Thrift as a virtue is embedded deep within China’s culture. The written ideograms for words such as “save” and “store” sparkle with the feel-good symbols for grain, fields, silk and children. By contrast, the character for debt shows a man standing – forlornly one imagines – next to a pile of cowrie shells, an ancient form of IOU. Children are taught that “diligence is a cash cow and thrift is a gold mine”, while adults are warned in one somewhat humorous proverb that “going to bed early to save candles is not economical if the result is twins”.
節儉是中國的傳統美德。「存」、「積」、「蓄」等在中國古代象形文字中包含穀子、田地、絲線和孩子的象形。與之相對的是，「債」字是一個人站在一堆作爲貨幣的貝殼旁邊，可以想像這個人是非常無助的——這就是古代版的「我欠你」(IOU)。中國人用「千金勤中尋，富貴儉中藏」來教導孩子，用「早睡固然省蠟燭，多添子嗣不足取」幽默地勸誡成年人。
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