Begging is generally not considered to be an honorable means of livelihood, not unless a person has absolutely no other choice. What would you say though, to a beggar who does not live off his own earnings, but gives it all away? Now, that’s something you don’t get to see every day.
The mystical traditions of the East have insisted on monks begging for their daily meals in ancient times. Forty one year old Wang Zhiyou seems to be one step ahead of his ancestors. He has been giving away every penny earned by begging. Zhiyou has his roots in the Chinese village of Yongping, located in Heilongjiang province. Today, he doesn’t have a home or a place to call his own. He wanders from town to town, village to village, never staying more than a month. When the thirty days are up, he donates all the money and moves on. He has been doing this for the past fifteen years.
