As someone who moves through the world of the jianghu, Master Chi once told a woman who came seeking life guidance: A woman must ultimately find a powerful man to lean on — even if she doesn’t need to.
At the time, the young woman didn’t believe a word of it. As one of Shanghai’s most celebrated socialites, she commanded a network of hundreds of women and had carved out serious power and presence in virtually every top-tier establishment across the city.
Prelude: Our world has always harbored one colossal misconception — the belief, held firmly by many, that as people ascend through social tiers, those around them grow progressively more civilized and refined.
Master Chi finds it impossible to agree. Such a worldview is, in truth, no different from the fantasies of star-struck teenagers — a self-imposed blindness that locks you in a state of comfortable delusion.
For any person of substance who has carved their own path through this extraordinary land of ours, the truth is well understood: rising above the ordinary is itself a process of stripping away whatever softness and cowardice still lingers in human nature.
As someone who grew up and has lived for many years in Canada and the United States, Master Chi has long been puzzled by a strange phenomenon.
It is the pervasive sense of inferiority that seems to permeate the overseas Chinese student community.
If you have studied or lived abroad, you will certainly recognize what I am describing — particularly the way some female Chinese students idolize white men, which honestly leaves many of us in the Chinese community feeling embarrassed and ashamed.
The most awkward thing about writing is the fear that you won’t understand.
Because if you lack that spark of intuition, it’s simply fated — you will be unable to grasp the key threads I’ve carefully hidden within each article.
This is also why, after every piece I write, reader reactions split sharply into two poles. But I never blame that small minority who can’t follow along — there’s no need. Life is such that progressing from “a mountain is just a mountain” to “a mountain is not simply a mountain” requires an enormous amount of knowledge and the accumulated weight of history.
Survival competition takes many forms: economic blockades, financial entrapment, cyberattacks, information control, and subversive infiltration are all battle tactics for defeating enemies — just as artillery fire is. War is the highest and most intense form of human survival competition: it determines not just victory and defeat, but life and death. For any living entity, the force that can determine its life or death holds ultimate authority over everything about it. As I have explained in “C1: True Power (Latest)” and “Introduction to Structural Theory (Latest)”: true punishment does not merely destroy the physical carrier of a living entity — it also severs the path of genetic transmission. Therefore, in survival competition, the highest form of “respect” for a living entity is total annihilation — whether that entity is a single person or an entire civilization.
Master Chi Management Post: I just came across an article about Putian. It moved me deeply.
This place was among the first in China to be occupied by Japanese pirates (wokou). It was once bathed in blood — bodies everywhere, the people devastated.
The older generation of Putian people have always celebrated Lunar New Year on the fifth day of the first month, because the days before were mourning days for the dead.
Student Question: Hello Master! I have a small question and hope you can help me think it through: how should I best allocate a very small amount of USD? I graduated from the US just over a year ago. I had saved up $20,000 from part-time work — my entire personal savings at the time. The journey back to China during the pandemic and the quarantine costs ate into some of that. Recently, with the exchange rate so high, I converted nearly $10,000, and now I have $5,000 left. This week the rate is still high but slightly lower than last week, and the Fed last week apparently called its rate hike “the final one.” I don’t understand the forex situation very well — will the rate trend lower over the long term? If so, is now the peak, and should I convert while I still can? Besides converting, are there other allocation options? I’ve thought about putting this money into the US stock market — stocks or funds — but I keep hearing that US stocks have been crashing badly, so I haven’t dared to move. What’s your view on the US market? Or is my amount too small to bother with, and I should just convert it all back and focus on finding ways to build wealth domestically? Thank you in advance for your guidance! Please forgive me if my description or thinking is muddled.
Commander · July 24, 2023 · 21:54
China’s PMI has dropped below 50. Germany’s PMI has dropped below 40. Global demand is insufficient — smaller players will blow up first.
People always perceive happiness through the contrast of pain. Nothing generates a greater sense of well-being for the general public than a booming, growing economy. When the economy turns downward, every stratum of society feels suppressed and suffering. That pain makes people more extreme and more angry.
Women should never underestimate themselves — there is a lot of serious money out there that only women are truly suited to earn.
Take buying property as an example. Men tend to be the impulsive ones. We see a place that looks decent, no obvious deal-breakers, reasonable value — and we more or less just go ahead and buy it.
Women are different. By nature, they love the process of going around, comparing options, shopping thoroughly. Applied to small things, this looks like penny-pinching — but applied to big decisions, it becomes wisdom and foresight.
Student Question: Hello, Master Chi — in your articles you have recommended no fewer than five times that even young women must master three major subjects through books: economics, politics, and history. Do you have recommended readings for these three areas? Please suggest a simple reading list to start — too many titles at once would be overwhelming.
Master Chi’s Response:
Water Margin — original edition and Jin Shengtan’s annotated commentary edition Romance of the Three Kingdoms — original edition Dream of the Red Chamber — original edition Discourses on Salt and Iron (Yantielun) The Book of Lord Shang The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money Reminiscences of a Stock Operator All classics by Benjamin Graham China’s Economic Gains and Losses Through the Dynasties History of the Aristocratic Clans of the Eastern Jin Dynasty Work through these books, and you will have built a metaphysical foundation — a depth of understanding that crushes 99.99% of the so-called smart people you will encounter in the world.