Li Zhi Zhi Xue:Winning the World's Ultimate Business Philosophy

Author: Cheng Jin (Translation)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: On the walls of Li Ka-shing's spacious and bright office, two powerful characters, "," are hung. Li Ka-shing's superiority in all aspects of life—personality, conduct, and business—has made him the ultimate coach in the business world, and "Li's Art of Stopping" is his only closely guarded secret. How to build a life of wealth? How to preserve a life of wealth? These are questions that all businesspeople ponder day and night. "China's First Rich Man," Li Ka-shing, has long contemplated these issues. He once hung a scroll inscribed with the characters "" in his office, with bold and vigorous calligraphy! The meaning is self-evident! Countless painful facts have proven that current prosperity does not equal future prosperity, and today's wealth does not equate to tomorrow's wealth. The great scholar of the Sui Dynasty, Wen Zhongzi, said, "The masses chase profit but few become rich, the virtuous yield merit and achieve high fame. Great profit harms the body, small profit benefits others—choose wisely. Heaven values timing, people value clarity—act with caution." This is a piece of sound advice that "Stopping Studies" offers to the world. Wealth is the fruit of pursuing profit. Great profit can destroy a person, and immense wealth can also annihilate a person. Wen Zhongzi believed, "The practice of knowing when to stop is the practice of knowing what cannot be done." Li Ka-shing's emphasis on "" aligns with the truth. Perhaps, he has a deeper understanding of Wen Zhongzi's "Stopping Studies"! From "small profit" to "great profit" is a process of accumulating wealth. Li Ka-shing is no exception, as his rise from hard work to being listed on Forbes in the United States proves. Perhaps, most people's attention is overly focused on Li Ka-shing's "wealth halo," while their understanding of his inner world or inner layers is superficial. However, this is precisely the key to Li Ka-shing's emphasis on "." Based on our years of research, Li Ka-shing is a wise man who "knows what he can do," meaning he clearly understands the purpose and reliability of every action he takes. At the same time, Li Ka-shing is also a thinker who "stops himself from doing what he cannot," meaning he restrains every action that is dangerous or damaging to his reputation. He once said, "Beware of attracting too much attention" and "Leave room for everything," which reflects his clear understanding of his business operations and deeply embodies the essence of traditional Chinese philosophy of conduct—just a modern expression of it. In Li Ka-shing's view, everything in the world has an extreme where it must reverse, and excessive actions only lead to failure. Therefore, a true great businessman should understand the importance of "" and must never fall from the peak to the depths in their prime. This is the essence of the art of stopping in business, which is Li Ka-shing's lifelong business philosophy! Li Ka-shing's understanding of "profit" is extraordinary. For example, his view on "stopping one's own profit" is: "It's better to lose one's own profit than to harm everyone's profit," "Giving up small profit can lead to great profit," and "First yield profit, then seek profit." These are very mature business strategies. Because of this openness, Li Ka-shing adheres to honest business practices, stops his own profit to repay society, and demonstrates a spirit of dedication—highly commendable! This also reflects Li Ka-shing's unique art of stopping in business. The wealth of a businessman often fails because they do not know when to stop, always driven by a greedy desire to seize small and large profits, with an impulse to win everything. This is tragic. Lu Buwei, Hu Xuehang, and Heshen are ironclad lessons in this regard. In modern times, there are also examples—just a couple come to mind. Indeed, a businessman fears failure but is easily defeated. I hope everyone can deeply understand Li Ka-shing's art of stopping in business and give themselves a check-up! Of course, Li Ka-shing's art of stopping in business is far more than what has been mentioned above. There are many other aspects, such as his understanding of "laziness," "shallowness," "risk," "bias," "impulsiveness," "loss," "chaos," "shortcoming," "weakness," "failure," "deception," "selfishness," "profit," and "severance," all of which offer unique insights and propose a series of related stopping studies, all of which are highly practical and guiding. This book discusses all of these, and I hope everyone reads carefully and finds enlightenment and utility in them! Finally, remember the essence of Li Ka-shing's art of stopping: "Knowing when to stop in profit, knowing when to stop in desire, is knowing the outcome of life!"