Legend has it that the wooden scale was invented by Lu Ban using the lever principle, and then 13 stars were carved on the scale according to the six stars of Beidou and Nandou, and it was designated as 13 Jin. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he added "Fu Lushou" Samsung and changed it to 16 jinliang. The scale star must be white or yellow, not black, which means doing business aboveboard, not black-hearted. The first star on the balance beam is also called "fixed disk star", and its position is the suspension point of the balance weight and balance hook. The key to making a steelyard is to be able to choose stars. As long as the star is fixed, it is a good scale. Therefore, people often use stars as a standard to measure things.
When doing business, the businessman holds that rope buckle in his hand and calls it a scale. It means to observe carefully when weighing, and never be careless. When the scale is lifted, the first thing you see is the fixed star, reminding businessmen to weigh their conscience. No matter what business you do, you must be short of gold and short of two. If you give someone a short weight, it will damage virtue. Among them, one or two less is called "losing happiness", two or two less is called "hurting money" and three or two less is called "losing life". This implies that people should be honest in business, not do things that harm others and benefit themselves, and have no conscience.
Cause and effect of a steelyard
In the Ming Dynasty, there was a rich man in Yangzhou who opened a grocery store and made a fortune. He has a son and two grandchildren, and he is doing well.
Then this man got sick. On his deathbed, he took out a steelyard and said to his son beside him, "This is my trick to make money! This scale is empty and full of mercury, so I took a big advantage in business. Today I have so much wealth. You should make good use of this scale! "
His son was secretly surprised, but he didn't expect his father to do such an immoral thing. But my father was seriously ill, so I had to keep silent and didn't want to argue with my father at this time.
After his father died, his son burned the weight and tried to do good and help the poor to make up for his father's sins. He is so sincere and kind. In less than three years, he has spent more than half of his fortune, but for him, it is voluntary.
But I didn't expect his two sons to die at an early age, which made him very sad. He didn't understand why this happened. Since then, he has often complained that God has no eyes and does good deeds without reward.
One night, he had a dream about a place that looked like a palace. He saw an official sitting in the temple and told him face to face: "Your father's wealth is the result of his charity in his previous life. Wealth is destiny takes a hand's, but it doesn't have to rely on mercury scales; However, he has ulterior motives. In this despicable way, he added a whole body of evil karma, and he will not realize it until he dies. Now he is suffering from it. Knowing that he was insatiable, the Emperor sent two stars to be reincarnated as your sons to ruin your family business. After the ruin of the family business, it will be burned. What about you? Will also suffer from your father's future trouble, not only lack of food and clothing, but also short-lived. Your father thinks that with so much property left to his descendants, he will definitely let them enjoy it. But where does he know that his son will not live long, and his grandson will be ruined when he comes? Now, thanks to your kindness and sincerity in the past three years, it is very rare to repay your father's sins. Therefore, the Emperor of Heaven specially ordered me to take back these two black sheep, and soon I will leave behind a virtuous son to honor your descendants and prolong life. You should continue to cultivate goodness and don't complain that God is unfair. "
When he woke up, he suddenly realized, "Ah, so that's it!" " From then on, he did more good deeds, and later he gave birth to two sons in succession, both of whom were brought up by Jinshi.
A scale for measuring people's hearts.
This shows the painstaking efforts of the ancients when they invented the scale. These scales are always warning businessmen: you must buy and sell fairly, and don't lose two pounds, otherwise it will be tantamount to self-harm. In fact, there is a truth that is increasingly ignored by modern people, that is, accumulating virtue and doing good deeds will benefit many people and prolong their lives. On the contrary, it will hurt them and shorten their life. In the pursuit of money, modern people even reached the point where "every man for himself, the devil takes the hindmost". This is really human sorrow.
The ancients always warned people to buy and sell fairly and make money wisely. Therefore, the scale is considered as a symbol of integrity, selflessness and aboveboard in people's minds. Zhuge Liang once said, "My heart is like a scale, and I can't be arrogant with others." This sentence has transcended the commercial market and sublimated to the height of personality and morality.
It can be seen that the sixteen Liang created by our ancestors and the sixteen stars on the scale are not only used to measure the weight of objects, but also to measure people's hearts. No matter who makes the scale or uses it, it must be fair, just and fair. This steelyard can measure people's honesty and justice, which is the inheritance of China's traditional connotation.