Chinese people use the phrase “yao chan wan guan,” or “carrying ten thousand strings of cash around the waist,” to describe wealth. But how much was a string of cash, and what could one buy in ancient China? Guan was a traditional Chinese unit of account. Literally referring to the string used to thread coins together, it emerged alongside the round coin with a square hole, which first appeared during the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). A guan generally equalled a string of 1,000 individual copper or...

A Chinese woman donated 500 yuan (US$75) to an 18-year-old stranger with a disability after seeing a social media post saying he was too poor to afford meals. Eight years later, he repaid her double the amount after learning she was going through a difficult time, which moved many people online. In 2018, Wang Shuming, from China’s eastern Shandong province, posted a video saying he had no money and could not afford food. Wang lives with the effects of a childhood fever. He has difficulty walking...