what were the incentives for joining the Beggar Union Sect?

[Ken Tran]

what were the incentives for joining the Beggar Union Sect?

[yittz]

Free food
Opportunity to dress dirty, smell, yet still fairly respected by others
Be part of, hence be protected by the largest clan
Access to their kungfu, even if it seems mediocre until the very high ranks
Free bamboo cane

[Meh]

The Beggar Clan in wuxia novels is the stupidest idea ever. Why would anyone with great martial arts be a beggar? That would like Ph.Ds working at McDonalds.

[bloodstar]

The Beggar Clan in wuxia novels is the stupidest idea ever. Why would anyone with great martial arts be a beggar? That would like Ph.Ds working at McDonalds.

I think it was mentioned somewhere (LOCH i think) that the Beggar Clan was formed so that beggars can unite and fend off oppression from society. It sounds pretty logical to me.

[Candide]

The Beggar Clan in wuxia novels is the stupidest idea ever. Why would anyone with great martial arts be a beggar? That would like Ph.Ds working at McDonalds.

I don't think the high ranked "beggars" in the clan were real beggars. HQG for instance never begged for food. Xiao Feng certainly didn't do that either. In HSDS, the leaders in the Beggar Clan acted just like leaders in any other school. They might not have great wealth (although I think they were comfortable enough) but they did have great power (control over tens of thousands of beggars).

[Meh]

I don't think the high ranked "beggars" in the clan were real beggars. HQG for instance never begged for food. Xiao Feng certainly didn't do that either. In HSDS, the leaders in the Beggar Clan acted just like leaders in any other school. They might not have great wealth (although I think they were comfortable enough) but they did have great power (control over tens of thousands of beggars).

I seriously doubt that HQG don't beg. How would he eat when Huang Rong's not around to make his meal? He would either have to (A)Beg, (B)take the food his fellow clan members beg for, or (c)work/scavenge/steal food. B is out of the question since he likes to be alone. I can't see how he would do anything mentioned in C. Which means he must beg for money/food. I don't know what to make of Qiao Feng. He seemingly pulls money out of thin air before he turned into Xiao Feng. Either that, or I missed something while reading.

Both characters lack an apparent steady source of income. Which might be ok in fantasyland, but not the real world.

[Candide]

HQG steals food. In his very first encounter with GJ and HR, he admits that he has an obsession for good food but he obviously can't get that by begging so he just steals it (an example would be his sneaking into the imperial kitchen and eating food prepared for the emperor).

QF seems to get money from the Clan's fund. Remember that the Beggar Clan has admirers and donators (some of whom would become high-ranked members, but they aren't beggars) who give them some money. QF doesn't seem to mind stealing money from the magistrates either.

[Ken Cheng]

It beats working for a living.

[bloodstar]

I seriously doubt that HQG don't beg. How would he eat when Huang Rong's not around to make his meal? He would either have to (A)Beg, (B)take the food his fellow clan members beg for, or (c)work/scavenge/steal food. B is out of the question since he likes to be alone. I can't see how he would do anything mentioned in C. Which means he must beg for money/food. I don't know what to make of Qiao Feng. He seemingly pulls money out of thin air before he turned into Xiao Feng. Either that, or I missed something while reading.

Both characters lack an apparent steady source of income. Which might be ok in fantasyland, but not the real world.

In LOCH chapter 27 it was mentioned that Beggars Clan was divided into Clean-clothes beggars and Dirty-clothes beggars (pardon the crude translation). The beggars belonging to the Clean-clothes side lived normal lives and wore proper, clean clothes with a few patches (for symbolism) and consisted of people who joined because they admired the Beggar Clan for its righteousness. The dirty-clothes side consisted of real beggars. H7G himself during his term as clan leader would switch between the two sides from year to year to maintain fairness.

I'm thinking that for such a large clan, some part of its funding must come its clean-clothes beggars who have jobs,homes and sources of income. Even for those belonging to the dirty-clothes side, i guess they would have no difficulties getting meals from most families since Beggar Clan was known to be a good clan that protected the weak and poor. It would be similar to people willingly giving meals to travelling monks. I really doubt H7G would need to beg.

[BeeDreamer]

I really doubt H7G would need to beg.

He doesn't beg, he likes stealing food [good food that is!]