Teachers

Country: China

Date of establishment: late nineteenth century

Size (cm): 29*10 and 27*12

Porcelain Story

Hing Shi was not a wealthy man. Yet he had a rather large school with dozens of young boys who came to him from all over China. One day one of his students asked him:

-- Teacher, your fame is spreading all over the country. You could become a really rich man, without worrying about tomorrow. Why don't you aspire to be rich?

-Why should I? I have everything I need to live, Hing Shi answered.

-- But you could have much more, he insisted.

-- A man who gathers heaps of wealth is like a traveller who gathers all the wealth he can find and then lays it on his back, suffering solely because of the burden. When he almost reaches his destination he is blocked by a high wall which he must overcome as he can neither go round it nor break through. One can only climb over it and throw away everything one is carrying with him. One has no choice but to leave everything one is carrying on one's back at the foot of the wall.

Hing Shi paused for a moment and then added:

-- We come into this world empty-handed and leave it with nothing that we have gained. We come into this world empty-handed and leave everything behind. Is it reasonable to gather what is not needed out of greed and then not only to burden ourselves with the burden but also to leave it behind at the end of our journey? Isn't it better to walk that path lightly?..