Doctor posthumously unmasked as big charitable donor

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Thousands of members of the public gathered in east China’s Wenzhou City on Wednesday morning for the funeral of a doctor called Wang Jue, whose good name only became known to them after his death.

The public say goodbye to Wang Jue / Photo from news.163.com

Under the alias Lan Xiaocao, which combines both the nobility of orchids ("Lan" in Chinese) and the humbleness of weeds ("Xiaocao"), Wang Jue had donated 20,000 yuan (3,000 US dollars) to charity every year for the past 15 years. His altruism was only stopped by fatal liver cancer.

Mr. Wang started giving to charity at the age of 33 in 2002, when his younger brother died of severe disease. Struck by the uncertainty of life, he pledged to donate 20,000 yuan for another 33 years.

The young doctor started sending money anonymously to local media to distribute to people in need. The journalists identified their mysterious benefactor as Lan Xiaocao.

The public searched for the Good Samaritan for years, but Wang kept silent, not even stepping up to claim an award he was nominated for by local officials.

Last week, however, Wang’s family posthumously revealed his identity.

They said they would continue his donations, even though the loss of the family’s main breadwinner left them with financial difficulties.

Photo from news.163.com

"When you do something good, it’s not necessary to let everyone know. The fame doesn’t matter at all," said Wang's brother to reporters, borrowing Wang's words.

"It’s easy to make a promise, but hard to keep it. Wang Jue taught us the meaning of the phrase ‘A promise is weightier than 1,000 bars of gold,'" added an official from a local charity.