Hi everyone, I'm Ally
There’s a famous Chinese saying 傻人有傻福 which means fortune favors fools
On this April Fool’s Day, I want to talk about why I think a foolish person is actually smart
And I know what you are thinking, but this is not supposed to be a joke or prank
There’s a great story from ancient China that supports this point
So once upon a time in China, there was a rich man named Wan
He was wealthy but very stingy
He hired a long-term worker named Zhang
who didn’t care much about personal gain, and was therefore known as a fool around the village
Wan promised to give Zhang a cow if Zhang worked for him for a full year
After a whole year of hard work, Wan only gave him a bottle of oil
So in Chinese, cow is Niu, and oil is You, Niu and You sound very similar
Zhang asked Wan why he only gave a bottle of oil when he promised a cow
Wan insisted he promised only a bottle of oil
What would you do if you were in Zhang’s shoes?
An average person would likely argue to get what he deserved, or even file a lawsuit right?
Well Zhang didn’t say anything and just left with the bottle of oil. And guess where he went?
He went to the temple and donated the bottle of oil
The monk at the temple told him that he gave a big donation
When Wan found out about what the monk said, he was furious
He thought to himself, I donated a cart of oil to the temple every year, and yet the monk told me I was only giving a small donation
how was that fool’s one bottle of oil considered a big donation?
Wan rushed to the temple to question the monk, to his surprise, the monk had been waiting for him
The old monk reached out and gently touched the area between Wan’s eyebrows
And suddenly Wan saw a clear vision in his mind
He saw a wealthy home, surrounded by lush crop fields
The owner donned a fancy outfit - it was his worker Zhang
Wan turned around and saw a blind skinny donkey pulling a grinding mill, and there was a worker whipping it
When he looked more carefully, Wan saw his own name on the donkey
It shocked him. The old monk explained to him that what he saw was the vision of his next incarnation
Because Wan was greedy and cheap in this lifetime, he would have to pay for his debts in the next life
His worker, Zhang, didn’t take personal loss and gain seriously
He donated his whole year’s worth of work to the temple, while Wan only donated a small portion of his wealth
This is very similar to the story of the widow’s offering in the Bible
The widow offered only two coins, but that was all she had to live on, which made it more precious than a rich man’s large sum of money
So back to the rich man in this Chinese story, he was scared of his fate, so he asked the monk what to do
The monk told him it’s simple, just do good deeds from now on
After returning home, Wan paid Zhang with a cow and an extra bottle of oil as an apology
That evening, Wan dreamed of the same scene he saw during the day, except there was no one whipping the donkey anymore
From that point on, Wan decided to change himself and eventually became a famous good man around the village
Even though Zhang was called a fool, he wasn’t mentally disabled
Zhang just cared less about personal gain and would not fight with others when they treated him badly
With this mentality he would always be happy and content
On the other hand, someone who’s considered clever will care a lot about loss and gain
They might feel unfair about their life and live in hatred or despair
In the end, they will create more suffering for themselves, both mentally and physically
I hope you liked the story. Who do you rather be? A clever or a foolish person?
I’ll be making more videos about traditional Chinese culture and universal values so don’t forget to subscribe if you want to learn more
I’ll see you next time!