Money tree （摇钱树） and treasure basin （聚宝盆） are unique phenomena in Chinese culture, which are products of people’s conceptual consciousness. They retain the primitive worship of trees and also symbolize the auspicious concept of praying for wealth and good fortune, appearing in festivals and events to express people’s longing for a better future.
Long, long ago, there was a small village with a lazy man called Wang Er.
Wang Er dreamed of becoming rich all day but didn’t want to work, always hoping for money to fall from the sky.
One day, Wang Er fell asleep while sunbathing in his broken courtyard.
In his dream, he came to a misty fairyland and saw a shining big tree.
Instead of leaves, there were bright copper coins on the tree, jingling in the wind.
Wang Er’s eyes lit up, thinking, “Isn’t this a money tree? I’m going to be rich!”
He ran to shake the tree, and the coins fell like rain.
While picking up the money, Wang Er suddenly heard laughter.
He turned around and saw an old man with a white beard smiling at him.
Wang Er asked, “Old man, why are you laughing? I found this money tree, so the money is mine!”
The old man said, “Greedy guy, just having a money tree is not enough; you also need a treasure basin.”
Wang Er asked, “What’s a treasure basin?”
The old man pointed to a golden basin and said, “This is it. Whatever you put in, it multiplies.”
Wang Er ran over to look, but the basin seemed ordinary. He didn’t believe it and put a stone in.
In the blink of an eye, the basin was filled with stones, piled up like a small mountain.
Wang Er was delighted and thought, “If I put copper coins in, won’t I be the richest person?”
So, he poured copper coins into the treasure basin, and they kept coming out endlessly, burying Wang Er.
Wang Er struggled in the money and shouted, “Too much, stop!”
But the coins didn’t stop, and Wang Er was almost crushed to death.
Suddenly, Wang Er woke up; it was just a dream.
He sat in the courtyard, still thinking about the money tree and treasure basin.
He thought, “Although it’s just a dream, maybe they really exist. I have to go look for them.”
From then on, Wang Er wandered all day, inquiring about the whereabouts of the treasures.
After searching for a long time, he found nothing.
Wang Er finally understood that there’s no such thing as effortless wealth; one must rely on their own hands to live a good life.
This is the story of the money tree and treasure basin, telling us not to be too greedy, not to always think of getting something for nothing, and to be down-to-earth.
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