Ancient Stories about Being a Good Neighbor
 
Living in society, one needs to interact with others. Traditional Chinese culture places an emphasis on virtue and ethics when dealing with others in interpersonal relationships, including the relationship between neighbors. As the ancient saying goes: "One of the great treasures of a country is that it has people with virtue that are kind to their neighbors." Another ancient saying is: "It is an act of following the Tao to help those who are suffering difficulties and to have sympathy for neighbors. Those who follow the Tao will have good fortune."
 
Ancient Chinese people believed that being kind to others is a basic principle in societal life, and that those who often do good deeds will truly have good fortune. There are many stories about noble people being kind and tolerant towards others and helping those in trouble. Here are several such stories.
 
Tao Yuanming Chose to Live in the South Village
 
Tao Yuanming (365 – 427 AD) was a renowned poet in the Jin Dynasty. He wrote in a poem: "I had thought of moving into the South Village but not because I liked the houses there. It was because I heard there were many simple-hearted people [there], and I would love to spend days and nights with them." He chose to move to the South Village because he liked the simple-minded and pure-hearted villagers there.
 
Tao Yuanming was a simple-hearted person himself. He farmed the land every day and wrote poems to express his aspirations. He was content with a simple and frugal lifestyle, and he enjoyed living according to the Tao.
 
He further described his friendship with his neighbors in a poem. "We often get together, and each of us expresses our views openly and frankly. When one has obtained a wonderful article, we read it together; when someone has questions or confusions, we discuss them together." The neighbors helped each other and enjoyed a harmonious relationship, which formed a beneficial environment that helped everyone further strengthen his moral values.
 

Sima Hui Gave Away His Pig
 
Sima Hui (? – 208 AD) of the Eastern Han Dynasty was a well-known scholar. He was very good at identifying virtuous and talented people. One day, a neighbor lost a pig. It so happened that Sima Hui's pig looked very similar to the neighbor's lost pig. The neighbor mistakenly thought that Sima Hui's pig was his lost pig. Sima Hui did not argue with him; instead, he said: "If it is yours, then take it." The neighbor took the pig home right away.
 
A few days later, this neighbor found his lost pig elsewhere. He felt very ashamed and returned the pig to Sima Hui. Sima Hui comforted him, saying that it was not unusual to make such mistakes between neighbors. In addition, Sima Hui praised him for being understanding and willing to correct his mistakes. The neighbor was very moved. Later, people called Sima Hui "Sir Water Mirror." It was a compliment for his pure and upright character.
 
Zi Rudao Was Charitable to Neighbors
 
Zi Rudao of the Yuan Dynasty lived in the Qihe region of Dezhou City in Shandong Province. He was always happy to do good things, and he was well known in his hometown for his kindness. A fellow in Qihe, Liu Xian, and several other villagers were too poor to make a living. Zi Rudao gave them each a piece of farmland, so that they could lease the land to farmers to earn some money. Zi Rudao claimed back the land when these people passed away. One year, when a plague was spreading, it was said that a certain kind of melon would cure the illness by helping people sweat profusely. Zi Rudao bought many such melons, as well as other food, and risked contracting the plague himself to deliver the food door-to-door to people in the plagued region. He thus saved many people.
 
Sometimes, he gave his wheat and husked kaoliang (Chinese sorghum) to those in need in the spring. He allowed them to return payment after the harvest season without asking for any interest. If there was a poor harvest that year and people did not have enough harvested crop to pay him back, Zi Rudao would burn the note and tell them to forget about it. He often told his family: "To accumulate grain is to get prepared for famine to begin with. Therefore, if we encounter a bad harvest year, we must help our less fortunate neighbors."
 
Yang Zhu Sold His Donkey
 
Yang Zhu (1368 – 1644 AD) of the Ming Dynasty was the head of the Ministry of Rites. He usually rode his donkey to the royal court or wherever he had to go. He liked his donkey very much. Every day after he came back from the royal court, he personally fed the donkey and took good care of it.
 
Yang Zhu's neighbor was an elderly man. He and his wife had a son when he was almost 60 years old. Naturally, the couple was very happy as they did not have a son until they were already getting old. However, the baby would cry unceasingly every time he heard the donkey braying, which was quite disturbing for the entire family. The neighbor did not dare to bring it up to Yang Zhu, because Yang Zhu was a high-ranking official. Nonetheless, because the child was so disturbed by the donkey and could not eat much as a result, the couple told Yang Zhu about it. Yang Zhu quickly sold the donkey without hesitation. From then on, when he went to the royal court or other places, he simply walked.
 
The ancient sayings have it that, "A person is genuinely beautiful only if his mind is benevolent," "Have a harmonious relationship with the neighbors," and that "A person is kind and virtuous if his every word and act are intended to be beneficial to others." These sayings tell us that we should use the Tao and a sense of uprightness as the criteria to judge things. We must be strict with ourselves and tolerant towards others. We must have a heart of benevolence and sympathy and be willing to care about others, offer help to others, and be considerate of others as if we ourselves were in the same situation as the person we are trying to help.
 
This is cultivation of an individual's moral values, as well as the means to influence others to be good. By doing so, our society will be harmonious, filled with friendly inter-personal relationships, which is a foundation for social justice.
 
古代邻里故事几则
 
人在社会当中，离不开与人交往，我国传统文化非常注重以道德和伦理调节人与人之间的关系，其中包括邻里关系。古语云：“亲仁善邻，国之宝也”、“救灾恤邻，道也。行道有福”。古人认为与人为善是为人处世原则，而行善、行道之人才是真正有福的。古代仁人君子善待、包容他人，扶危济困，留下了许多小故事。以下为其中几例。
 
陶渊明移居
 
晋代著名诗人陶渊明在一首《移居》诗中写道：“昔欲居南村，非为卜其宅。闻多素心人，乐与数晨夕”，他选择移居南村，是因为他看中了这里有很多“素心人”，希望能和这些人朝夕相处，“素心人”是指内心纯净、朴素之人，陶渊明每日躬耕陇亩、赋诗言志、安于贫、乐于道，也正是这样的人。诗中还记述了他在南村与邻居的友好关系：“邻曲时来往，抗言谈往昔。奇文共欣赏，疑义相与析”，他常与邻居们一起探讨诗文与人生，大家直率地发表自己的见解；有了好文章一同欣赏，有了疑难不解的问题互相切磋分析。人们之间互相帮助，和睦的邻里关系使彼此之间受到道德的薰陶和感染，获益匪浅。
 
司马徽让猪
 
东汉时的司马徽（人称水镜先生）是一位善于识拔贤才的有名学者。有一次，邻居走失了一头猪，因为司马徽家的猪和他走失的猪相似，就误认为是他家的。司马徽并不争辩，说：“是你的你就拿去。”邻居便毫不客气地把猪赶回家。过了几天，邻居从别处找到了自己的猪，很抱愧地把误认的猪送还司马徽。司马徽不但没责备他，反而说邻里间发生这类误会并不奇怪，还赞扬他懂道理、知错能改。邻居听了十分感动。后来人们称司马徽为“水镜先生”，这也是人们对他清雅、纯明的品性的赞扬。
 
訾汝道善施
 
元代时德州齐河人訾汝道，平日乐善好施，以善行闻名乡里。同乡刘显等人贫困无法维生，訾汝道一一分给他们一些田地，让他们收地租维持生活，直到他们终老把田地收回去。有一年瘟疫流行，当时人们传说吃一种能使人发汗的瓜病就好了，訾汝道买了很多瓜，带上粮食，不顾被传染的危险，一户户亲自送去，救治了很多人。他曾经在春天把麦子、高粱借给人，等到丰收年景再收回，不收利息；如遇到歉收之年，借债人无粮偿还，訾汝道就把借券焚烧了，不要他们归还。他对家人说：“积累粮食本来就是为了防备饥荒，所以如果遇到灾荒年景，一定要帮助贫穷的乡亲。”

 
杨翥卖驴
 
明朝礼部尚书杨翥居住在京城，平日骑驴上朝或外出。他对驴子很喜欢，每天上朝回家，亲自为驴子喂料并经常照看。杨翥的邻居是一位老头，快六十岁的时候生了个儿子，老来得子夫妻自然非常高兴。但这个孩子一听到杨翥的驴子叫就哭个不停，搞得全家人都不得安宁。可杨翥是朝廷大官，这家人也不敢向杨翥说这个事。眼看那孩子一听到驴子叫就哭，饮食也明显减少，父母最后还是把这件事和杨翥说了。杨翥听后二话没说，随即就把自己的驴子卖了，从此外出或上朝都靠步行。
 
古语云：“里仁为美”、“睦乃四邻”、“与人相交，一言一事皆须有益于人，便是善人”，指出人们做事要以道义为衡量原则，严于律己，宽以待人，有仁爱之心，同情、关爱和帮助他人，能设身处地替别人著想。这是人德行修养的体现，这也是善化他人，播种善因，使社会拥有和睦温暖的人伦关系，这也是成为社会正义的基础。