There is an old saying from our ancestors, "A rich family cannot last more than three generations, a rich family cannot last more than six generations, and a poor family cannot last more than nine generations." It means that no matter how wealthy a family is, it cannot survive three generations, and no matter how rich it is, it cannot survive six generations. The family will not be poor forever, there will be someone who will turn over within the ninth generation. This sentence actually evolved from the famous saying of Mencius, a great Confucian scholar during the Warring States Period. After hearing this, many people may question whether the large family-owned companies in the world, such as Panasonic, Honda, and Ford, have been inherited for hundreds of years. It can be seen that this sentence is simply not accurate.

But in fact, if all the inherited rich people in the world are counted, the truth is really the same as what our ancestors said. Today, a quarter of the wealth of the world's richest people comes from inheritance, and only 22 people can inherit it to the third generation.

Just like the famous Samsung Group in South Korea, the first generation Lee Byung-cheol started a business, and the second generation Lee Kun-hee stayed in business. However, the third generation Lee Jae-yong ended up in jail for being involved in a political scandal. And there are even more new wealthy people emerging in an endless stream, like Xu Jiayin, the boss of China Evergrande Real Estate, whose family has been poor farmers for three generations, starting as a wage earner and developing to where he is today. So why does this happen?

One of the important reasons is family education. During the Republic of China, there was a famous big businessman Nie Yuntai in Shanghai, who was the president of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce. He once wrote a book called "The Law of Preserving Wealth", in which he described in detail what he saw as the decline of his family. example. Many wealthy people have worked hard to earn their money, but their children and grandchildren do not cherish it at all. They squander it all in an instant on food, drink, whoring and gambling.

The Law of Preserving Wealth

"The Law of Preserving Wealth" was written by Nie Yuntai, the grandson of Zeng Guofan. Nie Yuntai witnessed the rise and fall of many prominent families throughout his life. Although these prominent families have deep roots, But gradually, the family fortunes declined, the descendants withered, and they could not escape the mantra of "no wealth can last more than three generations." Nie Yuntai pointed out that people's attitude towards wealth and the means of obtaining wealth affect the prosperity of future generations. If you do good deeds and bless others, not only will you be blessed, but you will also benefit your descendants, making them prosperous and prosperous. If there is extensive accumulation, plundering and strife, disaster will come from it and even harm the descendants. There is a kind of natural cycle and the principle of karma, which is the crux of the problem that "wealth cannot last more than three generations". In "The Way to Preserve Wealth", Nie Yuntai also uses a Buddhist perspective to describe how to pass on wealth for a long time. Wealth belongs to society and cannot be kept exclusively for enjoyment. Only when you are rich and know how to give back to society will your blessings be deeper. Therefore, "preserving wealth" actually advises people to spread their wealth and practice good deeds. This is the best way to preserve blessings and wealth.

Nie Yuntai’s popular readings

And he also summarized the reason for this phenomenon in the book, which is that the elders did not teach the younger generations the principles of life and work, leaving them They were given only money, but they did not know how to cherish it and would only squander it, causing their family to fall into ruin.

The ancients said: It is better to teach a son to earn a lot of gold than to leave a son. No matter how wealthy a family is, if they indulge their children blindly and fail to teach them the principles of life and good deeds, the children will develop the character of being indolent, extravagant and showing off, and naturally will not be able to inherit the family business.

Correspondingly, if you are poor, you will want to change. Although my parents are poor, they are not poor mentally. Not only are they hardworking, but they also educate their children to read more. Reading can change their destiny. Many children from poor families have gained a foothold in big cities because they are good at reading. Their children will enjoy better education. If accumulated from generation to generation, transcending class is not a dream.

Of course, if you don’t actually take action and blindly instill this concept in your children that you will be poor for nine generations, you will harm your children. Without your own efforts, no one can get rich overnight.