Integrity means rightousness, word being
true to action, keeping one's word and never cheating others. "To be always true
in word and resolute in deed", "What was Said, Should be done", these are the old
saying that lasted for generations, which depicted a good picture of Chinese with
integrity and keeping their word. For thousands of years, these qualities have been
honored and practiced diligently by people.
About 2,000 years ago, Confucius taught his disciples that "If you know, say yes,
if you don't, say no", this is the right attitude toward study.
Zengzi was also a person who was upright and always abided by his word. One
day, Zeng's wife was about to go to the market, her little son was making a tearful
scene insisting to go with her. In order to calm him down, she coaxed him, that
will get a prize of fancy meal by slaughtering a pig. When she got back from market,
she saw Zengzi was on his way to slaughter a pig, she tried to stop him, Zengzi
said, "Once you deceived him, he would not believe in yours any more." Therefore,
the pig was killed. By never lying to his son, Zengzi taught his son with his action
to keep faith.
In the late Qin Dynasty, there was a man called Ji Bu, who was always true to his
word. It is said that "Ji Bu's promise more valuable than tons of gold", which is
the origin of the famous saying "One promise worth tons of gold". Later on, Ji Bu
got in trouble, he escaped, it thanks to his friends help. It is obvious that when
someone keeps to his word, he will be rewarded with respect and honor.
In the past, there was always a sign at the entrance of the store, saying "Genuine
goods at a fair price, equally honest with aged and child customers", which shows
that during trade transactions in ancient China, it is honorable to be honest in
business.
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