Thrift as a virtue is embedded deep within China’s culture. The written ideograms for words such as “save” and “store” sparkle with the feel-good symbols for grain, fields, silk and children. By contrast, the character for debt shows a man standing – forlornly one imagines – next to a pile of cowrie shells, an ancient form of IOU. Children are taught that “diligence is a cash cow and thrift is a gold mine”, while adults are warned in one somewhat humorous proverb that “going to bed early to save candles is not economical if the result is twins”.
節儉是中國的傳統美德。“存”、“積”、“蓄”等在中國古代象形文字中包含谷子、田地、絲線和孩子的象形。與之相對的是，“債”字是一個人站在一堆作為貨幣的貝殼旁邊，可以想象這個人是非常無助的——這就是古代版的“我欠你”(IOU)。中國人用“千金勤中尋，富貴儉中藏”來教導孩子，用“早睡固然省蠟燭，多添子嗣不足取”幽默地勸誡成年人。
您已閱讀10%（713字），剩余90%（6346字）包含更多重要信息，訂閱以繼續探索完整內容，并享受更多專屬服務。