The typical frugality in ancient China.

In Fengyang, Zhu Yuanzhang's hometown, there is also a song with four dishes and one soup: "The emperor treats you, four dishes and one soup, radish and leek are really sweet; Onion tofu has a profound meaning, and it is clear that corrupt officials are flustered. "

When Zhu Yuanzhang celebrated the queen's birthday, he only used two bowls of carrots, leeks, vegetables and spring onion tofu soup to entertain the officials. Moreover, there are three chapters in the Covenant: in the future, no matter who hosts a banquet, only four dishes and one soup are allowed, and anyone who violates it will pay in hell.

2. Ji Wenzi

Ji Wenzi was born in a family in it runs in the family. He was a famous minister of Lu in the Spring and Autumn Period and served as an official for more than 30 years. He has been frugal all his life, based on frugality, and also asked his family to be frugal. His clothes are simple and neat, and he has almost no decent clothes except imperial clothes. Every time he goes out, the horses and chariots he rides are extremely humble.

Seeing that he was so frugal, a man named Wang advised his son, You are a big official, but I heard that wives and concubines are not allowed to wear silk clothes at home, and they don't have to feed horses with food.

You don't even pay attention to your appearance and clothes. Is it too shabby to let people in other countries laugh at you? This is also detrimental to the dignity of our country, and people will say what kind of life Lu Shangqing leads. Why not change this way of life? It's good for you and your country. Why not?

Hearing this, Ji Wenzi smiled indifferently and said to the man seriously: I also hope to decorate my home luxuriously and elegantly, but look at the people in our country. There are still many people eating coarse grains, wearing shabby clothes, and others are freezing and starving. Considering this, how can I have the heart to add property to myself? If ordinary people are poor in tea and clothes.

And I pretend to be a wife and concubine, raising food and horses, and I have no conscience to be an official! Besides, I heard that the strength and glory of a country can only be expressed by the noble behavior of its subjects, not by their beautiful wives and horses.

In that case, how can I accept your suggestion? This sentence made Zhong Sun look ashamed, and at the same time made him respect Moon Hee more.

After that, he took Ji Wen Zi as an example and paid great attention to the simplicity of life. His wives and concubines only wear clothes made of ordinary cloth, and the horses at home are only fed with chaff.

There is money hanging on the beam of sushi.

Su Shi, one of the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties, is 2 1 year old and a scholar. He has been an official for 40 years. During his time as an official, he always paid attention to thrift and often lived very carefully. In 1080, Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou. Because his salary has been reduced a lot, he is too poor to live. Later, with the help of friends, he got a piece of land and cultivated it himself.

In order not to waste a penny, he also plans to spend: first calculate all the money, and then divide it into 12 shares on average, and use one share every month; Each serving is divided into 30 small portions on average, and only one small portion is used every day.

After all the money is paid, hang it on the beam according to the amount, and take a bag every morning as the living expenses for the whole day. After getting a small amount of money, he should weigh it carefully. If he can't buy it, he will definitely not buy it. Only surplus is allowed, and overspending is not allowed. Su Shi keeps money in a bamboo tube in case something goes wrong.

4. Zhao Kuangyin

Zhao Kuangyin taught women to be thrifty. "The fairy house in the sky is the home of the emperor on the ground.". As the head of a country, the emperor should be said to be the richest man in the world, and all the treasures can be enjoyed. However, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, not only lived frugally and opposed extravagance and waste, but also strictly educated his children to be frugal.

5. thrifty folk stories

There is a folk story: a long time ago, at the foot of Funiu Mountain in the Central Plains, there lived a farmer named Wu Cheng. He lives a hard life, a carefree and very happy life. Legend has it that before he died, he set up a horizontal plaque for his two sons, which read "thrift" and warned them: "If you want to be free from hunger all your life, you must be like these two families."

Later, the two brothers separated and saw the plaque in half. The eldest brother got the word "thrift" and the second got the word "frugality". The boss respectfully hangs the word "diligence" at home, "work at sunrise and rest at sunset" every day, and harvest every year. However, his wife lives in luxury, and children often eat two bites of white steamed bread and throw it away. Over time, there is no surplus grain at home.

Since he gave the second half a plaque, he also took the word "frugality" as nave's "Oracle", but forgot the word "thrift". He neglected farming and refused to intensively cultivate, so he didn't get much food every year.

Although a family scrimps, it is difficult to last. This year's drought, the home of the eldest brother and the second child has been empty. In desperation, they tore off the plaque and put the word "diligence and thrift" on the ground.

At this time, suddenly a piece of paper flew into the house from the window, and the two brothers quickly picked it up-look, it said: "Diligence is like carrying a bottomless bowl, but always full of dissatisfaction!" "If you are frugal and don't work hard, you must be poor and hungry!"

The two brothers suddenly realized that the words "diligence and thrift" cannot be separated, complement each other and are indispensable. After learning the lesson, they posted the words "Diligent Housekeeping" on the door to remind themselves, warn their wives and children and live on their own. Life has been getting better and better since then.