasty, and its prosperity has been kept pace with the times. Starting from the pharmaceutical industry, the ancient pharmaceutical industry market demand is very large. At that time, the country was still quite chaotic, and the ethnic minorities outside were also eyeing the Central Plains, so internal strife and wars continued. Where there is fighting, there will be wounded, and if there are wounded, it is inseparable from herbs.
In addition, people eat grains, illness is inevitable, then people's demand for herbs will only be more, not less. Therefore, the herb business of the Bei family, the market has been very broad, and the Bei family ancestors have also completed the original capital accumulation.
Later, Li Zicheng ended the rule of the Ming Dynasty and was defeated by Wu Sangui, and then the Qing army entered the Customs and entered the Central Plains to establish the Qing Dynasty. At this time, the Pei family did not stick to the small industry of herbal medicine, but actively opened up a new industry, based on herbal medicine, expanded the business to the traditional Chinese medicine industry chain, and the art of traditional Chinese medicine physiotherapy and acupuncture did not fall, so the business stepped onto a new level.
To say that the prosperity and development of this Bey's business is inseparable from the contribution of one person, this person is BellanTang. During the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, Beilantang presided over and moved the entire family to Suzhou City, which was famous for its thriving and economic prosperity. After moving to The House, Bellan Tang was also very far-sighted, and he used the accumulated family wealth to send his children to study, to take the imperial examination, and to achieve a class leap.
It is the efforts of these Bei ancestors that have laid a solid foundation for the glory of the Bei family, and future generations can also grow up with good family style and family training. Later, the Bei family began to enter the pigment industry, and the demand for pigments in textiles, coatings, inks, ceramics, textiles, etc. increased day by day. The Bei family grasped the dividends of the times and grew again.
Modern times continue to be brilliant, and financial pigments are both male
The timeline is pushed back further, and it is in modern times, which is basically the generation of Pei's grandfather. This generation is the 13th generation of the Bei family. In this generation, the Bei family has two males.
Belitay
One of the two males was Pei's grandfather, Pei Litai. Belitai was a very intelligent person, he found that the development of the financial industry in this era was very rapid, so he said to his family: "I want to learn finance, this industry is promising." "Belitai's vision is poisonous, people can do it, and it is very popular in the financial world." He is the grandfather of the Bank of Shanghai and the president of the Suzhou Chamber of Commerce for 7 consecutive years.
In addition to making money, Bellitas is also very interested in public welfare. People in the Chamber of Commerce often ridiculed him: "Our president, ah, is a very good person, from time to time to come to raise funds, we earn almost enough money." "Every time there's a meeting, there's a conversation like that." President, what are we going to raise money for today? ”
"Haha, all my colleagues laughed, and the city is going to build roads again." There is also a secondary school that is also ready to be established and needs money. Everyone has a wide range of good relations, a wide range of good relations. ”
Interior view of WuzhongBei Memorial Hall in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province
Bellitas cares about people's livelihood, infrastructure construction, and education, and his contribution to the modernization and transformation of Suzhou can only be described as huge.
The other of these two males is the "paint king" Pei Runsheng. Pei Runsheng did not engage in the family traditional herbal medicine industry, nor did he want to set foot in the financial world familiar to his brothers, but started a pigment business. Due to the huge market vacancy in the domestic pigment at that time, Pei Runsheng's pigments were often in short supply, and his business was in full swing.
In the whole family, Pei Runsheng's personal wealth is the largest, but he is very willing to share his harvest with his clan. In the face of the gratitude of the poor people, he always said: "We are all family, and many things are what I should do." What we need to do is to pass on the wealth we all share to future generations. ”
Bei Runsheng
It is said that the house of good deeds will be celebrated. The Pei family is like this, the helmsman who is enthusiastic about public welfare undertakings not only did not lose because of sharing wealth, but his career became more and more prosperous, continuing the family's glory for a hundred years, and even had nearly 1,000 houses in Shanghai.
The children and grandchildren grew up independently and entered Harvard for further study
A large part of the reason why the Bei family can continue to be brilliant and produce talents is that they know how to educate, are good at education, and each generation of future generations can grow independently and get rid of the shadow of their ancestors.
Education is very important for a large family, but there are many families that do not attach importance to education, do not take advantage of good family conditions to provide educational advantages for their children and grandchildren, but indulge the arrogance and lavishness of future generations, pushing the entire family to the end. The patriarchs of the Bei family have seen too many such examples, so they are determined not to repeat the mistakes of these families.
Pei Zuyi took a group photo with three generations of I.M. Pei and Pei Jianzhong's grandchildren
When Pei Runsheng educated future generations, he often said: "Instead of passing on property to future generations, it is better to pass on good character to them; instead of passing on private wealth to them, it is better to pass on the fruits shared by everyone." "Under such a family style education, the children of the Bei family know independence and share from an early age.
In addition, these descendants have basically graduated from Harvard University, as have I.M. Pei, as have his children and grandchildren. Entering a prestigious university to study can cultivate good thinking habits and ways of thinking, which is very beneficial to a person's lifelong growth. Because of this, almost all the descendants of the Bei family can become excellent talents and solve problems alone.
Harvard University
epilogue
As the saying goes, it is easy to fight the country and the country is difficult to defend the country, and this sentence is not unreasonable. The inheritance created by the ancestors, that belongs to the glory of the ancestors, is not the reason for future generations to do whatever they want. Under the correct education, future generations should learn to create value on their own and take the initiative to take on the heavy responsibility of continuing the glory of their ancestors.
Just like the Bei family, each descendant carries the honor of the ancestors on their backs, and they understand that they are the mainstay of the family today, and the future of the family cannot only rely on the accumulation of the past, but also rely on their future hard work. It is precisely because of this concept that the inheritance and glory of the family can be continued.