Chinese Traditional Story: Elderly Yin’s Knack for Teaching Children

Hello everyone, the story I'm gonna share today is Elderly Yin's Knack for Teaching Children. During the Ming Dynasty, there was an old man living in Fengyang County, Anhui Province. The local people called him Elderly Yin, who had a good friend named Mr. Liu. Years later, Mr. Liu passed away and left 10 years old son behind. Before he died, he entrusted his son to Elderly Yin. But when this son grew up, he did not want to work and only wandered around all day long. Coupled with his corrupt character, he took pleasure in drinking and gambling all day long. Elderly Yin mentioned his father's last words to him and advised him and every time he mentioned it, Elderly Yin could not help crying. But the son has no remorse whatsoever. Knowing that it would be difficult to change his mind, Elderly Yin found someone to gamble with him. Now the son became even more unbridled. Every time he gambled, the stakes became bigger and bigger. Every time he lost, he would sell his land to pay off his debts. Elderly Yin then paid for the trustees to buy those lands. All the grains produced by Liu's family fields were properly handled and resettled by Elderly Yin. Later, all the land, gold and jade, paintings and antiques sold by the son. Elderly Yin bought them back with the money earned from the Liu family's crops produced from Liu's land. Within a few years, all of Liu's family's fertile land and property fell into the hands of Elderly Yin. As time went by, the son sold everything in and finally even sold the house he lived in. The son had no means of earning a living, no place to live, and no food to eat. So he then began living with his relatives in turns. Because of his bad behavior and his inability to support himself, he was often scorned by his relatives and suffered the humiliation of eating only leftovers from time to time. Later, he could no longer stay at his relatives' homes, so he went to seek shelter in temples. After a long time, even the monks found it difficult to accommodate him. Because he was unable to make a living, he ended up begging on the street, sleeping in the street at night. And then he joined a gang of beggars. One day, Elderly Yin invited the son to his home, bathed and dressed him, and provided him with food and drink. Elderly Yin said, Do you remember what I told you before? The son was overcome with grief and blamed himself while crying bitterly. Elderly Yin said, It's impossible for you to get back the possessions you have lost. But if you study hard now, or there might be a hope for you to become successful. Elderly Yin sheltered the son in his home from then on. The son really changed and studied very hard. A year later, he even passed the county-level imperial exam and ranked among the top students. Seeing the change in him, Elderly Yin returned to him the original amount of Liu family's land and houses that he had previously purchased, saying, I saw you were upset, and it's hard to wake you up with words. You won't change until you're at the end of your hope. So I have no choice but to come off as this last resort, hoping that you can survive from this desperate situation and be reborn. And then he continued, I sent my old friends to drink and gamble with you, and to buy your land and houses. They were all entrusted by me. Now that this plan has paid off, your future is unlimited as long as you continue to work hard. I'm relieved now. I have finally lived up to your father's wishes in life. The son was so moved that he was completely at loss. When the neighbors and villagers heard about this, they all praised Elderly Yin's honesty and loyalty, as well as his foresight, which was not something that ordinary people can reach. From this story, we can see that for thousands of years, the Chinese people valued honesty and loyalty the most. At that time, no matter where people went, they felt like they were back home, and no matter where they went, everyone they met was like a family member. Such a society makes people nostalgic and yearning. Therefore, I strongly believe that in today's society, only by returning to tradition can we be protected by God, escape from disasters, and at last, enter a beautiful new world. Thank you very much for listening to the story. More Taichung stories will be ready for you if you just subscribe it. Thank you again.