Fan Zhongyan was born in a very poor family. When he was young, he was poor and had a hard life. He thinks that if he can get ahead in the future, he will help the poor. Later, when he became prime minister, he took out his salary and bought a field for the poor and landless. Fan Zhongyan studied in a temple when he was young. He cooks a pot of porridge every day, divides it into four portions and eats one piece at a time, leading such a poor life. After that, Fan Zhongyan developed and became a prime minister, but he still maintained the life of a poor scholar without much change.
Once I bought a house to live in Suzhou, and a Feng Shui gentleman praised the house. Feng shui is excellent, and future generations will be officials. Fan Zhongyan thought, since the geomantic omen of this house can make future generations noble, it is better to change it into a school and let Suzhou children enter the school. In the future, all children can get ahead and be dignitaries, which is more beneficial than their own children. So I immediately donated my house and turned it into a school, realizing my long-cherished wish to benefit all beings when I was poor.
When he earns a lot, he thinks of many poor people and gives his income to those poor people. After reading his biography, I know that he once supported more than 300 people. If a person's income supports more than 300 people, you know that these 300 people can only make ends meet and all live in poverty. If he has money, how can he support more than 300 people? This is our Great Sage in China. Soon, Fan Zhongyan's four sons all grew up, all of whom were brilliant and had both ability and political integrity. They are prime minister, minister and assistant minister respectively. The great-grandchildren of the Fan family are all prominent and endless, which has been passed down for 800 years. Suzhou Fan's descendants are still prosperous. Fan Zhongyan is willing to sacrifice his own interests to benefit others with kindness, and his merits are immeasurable. God's blessings for future generations are dozens or even hundreds of times that Fan Zhongyan paid at that time.
This is because Fan Zhongyan has no self-interest, sown unexpected good seeds, and has been blossoming and bearing fruit for 800 years, inadvertently seeking benefits for future generations, becoming a model of doing good, and being admired and praised by the world. Fan Zhongyan is a model of the virtue of cultivating immortals, that is, to protect them by the descendants of immortals. Confucius was the first in China and Fan Zhongyan was the second.
The Fan family has been enduring for 800 years because of its virtue. Really! It is a great blessing to be able to share your blessings with others. Don't share all your happiness with others, the happiness in the future is endless. Until the early years of the Republic of China, it was very good that the descendants of the Fan family could maintain their family style. In the history of China, there are not many families with great virtues like this.