Living in the 14th century was no good, no matter whether you were in Asian or Europe. In Asian, China was ruled by Mongolians, a dynasty characterized by discrimination (against the Han native, which accounted for 90% of Chinese population), constant hunger, and rampaging plagues. In Europe, famine, wars, and the “great mortality” killed half of European population.

In Europe, the 14th century is a critical period. Because of the massive decrease of population, the social structure and the role of religion changed dramatically. Skilled labors and unskilled peasants were both in need. Hope was lost and pragmatism replaced idealism. Illuminated scholars turned their interests from philosophy to concrete science. To some extent, the empirical science was burgeoning before Locky wrote his famous books.

Similarly, in China, the suppressed Chinese intellectuals wandered their ways to less philosophical things. Drama was the most celebrated achievement during the Mongolian dynasty. However, the drama language was rogue, the content was lewd, and the plot was ridiculous. The appealing to common people reflected the decreased morality of the society.

These miserable things all happened worldwide at the same time, not by coincidence, but by a microscopic organism—the Yersinia pestis. It caused the Black Death, characterized by either coughing blood (pneumonic plague), or swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpit, or groin (the bubonic plague), or blood poisoning (septicemic plague). The fatality rate was about one third, with the greatest in septicemic plague, and smallest in bubonic plague.

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It is a bit strange that in the 21st century, we start to talk about happiness again. You feel happy but you never possess happiness. Happiness is a straightforward emotional thing, not the index or whatever you can quantify.

Yes, it is true that happiness is not strongly correlated with money, but the weak association is statistically significant (to put it in a scientific way). It is hard to imagine that a poor man will feel any happiness if he suffers constant hunger, disease, and discrimination. Material possession, which can be quantified by the amount of money, is a sufficient prerequisite for the happiness, although it may not be a necessary condition.

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