Moderate celebrity examples: Fan Li.

At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, King Gou Jian of Yue, with the assistance of Fan Li and Wen Zhong, worked hard for twenty years and made far-sighted plans to finally destroy the State of Wu. He also came to the Central Plains with troops and ordered the princes to become the overlord.

After the defeat of Wu, the king and ministers of Yue held a banquet to celebrate their victory. Everyone was happy, but King Gou Jian of Yue was not happy. Fan Li, who was alert and intelligent, immediately saw through the King of Yue's thoughts.

To avenge the shame of Kuaiji, the King of Yue destroyed the Kingdom of Wu. He did not hesitate to humble himself and was willing to share the joys and sorrows with his ministers and overcome the difficulties. Now that the work is done, Fan Li is now in a high position and will definitely become a thorn in the side of the King of Yue.

So he resolutely said goodbye to Gou Jian and asked to retire. When Gou Jian learned that Fan Li was going to resign, he summoned Fan Li. On the surface, he was reluctant to leave and tried to persuade him to stay. Of course Fan Li knew that this was not the sincerity of the King of Yue.

So he resolutely chose to leave, abandoned his family business, led his family in a small boat, and later settled in Tao and became a wealthy man.

After Fan Li completed his historical mission, although he became famous in the country of Yue, he still chose to stay away from the place of right and wrong and retreat bravely in order to avoid disaster and protect himself. This is the degree of being able to grasp things.

Character profile

Fan Li (536 BC - 448 BC), courtesy name Shaobo, was a member of the Huaxia ethnic group and one of the three households in Wandi, Chu State (now Taohe Township, Xichuan County, Nanyang )people. At the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, he was a statesman, strategist, strategist, economist and Taoist scholar. He was the Prime Minister and General of the State of Yue. He once offered advice to help King Gou Jian of Yue to restore his country, revive Yue and destroy Wu, and then disappeared. He wrote two chapters of "Fan Li" on the Art of War, now lost.

Fan Li was an early business theorist in China and one of the pioneers of Chu Studies. He was honored as "Shang Sage" by later generations and one of the "Five Sages of Nanyang". Although he was born into a poor family, he was knowledgeable, talented and capable in both civil and military affairs. I got acquainted with Chu Wanling Wenzhong and had a close relationship with him. Because they were dissatisfied with the political darkness of the Chu State at that time, and non-nobles were not allowed to join the officialdom, they defected to the Yue State together. Later, they were worshiped as senior officials and prime ministers, and assisted Gou Jian of the Yue State.

He helped Gou Jian revitalize the Yue Kingdom and destroy the Wu Kingdom. He averted the humiliation of Kuaiji, achieved hegemony, and was named a general. After becoming famous, he retreated bravely from the rapids, changed his name to Gui Yizipi, and traveled among the seventy-two peaks. During this period, he became extremely rich in business three times and lost his wealth three times. Later, he settled in Taoqiu of the Song Dynasty (now south of Dingtao District, Heze City, Shandong Province) and named himself "Tao Zhugong". Fan Li died in 448 BC at the age of 88. In the third year of Emperor Dezong's founding in the Tang Dynasty (782), he was granted the title of Wuchengwang Temple, and was posthumously named one of the sixty-four famous generals in ancient and modern times (the Sixty-Four Generals of Wuchengwang Temple); during the Song Dynasty, he was granted the title of Wuchengwang Temple.

The world praises him as: "Loyal to the country, wise to protect one's life, rich in business, and famous all over the world." Fan Li was a businessman who was indifferent to fame and fortune because of his hard work in starting a business, making three fortunes, and spreading money to help the poor. After Fan Li's death, he was gradually revered as the God of Wealth, Shang Sage, and Shang Ancestor by later generations. Many businessmen enshrined his statues and portraits. Fan Li is a descendant of Fan Wuzi, the founder of the Fan surname, and is regarded as the ancestor of the Fan family in Shunyang.