How much money does a person have to be considered middle class, neither poor nor rich?

What is considered middle class in China? Over the past few years, the debate has never stopped.

The Economist once wrote that an individual with an annual income of more than 60,000 yuan can be called China’s emerging middle class. "Forbes" magazine estimates that the number of China's middle class has exceeded 200 million.

Netizens across the country have been hotly discussing this. Some time ago, some people said that in Beijing, the total real estate deposits do not exceed 100 million, and they are not considered middle class. Recently, some media claimed that if you can't just buy any house you want, you will not be considered a truly financially free middle class.

This is undoubtedly an exaggeration. It’s hard to say that the editors who set such standards don’t have a sour grapes mentality – since I can’t become middle class, then I should simply raise the threshold so that 90% of the people in the country cannot become middle class!

But it can also be seen that with regard to the definition of the middle class, a rising tide lifts all boats, and the public has great differences in opinion.

As of September 2017, "middle class" seems to have become a curse word - no one dares to call themselves middle class, and everyone is afraid of wearing the crown of middle class.

Browsing through old books in my spare time, I discovered that the last Chinese who dared to call himself "middle class" was more than three hundred years ago.

Probably because he is afraid of leaving a bad reputation. The name of this self-proclaimed middle-class person is unknown, leaving only her surname - her surname is Shi, and she is known as Shi Taijun. There is also a more well-known nickname, called Jia Mu.

Jia’s mother claimed to be middle class in the fifty-fourth chapter of "Dream of Red Mansions" - "Shi Taijun breaks the cliché and Wang Xifeng plays the role of colorful clothes".

This time, the book writes: When Jia's family holds a Lantern Festival banquet, in addition to eating and drinking, it is inevitable to invite some storytellers to add to the fun. One of them was "Feng Qiu Luan". Because it fell into the stereotype of a gifted scholar and a beautiful lady, and violated Wang Xifeng's name taboo, Jia Mu took the lead in criticizing it: "These plays of gifted scholars and beautiful ladies are all very vulgar. What the hell?" The man is a domineering CEO and the woman is a lady. They fell in love with each other at the first sight. They even ignored their parents' orders and the matchmaker's words and other etiquettes. It's really outrageous!

After criticizing the script, Jia’s mother criticized the screenwriter again. She basically said that the author was from a humble background and could only make up random things. Not to mention the officials in his book who wrote gifts to everyone, but now, when it comes to middle-class families like us, there is no such thing, let alone those from the rich families!"

What Jia Mu means is this! He said that middle class people like the Jia family all knew that the play "The Talented Man and the Beautiful Lady" was obscene, and that was not the case at all - not to mention those from the real upper class, I am afraid that hearing the name would offend their ears.

Three hundred years forward and three hundred years later, this is probably the first knowledgeable person in China who dares to call himself middle class.

Since Jia Mu serves as a benchmark, the standard of pretending to be middle class is obvious. According to Jia Mu's first rule, those who like the drama of talented men and beautiful women must not be considered middle class.

It is not only these vulgar love dramas that Jia Mu despises, but also the noisy music.

It was also the fifty-fourth Lantern Festival Night Banquet. After talking about "Feng Qiu Luan", Jia Mu asked the troupe to sing "The Peony Pavilion". She specifically asked that only violins and pipes be used for background music. The flute is played in an ensemble, and the sheng and flute are not used at all.

Aunt Xue, who is also a middle-class lady, was very surprised and said that she had listened to this play hundreds of times and had never seen such a simple one using only the flute.

Jia Mu replied calmly, "This is just a personal preference of the audience. Is there anything strange about it?"

The implication is that Aunt Xue does not know how to appreciate it. As a result, he suddenly fell from the middle class to the level of nouveau riche.

Knocked over a boat of people with one pole. Jia Mu, a middle-class person, decided that people who like noisy music are definitely not middle class. The viewers who watch "Hip-Hop in China" every week in front of the screen will unfortunately be kicked out of the middle class.

But they are not alone - those who were kicked out of the team at the same time were tens of millions of innocent ticket buyers who supported the 600 million box office of the hit movie "Three Lives Three Worlds".

Many young men are especially innocent. They never thought that just by going to the cinema to watch "Tiny Times" with their girlfriends, they would miss middle-class status for the rest of their lives.

Therefore, in terms of literary and artistic aesthetics, the middle class must follow their ancestors: beauty, elegance, and refinement. Dramas with talented people and beautiful women are not popular, but niche literary and artistic films are the best. If you have nothing to do, it would be wise to go to the National Center for the Performing Arts and listen to the opera in a serious way.

When it comes to the second criterion for pretending to be middle-class, it is the issue of nannies at home.

As we all know, middle-class couples are very busy at work. In my occasional spare time, I have to watch dramas, attend concerts, play golf, and travel to Iceland. I really don’t have time to take care of housework. Therefore, hiring a nanny is imperative.

Speaking of nannies, look at "A Dream of Red Mansions". Just the slaves in Rongguo Mansion are enough to make many people from big cities who claim to be middle class feel ashamed.

The masters in Rongguo Mansion each have six or seven regular servants around them. That's not all. The important thing is that the servants of Rongguo Mansion have always been famous for their high salary and good welfare.

When Lin Daiyu returned to Jia's house, she saw several third-class servants and sighed in her heart that the food and clothing expenses were quite good. As for the respectable high-level slaves, they are not much worse than their masters.

For example, Xiangling. When she was playing with the girls in Grand View Garden, the pomegranate skirt she was wearing was stained by sewage. She was worried that she would be scolded by Aunt Xue. Baoyu advised her not to be afraid. Xiren also made an identical skirt, so just put on Xiren's first.

To know. This pomegranate skirt is no ordinary dress, it is a real lady's skirt - the color of this skirt is dyed with fresh pomegranate juice. The craftsmanship is complicated and the color fades easily. If it can't be worn for more than three or two times, it will be discarded. In the love poem "Ruyi Niang" written by Wu Zetian to Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, she said: "If you don't believe me, I have shed tears recently, so I will open the box and check for the pomegranate skirt." The value of the dress worn by the emperor's favorite concubine can be imagined.

However, in "A Dream of Red Mansions", the pomegranate skirt is not only for the eldest master, but also for the minor master, and even for the eldest girl like Xi Ren. This shows how good the welfare of Jia's slaves is.

Switching to our Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, this means that hiring a nanny and confinement nanny is not just a matter of hiring a nanny. At least three or four of them must be hired at once, and that is how we have entered the middle class threshold. Of course, if you want to be a real middle class, you must give the nannies a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan, and buy all the big brands. If the hostess carries Hermès, the nanny must also wear an LV, right?

Some time ago, there was news that Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou will regulate the nanny market and try to legally introduce Filipino maids, with a monthly salary of more than 10,000. One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and countless melon-eaters left messages saying, “It’s too expensive!” They don't know how to treat their servants well, which shows that they are no longer worthy of pretending to be middle class.

Of course, having to hire three or four Filipino nannies at once is not feasible because the house is small.

I won’t go into detail here about how many rooms there are in Rongguo Mansion. Just read the second chapter of "A Dream of Red Mansions": "...to the east of the street is Ningguo Mansion, and to the west of the street is Rongguo Mansion. The two houses are connected and occupy most of the street..." - it can be seen that this area is by no means small. .

The third chapter of "Dream of Red Mansions" tells that Lin Daiyu first entered Jia's Mansion. Through a pair of children's eyes, she told us how big the Rongguo Mansion was: she walked through many doors before finally seeing her. After arriving at Jia Mu, they walked around and walked through many doors before finally arriving at the side courtyard with Mrs. Rongguo Mansion, meet Mrs. Wang.

This is just a mansion, let alone the Grand View Garden built for Concubine Yuan's relatives. Just measuring the land, it is three and a half miles away. Even Jia Yuanchun, who was accustomed to royal luxury, couldn't help shaking his head after seeing it. It was too extravagant.

Who said that after giving birth to a girl, the mother-in-law can shift the responsibility of buying a house to the husband? If the house is not tidied up, the married daughter may not be able to go home to visit relatives.

For the filming of the 1987 version of "A Dream of Red Mansions", a real-life Rongguo Mansion was built in Zhengding County, Hebei: it covers an area of ??22,000 square meters, a construction area of ??4,700 square meters, and a total of 212 rooms. House - but because it was built in 1987, the entire Rongguo Mansion cost only more than 3.5 million yuan.

Of course, at that time, housing prices in Beijing were only a few hundred yuan per square meter. According to the market price, this Rongguo Mansion, which was forty years old, is now worth hundreds of millions.

So we can see that hundreds of years ago, our ancestors set a benchmark for the "middle class": living in a mansion with a thousand square meters, hiring hundreds of servants, and watching elegant dramas, only then can one become a wealthy person. A confident "middle-class family".

This pole will capsize many boats.

Many urban middle-class people have been hit hard by these poles that flew from the sky inexplicably. People say that one needs to earn one million a year to be considered middle class, and they get anxious; some people say that one needs to have assets worth hundreds of millions to be considered middle class, so they get anxious again - they never know when they will be rich, and they never know how to maintain their status.

Under the guidance of others, many middle-class people have lost their way and always live in panic. As everyone knows, moderation is sometimes best. If you can’t afford to live in a mansion worth hundreds of millions, but if you buy a high-quality community worth tens of millions, will you be out of reach?

The MCC·Dexian Mansion built by MCC Real Estate in Beijing is an excellent real estate choice that meets the needs of quality life and is tailor-made for middle-class elites.

MCC Dexian Mansion is located in the South Fourth Ring Road of Beijing, where it intersects with the central axis of the Forbidden City. It is truly a city mansion for the middle class.

Currently on sale are 186 and 215-square-meter three- and four-bedroom apartments, which perfectly meet the large space needs of families with three generations living under one roof, especially those with second children, without feeling overwhelmed. At present, the project is a fully decorated ready-made house, ready for purchase and move-in. Under the technological green residential building standards, the haze removal and fresh air system ensures a healthy life for the family.

In 2017, when Beijing’s real estate market is booming, starting early is to seize the next wave of tickets for promotion to the middle class elite. Don’t let today’s full payment turn into tomorrow’s down payment.

In three to five years’ time, how the media will define the word “middle class” may be far beyond our imagination today.

You must have a house in your hands so that you will not panic. Have you forgotten what Qin Keqing told Wang Xifeng back then? Remember to buy more land around the ancestral hall, just in case.

Wang Xifeng agreed, but unfortunately he didn't execute it - Rong Ning's second house was eventually destroyed, without even a last support, and the lesson was very painful.