When I was a child, as long as I talked about topics related to family wealth, I always heard adults say a sentence: "Rich is not more than three." Of course, the original intention of the elders is not to hate the rich, but only to warn the younger generations to be diligent and thrifty. But the original meaning of this sentence is used to satirize the family like an upstart, who said this sentence? And where did it come from?
In most cases, many proverbs and colloquialisms on the mainland are not generated overnight. In the same way, "rich but not three" is not the beginning, but has evolved over a period of time.
This sentence first originated from the Analects? A passage spoken by Confucius in Ji Shi.
The original text said: "If there is a way under the heavens, then the lile conquest comes from the son of heaven; if there is no way under the world, the lile conquest comes from the princes." From the princes, Gai X Xi does not lose; since the doctor comes out, the fifth Xi does not lose; the accompanying minister carries out the order of the country, and the third Xi does not lose. If there is a way in the world, then the government is not in the doctor. If there is a way in the world, the people will not discuss it."
We know that Confucius was a strong advocate of Zhou Li, so this passage that Confucius said is actually related to the liturgical system in his mind. He believed that the central bloc should hold real power, and if the local princes were allowed to take power, the country would soon be torn apart and even destroyed.
Therefore, he said: "When the princes make a decision, there will be very few who will not lose power in about ten generations; when the doctor makes the decision, there will be very few who will not lose power in five generations; the family and subjects of the secretary and the doctor will control the fate of the country, and there will be very few who will not lose power in the past three generations."
Confucius also gave an example of this: "Lu Zhi went to the office, the fifth dynasty; the political arrest was arrested by the doctor, the fourth generation; the descendants of the three huans of the late husband, Wei Yi." The Three Huans referred to by Confucius are the "Three Qings" of the State of Lu: Jisun, Shusun, and Mengsun.
These three families have been in control of the Lu state power since the time of the Duke of Luzhuang, and the three Huan dynasties are Lu Qing, who is in charge of state affairs. The status of the royal family has been declining, and by the time of Lu Xuangong, the actual ruler is the Ji clan.
After that, Lu Chenggong, Lu Xianggong, Lu Zhaogong, and Lu Dinggong did not grasp real power. Therefore, when Confucius said this, he said that the State of Lu had lost its royal power for five generations. After the death of Duke Xuan of Lu, Ji Wenzi expelled the Dongmen clan, and thereafter, ji shi became zhengqing and took control of the state of Lu.
From Wenzi, Wuzi, Pingzi, Huanzi, to Confucius when he said this passage, it was exactly four generations. Confucius thought it almost impossible for the descendants of the Three Huans to continue to hold power after so many generations.
In the time of Confucius's disciple Mencius, Mencius further explained the meaning of Confucius.
Mencius said, "The gentleman's Ze V was beheaded, and the villain Ze V was beheaded." Beheading means to cut off, no matter what the predecessors left behind, it is difficult to continue after five generations.
Regardless of the words of Confucius and Mencius, they all took the continuation of the regime as the starting point, but later generations did evolve this sentence into: the blessings left by the predecessors to the future generations, if the future generations do not cherish and manage, often will not last long. Later, it was simplified to become rich for only three generations.
Gradually, a complete sentence was formed: "Moral heirloom, more than ten generations, cultivation and reading heirloom second, poetry and books passed down from family to family, rich and noble heirloom, but three generations."
In fact, "rich is not more than three generations." "It's not a one-size-fits-all rule. To this day, some famous and prestigious families are still proud of the world, even if some are indeed no longer the peak of their former glory, after all, the rotten ship still has three pounds of nails, and the skinny camel is fatter than the horse.
Look at the United States Kennedy, Ford, Rockefeller, Forbes and other families where there are three generations of decline? Looking at the Japanese business, it is often the beginning of the Edo period to the present day.
The world's 100 family businesses topped the first place in the 2006 "Hurun Global Oldest Family Business List", that is, the famous Japanese Osaka temple construction company Kongo Group passed down to the 40th generation, has a history of more than 1400 years.
The 100 longevity companies are concentrated in Europe, the United States and Japan. Among them, britain, France and the United States ranked 17, 16 and 15 each, while Japan also has 10 100th family businesses with a history of more than 225 years.
The reason why a family can withstand thousands of years of wind and rain and still hide in the city must have the strength of its family; but the family that gets rich overnight is not richer than three, and the reason can also be explored one or two.
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