PureInsight | December 24, 2001
“Not pocketing [keeping] money one has picked up,” a Chinese idiom for a particular kind of conduct, is an exemplar of the rapidly declining moral standard of today. Ancient Chinese people did not have this saying. What they lived by is reflected in another Chinese idiom, “No one picks up lost items on the street.”
When ancient people noticed articles others had lost on the street, they would simply pass them by without picking them up. They knew that if something did not belong to them, they should not take it. Ancient people all believed in cultivation. They believed in the heavenly principle of retribution. They believed that retribution was often arranged by gods in this lifetime to help people maintain a high moral standard.
Nowadays, when ordinary people see some lost valuables, they will automatically pick them up. Looking around carefully, most people choose to keep the things for themselves as long as no one has noticed their action. A few kind people will turn in the article after a bit of mental struggle. Then, the media rushes in, writes about the “exemplary deed,” and touts it as a model for ordinary people to follow. In China, some people even turn in things in hopes of garnering publicity for themselves and making themselves look good in the eyes of those around them. But if their “heroic undertakings” end up not attracting any attention from the outside, they will deeply regret what they did because they felt that they were not able to profit from their deeds in terms of either monetary gains or fame.
Ancient people would not be like that. They would simply pass by without a second thought.
Translated from:
http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2001/12/14/12901.html
