Its All About the Money - Book Report/Review Example

'It's all about the money' the clich goes. Indeed, in this story, it is all about the money. The story revolves around the relationship of Li Jia andDu Mei: how they met, how they fell in love and how it ended. And this relationship revolved around money. How Money Affected Their Relationship Started by money The story starts when Japanese Prime minister invades Korea. Koreans resisted but lacked resources. To pool funds, they enacted a law which enabled the people to buy their way to the imperial academy. And of course many were enticed by this offer. Instead of taking exams, all the wealthy families would do was to pay up. Li Jia was one of the students to take advantage of this. It was while in the academy that Li Jia meets Du Mei. Du Mei was a famous courtesan and was popularly known as Du Tenth. Li Jia falls in love with her. And eventually, he spends most of his time and money on her. This was the start of their love story. And it would not have been made possible without money. It was money that sent Li Jia to the Academy. It was money that enabled him to spend time with the courtesan Du Tenth. Without money, their paths would not have crossed in the first place. Made stronger by money The story turns when the funds of started to dwindle. Since Du Tenth was a prostitute, time spent with her requires payment. Her madam started to become worried as Li Jia became an unprofitable client. She advises Du Tenth to stop seeing him but Du Tenth, already in love with Li Jia, refused. Du Tenth and her madam came up with an agreement. If Li Jia could pay three hundred taels within ten days, he can have Du Tenth in exchange. However, Li Jia had not a single penny. He tried asking his friends for help, telling them he wants to go home but he needed money for travel expenses. No one believed him though. Even his close Liu Yu-chun though that the agreement was a con and believed that Li Jia would eventually be tricked of whatever money he comes up with. Since Li Jia was having difficulty gathering the money, Du Tenth helped him out. She gave her personal savings amounting to one hundred fifty taels. This convinced Liu of Du Tenth sincerity and eventually lent Li Jia the remaining one hundred fifty. Li Jia paid the madam so he and Du Tenth were already free to live as husband and wife. In this part of the story, we see that again, money, or the lack thereof, played an important role. Firstly, the sincerity of Du Tenth's affection to Li Jia was tested by his the lack of money. Du Tenth was a courtesan. She only spends time with those who can pay for it. Since Li Jia cannot pay for it, will she still be willing to spend time with him Of course the answer is yes. As such, in the test of love, Du Tenth succeeded. She was able to prove her love for Li Jia was real and did not depended on whether he has money or not. Secondly, in the process of gathering the required money, Li Jia had to humble himself. He knocked on doors, went to friends and begged for money. He even had to lie so people would lend him money. He was relentless. He did all of this just to be with Du Tenth. Thirdly, the sincerity of Du Tenth's affection for Li Jia was further proven when she parted with her life savings to help Li Jia in acquiring the money. This was contrary to the nature of a courtesan. A courtesan gets paid to be with a man. In this case, it was the courtesan who paid to be with the man. Indeed, Du Tenth truly wanted to be with Li Jia. Fourthly, their life together was made possible because of money. If Du Tenth and Li Jia had not paid three hundred taels to the madam, Du Tenth would still be living in the quarters as a courtesan. Also, if the friends and sisters of Du Tenth did not lend them money, they would not have anything to spend for travel. Hence, their love for each other was proven, developed and made stronger. It was the lack of money and the eventual search for it that made all these possible. Tested by money During Li Jia and Du Tenth's journey, they came across a young man named Sun Fu. Sun Fu saw Du Tenth's beauty and was immediately attracted to her. He invited Li Jia to have a drink and during which he proceeded to convince Li Jia to leave Du Tenth. Sun Fu told Li Jia that Master Li, Li Jia's father would never accept him back if he went home bringing a prostitute as his wife. He further told him that Master Li is wealthy and prominent. And without the fortune of Master Li, Li Jia would amount to nothing. He also said being a courtesan, Du Tenth was used to a comfortable life. So if Li Jia would not be accepted by Master Li, he would live in poverty and will have nothing to support Du Tenth. Also, Sun Fu told him that he cannot leave Du Tenth in the South while he goes back to make amends with his father. There are a lot of womanizers in the South and she was a beautiful courtesan. There is a possibility that she might run off with somebody else. Nor can he take her home with him. Master Li was a reputable man. Bringing home a courtesan will only anger him more. He then emphasized that there was no way that he can make amends with his father and still take care of Du Tenth. It simply wasn't possible. Moreover, Sun Fu pointed out the importance of the relationship between a father and a son. And that such must not be destroyed by a mere prostitute. With that, Sun Fu offers Li Jia a solution to his problem: Sun Fu would pay him one thousand taels in exchange for Du Tenth. According to Sun Fu, by bringing home a thousand taels, his father will be honored and will agree to take him back. Plus, with Sun Fu taking Du Tenth, she will be taken cared of. Li Jia was convinced and he agreed if Du Tenth would agree. Of course, who is Du Tenth to disagree Li Jia already made a choice to give her up. He only weeps because he knows that he will be losing her. Here, we again see money playing an important role in the story. In this part of the story, Li Jia is tested. Can he without money Can he live with Du Tenth's love alone Apparently, he can't. His love was not strong enough. It could not withstand the thought of poverty. As such, he gives up Du Tenth for one thousand taels. Unlike Du Tenth who succeeds in proving her love for Li Jia, when it was his love for her that was tested, he failed miserably. Ended by money Du Tenth agreed that she be exchanged for a thousand taels. When the day of the exchange came, she refused to go to Sun Fu's boat until she is sure of the amount and purity of the money. Money was sent to her. But as a security, Sun Fu asked for her make-up stand. After she found the money sufficient, she asked the return of the make-up stand as there are some things that she had to return to Li Jia before boarding Sun Fu's boat. Sun Fu complied. Du Tenth unlocked the make-up stand. And inside, Li Jia saw a number of jewelries and precious stones. All of this Du Tenth threw into the water. Apparently, she had treasures whose worth would be no less than ten thousand taels. She was planning to give it to Li Jia so he could return to his parent with honor. After saying her speech, she clutched the remaining box of jewels and jumped into the river. Li Jia's acceptance of a thousand taels meant he has lost his trust and faith in Du Tenth. It also meant his lack of respect for her. He treated her as a commodity, exchanging her for a sum of money. I understand the despair Du Tenth felt that drove her to jump in the river, ending her life. She saw hope in Li Jia. He was willing to take her despite her past. He was willing to take her as his wife. But in the end, she was proven wrong. After everything that she had done for him, after everything that they've been through, Li Jia still sees her as a courtesan. And he still doesn't see her as a wife. Because who in their right mind would sell his wife Again, money played an important role in the relationship of Li Jia and Du Tenth - it actually destroyed it. Because of money, Du Tenth lost her love and her life. How Money Affected Their Personality Li Jia grew up having a lot of money. In my opinion, he is a person who believes that money can give you pleasure. He paid to get into the academy. He paid for Du Tenth's time. And he paid to be able to spend the rest of his life with Du Ten. During the entire story, he had to pay to get what he wanted. Consequently, when he lacked money, he risked losing the pleasure of being with Du Tenth. In this condition, it's understandable that he thinks that pleasure comes along with money. Hence, I believed this made him weak and dependent on money. He got scared when his funds dwindle. He was so scared to be cut off from his family and to suffer poverty. Living without money is just unimaginable for him. As such, he was easily swayed in betraying Du Tenth for a thousand taels. On the contrary, by growing up and living as a courtesan made Du Tenth view money differently. In my opinion, she didn't believe that pleasure comes with money. She received money for her to be with men and yet she felt no pleasure in that. She was even willing to give everything up just to be with the man she loved. Conclusion I believe that money can greatly affect our lives. We have seen that in the lives of Li Jia and Du Tenth. How much money we have can determine our status in the society. For Li Jia who has a lot, he was an academy scholar. For Du Tenth who was born without it, she became a courtesan - an outcast of society. It also determines the opportunities that would be available to us. For Li Jia, it opened the opportunity to have a reputable career. For Du Tenth, it gave her no choice but a life of ill repute. And lastly, it may even select the people around us. For Li Jia, the people surrounding him are all prominent and honorable. For Du Tenth, the people around her consist of courtesans, madams and lusty men. However, despite the fact that money greatly affects our lives, I believe that it doesn't determine how our lives would turn out. In my opinion, our lives are not shaped by the money we have, or we don't have. On the contrary, I believe that it is shaped by how we view money or the lack thereof. Since Du Tenth did not depend on money for her happiness, she was willing to give it up to live happily even as a servant of Li Jia. She could have been happy just being in the same household as Li Jia. On the other hand, since Li Jia was so dependent on money, he betrays Du Tenth and ended up with less money than he could have. He ended up losing his love and his honor. Hence, I believe that it is the choices that we make, rather than the money that we have that determines our fate. Reference: Owen, Stephen. "Vernacular Stories: Feng Meng-long and Lang-xian." An Anthology of chinese Literature. New Edition W. W. Norton & Company, 1997. Pages 834-856. Read More