By Wang Ke
Staff Reporter and Editor of China.org.cn
About 100 years ago, John Pierpont Morgan, a famous American financier, banker and art collector, left much of his substantial art collection to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and the Wadsworth Athenaeum of Hartford in Connecticut. He told his descendants that death with an excess of wealth in hand is a form of punishment from God.
100 years later, Morgan's words have exercised a profound influence on an American Chinese artist – Cui Ruzhuo. On July 19, 65-year-old Cui donated four pieces of his work worth US$7.14 million to the "Model Charity Fund" of the China Association of Social Workers in Beijing.
"I hope this money can help more people, especially those residents who recently suffered the huge earthquake in China's Sichuan Province," Cui told China.org.cn.
Cui said, "Creating individual wealth and building a fortune is a form of self-realization and a means of objectifying personal ability", said Cui. "But much more important is the enjoyment of a happy life and the sharing of your own wealth with others throughout society after your success."
