Strong Culture VS Weak Culture: Why Winners in Transactions Never Wait for 'Saviors'

In the TV drama (Tian Dao), when Rui Xiaodan first hears Ding Yuanying talk about cultural attributes, she asks several questions in succession: Is this very important? What is strong culture? What is weak culture?

Ding Yuanying explains: 'Strong culture is a culture that follows the laws of things; weak culture is a culture that relies on the moral expectations of the strong to obtain things without merit, and it is also a culture that hopes for a savior. Strong culture is referred to as 'secret techniques' in martial arts, while weak culture, due to its ease of learning, understanding, and use, has become a popular variety.'

Immediately, Rui Xiaodan asks: 'So what if you know? How do you use it?'

Ding Yuanying says: 'Use nothing, use nothing at all.'

And this is today's theme~

Source: Qile Club (ID: qlhclub), compiled from the internet.


What is a true strength?

In the drama, Ding Yuanying is often criticized due to misunderstandings but remains silent. He says, 'I no longer argue with others because I have begun to realize that everyone can only think about issues from their own perspective.'

Eating noodles at a noodle shop, the owner mocks him for being lazy and idle. He remains calm, does not explain, and continues to eat.

At a roadside stall eating wontons, the owner forgot he had already paid and thought he was trying to save money. He remained calm, did not argue, and paid again.

Ding Yuanying's ex-wife commented on him:

He will never argue with you; every pore of his exudes an attitude of condescension towards secular culture, so much so that he cannot be bothered to reason with you, numbingly terrifying.

It's not that Ding Yuanying cannot explain, clarify, or argue.

But even if it is made clear, what they receive is merely the acknowledgment of a stranger vendor.

Therefore, he would rather spend the price of a bowl of wontons to take time to peacefully listen to music than waste time arguing with street vendors.

Because a strong person does not need to explain themselves to the outside world; a truly mature person understands humility and modesty.

Anyone who can remain calm and composed must be an extremely strong person, focused only on their present and only concerned with everything happening in their current situation; anything external or unrelated will not enter their heart, and they remain unchanged from beginning to end.


A Weak Person Disguised as a Strong One

Rui Xiaodan's interrogation of Wang Mingyang can be seen as a discussion and proof of the attributes of strong culture versus weak culture.

Wang Mingyang, sitting in the second-in-command position of a dark group, is nicknamed 'Black-faced Little Zhuge', with meticulous thinking and extremely high IQ. However, Wang Mingyang has applied his intelligence to the wrong paths.

In the face of police interrogation, he always maintains an attitude of arrogance and disdain because he knows that whether he speaks or not, he cannot escape death.

However, inside, he has a self-proclaimed 'moral stronghold' — betraying others would leave him feeling morally bankrupt.

Under Ding Yuanying's guidance, Rui Xiaodan carefully prepares an interrogation plan. Her goal is clear: to break Wang Mingyang's 'sense of morality' and make him realize that his so-called 'robber logic' is actually a manifestation of weak culture.

During the interrogation, Rui Xiaodan calmly tells Wang Mingyang: 'You lack confidence to compete fairly with the strong under the same rules, which only indicates you are weak, because the highest value pursued by weak culture is to obtain things without merit. Therefore, the logic of robbers is essentially the most cowardly survival philosophy. Thus, you are not a hero.'

This statement strikes at Wang Mingyang's heart; his robber logic seems like a strong person's thinking, capable of killing and plundering, but in reality, it is weak thinking, unwilling to be grounded, only seeking to obtain things without merit, even at the risk of taking chances, acting in the name of the strong while behaving as a weak person.


True Weakness

There is also a scene in the drama where Ding Yuanying talks with a master at Mount Wutai, saying: 'The deadlock of traditional concepts lies in the word ‘rely’. At home, one relies on parents; outside, one relies on friends, God, Buddhas, etc. In short, one can rely on anything but themselves, which leads to a spiritual kneeling.'

This sentence speaks to the core of a vulnerable culture, 'waiting and relying on others', placing hope in others.

The village of Wangmiao in the drama serves as a testament to the impoverishing effect of the 'waiting and relying' mindset; the villagers only know how to farm, sometimes barely making ends meet, and when harvests are poor, they can only live frugally.

When life becomes unbearable, they can only kneel and pray to heaven for blessings to become rich; most of them only know to rely on heaven for their livelihood but never think of ways to solve their basic needs.

Later, in order to support the villagers, the government specifically built a foundry and a woodworking workshop for them. However, it wasn't long after the factory was built that the villagers couldn’t wait to get rich immediately. Once the factory's performance was poor, they began to complain and give up.


The Path to Transformation for the Weak

So are these people really hopeless? The drama also provides an answer; on the way to Wangmiao village for research, Ding Yuanying asks Han Chufeng with a smile: 'Are you going to be their savior?'

Ding Yuanying says: 'I cannot save them; the only ones who can save them are themselves. What I can do is introduce them to the competitive concept of a market economy. As for what happens to them in the end, it entirely depends on themselves.'

Han Chufeng immediately thought of this layer; he said: 'If you are only clinging to the edge of the well, then you may have truly feasted your eyes, but suffered from greed, sinking a little deeper into hell.'

In fact, many things are like this; the more one relies on others to save oneself, the more unreliable it becomes; there has never been a savior.

The path to salvation lies in taking action, truly believing in one's own strength, and actively striving to improve oneself; people can create one myth after another.


Returning to transactions, we often find that among those who achieve long-term stable profits in the market, those admired strong individuals are uniformly dedicated to self-improvement, studying market laws, and building and perfecting their trading systems based on these laws, ultimately becoming better and better.

Those who want to profit but place their hopes on the strong, always thinking of getting something for nothing, create a phenomenon where most people are busy in the market yet often fail to succeed, only to complain about the injustice of the market and policies, ultimately regretting their departure.

In this process, we can see a contrast between two cultures: the strong grasp objective laws and act in accordance with them, while the weak entrust their fate to others, hoping to receive help and charity from the strong.

Now that you've recognized this, do you have the courage to reverse your fate, to strive to improve yourself and become your true savior?

Finally, let me share a saying with everyone:

When lost, a master can guide you; when enlightened, you must cross the river yourself. The true savior in the market is always yourself!