My grandfather, Chang Lu, came from Fujian Province. He emigrated to Xiao-zi-jiao in the Hsiyu area of P'eng Hu Island. Later, he moved to Chiayi county in Taiwan. In Chiayi, Chang Lu got into the rice (rice milling) and oil (edible/cooking oil) businesses. As a result of his proper management of these businesses, he became a wealthy merchant.

According to oral accounts, my grandfather accumulated a tremendous amount of material wealth. He owned all the buildings and houses on several streets, and many large parcels of land.

Officially, grandfather took three wives. If there were others, I was not told of them.

My grandfather was extremely knowledgeable and had a passion for learning. Hence, his children were all sent abroad to study.

My father, Er-shun Lu, was my grandfather's son by the third wife. He was born when my grandfather was sixty years old. Confucius had said that he attained the state of "Er-shun" ("uninfluenced by others' speech") at age sixty. Hence, my father was named "Er-shun."

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I didn't hear too many accounts of Grandfather's deeds in life. Family relatives also rarely mentioned them, but there is one thing that left a profound impression in my mind.

On the last day of every lunar calendar year, my grandfather would gather up all the unpaid bills that people owed him from that year and pile them up into the size of a small hill. He would then set them on fire and burn them into ash in the open air.

Where did these unpaid bills come from?

At that time, there were many impoverished families and also many people who couldn't afford to eat. On the other hand, my grandfather was wealthy and owned rice and cooking oil companies and a lot of land. If the people who came to buy rice and oil didn't have the money to pay for them, they were allowed to run up a tab and pay it back later when they had the money.

However, there were many people who really didn't have the money to repay the tabs they ran up. Grandfather never sent people to collect these unpaid tabs. This was something that he would never do. The only thing he would do was burn all these unpaid tabs at the end of the year, and that was it. According to what I heard, he never turned away poor families who came to his businesses to buy rice or cooking oil. Numerous poor families were helped by him.

(to be continued)

(From Book #191 "Staircases to the Heavens")

(本文選自蓮生活佛第191冊著作「諸天的階梯」文章「掌燈使者」)