Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Chinese American Philanthropist: Samuel K. So : AsianWeek

Chinese American Philanthropist: Samuel K. So : AsianWeek: "Ever heard of Chinese American philanthropy? In traditional Chinese thinking, philanthropy must be truly executed with total altruism. This humble belief means that a building or major donation given to charity shouldn’t have the funder’s name trumpeted all over it. Building your own reputation or legacy should have nothing to do with charity. The great Confucian scholar Zhu Zhi defined truly philanthropy when he described philanthropy as “Shan yu jen jian, bus shi chen shan” (善欲人見不是真善) which means “philanthropy intended to be seen by (other) men, is not true philanthropy.” Traditional Chinese philanthropy is conducted anonymously with very little or no public recognition. In America though, many Chinese American philanthropists follows Western traditions, and the names of the donors are carved in stone for all to see, or are listed in public documents frequently divided into groups depending on the size of their donations."

No comments: