《太上感应篇》Vol. 2

Is this really a small matter? What is more, classmates and fellow students spend their days studying and living together, talking and laughing with ease. They are hardly strangers to one another; how, then, could anyone suddenly grow jealous and casually slander a companion?

In the past, Guo Zhi had already earned a considerable reputation when he first began writing. His fellow student Li Mian envied his talent and secretly slandered him, causing Guo Zhi to fail the civil service examinations several times in succession. At last, Guo Zhi passed first. Later, when he presided over the selection of candidates for the tribute examinations, Li Mian was awaiting selection as a candidate in the Classics examination. On the day the imperial decree announcing the results was issued, Li Mian was so regretful that he went home. When Guo Zhi heard of this, he immediately sent someone close to him to bring Li Mian back and have him take part in the selection again. Li Mian passed as a result. Could Guo Zhi’s talent ultimately be hidden? And now Li Mian had relied on Guo Zhi to gain selection—should he not have felt ashamed? Sadly, he did not understand that former classmates ought to treat one another with affection and loyalty.

In the past, when Han Yi was young, he and Li Ruogu were classmates and sat the examinations together. They shared one quilt and one felt mat, and when they went out to visit people, they took turns serving as each other’s attendant. That year, Li Ruogu passed first and was appointed registrar of Changshe County in Xuzhou. As he set off for his post, Li Ruogu led his wife’s mule himself, while Han Yi followed behind carrying a basket. By the time they reached the border of the prefecture, they had only eight hundred cash between them. They divided it equally and wept as they parted. The following year, Han Yi passed as well. In time, both men rose to become vice ministers, and their families became connected by marriage for generations. How could there have been any slander between them?

Another example: when Zhao Anren was young, he and Song Yuanxing were classmates. Song Yuanxing died early, and his descendants’ family fell into hardship. After Zhao Anren rose to prominence, he repeatedly gave them part of his salary to support them. He also personally taught Song’s children and copied out the Book of Changes, the Analects, the Laozi, and the Classic of Filial Piety, giving one book to each of the seven children. This shows that a person may still remember the bond of friendship even after a classmate has died. How could those lacking in loyalty and kindness presume to speak of such virtue?

The concluding verse says:

Yi and Tai Jiao were ruined through slander; Juan and Bin distrusted each other, with one losing his life and the other suffering the punishment of having his feet or legs cut off. When friends observe one another and learn from each other’s strengths, virtue flourishes and moral instruction comes to fruition. Even if a friend is not gifted by nature, they can still hone one another, as a stone is worked to polish jade, and help each other improve. People need friends to help them accomplish their aims; in this way, they can gain rank, reward, and good fortune.

Falsehood, fabrication, deceit, and pretense.

Without sincerity, nothing can be genuine; this is called falsehood. To make promises one cannot keep is, in practice, to deceive. Hypocrisy harms what is true, and fraud makes the deceiver seem foolish. Who would want to accept anything else from someone who lives this way? Even close relatives may come to distrust and shut themselves off from one another. How much more so, then, in a country or society?

Attacking and exposing the faults of one’s clan relatives.

An ancient book says, “The Rites teach people to cherish their relatives; in this way, uncles and brothers will harbor no resentment toward one another.” To cherish one’s relatives means that each person cares for their own kin. Since they belong to the same clan and share a common ancestor, how could they fail to care for one another?

Among the words of earlier generations, those of Lord Fan Wenzheng (Fan Zhongyan) are the most heartfelt. He said, “Many members of my clan live in Wuzhong, around present-day Suzhou in Jiangsu. From my perspective, some members of the clan may be closer to me than others. But to our ancestors, they are all descendants, with none nearer or farther than the rest. Moreover, our ancestors cultivated De for more than a hundred years, and it was only in my generation that the family rose to prominence. Now that I hold high office, if I alone enjoy wealth and status and do not give some care to my clan relatives, how will I face our ancestors in the underworld? And what right would I have to enter the ancestral temple today?” He therefore shared with his clan the favors and salary bestowed on him by the court. He also bought forty qing of fertile land on the outskirts of Gusu and established a charitable estate, using its income to aid clan members in need. He appointed an elderly and worthy person to manage its income and expenses. Each person received one sheng of rice a day and one bolt of silk each year; help was also provided for weddings and funerals.

His son Fan Chunren carried on his father’s purpose and remained honest and frugal, using all his salary to expand the charitable estate. When the court granted official posts to members of the family, he always gave priority to more distant clan relatives. At Fan Zhongyan’s death, one of his five sons had still not entered government service. Father and son truly put into practice the principle of cherishing one’s clan relatives.

The Minister Peng Siyong also cared generously for his clan. Lord Zhang Kangjie, Zhang Sheng, often shared his salary with relatives across nine generations. Zhao Shikai gave money to support so many poor clan members that they could not be counted. Lord Wu Gong’an, too, took in orphaned children and widows from his clan and arranged marriages for them. These, too, are examples of cherishing one’s clan relatives.

If one can cherish one’s clan relatives, how could one fall into the error of attacking them and exposing their faults? To “attack and expose” means to quarrel with one another over even the smallest matters, or to harbor resentment and envy, or to undermine and contend against one another. All these count as attacking and exposing; there is no need to wait for especially serious behavior. Take care to avoid them.

One should be strict in examining and correcting one’s own faults, while treating others with leniency. The sages abhor the pretense of righteousness that lies in exposing others’ private affairs and blaming them. One should feel especially ashamed and wary when treating those close to us, who have shown us kindness, with coldness. In daily life, people often regard the fundamental ethical bonds as though they were strangers, refusing to take care to preserve harmony and affection. As a result, the order of human relationships falls into ruin.

Hymn to the Celestial Master of Stillness and Emptiness

Human nature is clear and still, complete and tranquil from the beginning. Yet when we encounter the outer world and respond to things, all kinds of thoughts and distinctions may arise and become delusions. A single thought that strays from the right path is like falling into hell. Reciting this scripture with reverence makes one’s hair stand on end and sweat pour forth. One must burn away the anger in one’s heart and tame the unruly, unrestrained force of one’s spirit. Reading the scripture is a way to see and examine oneself, and to pass these words on as a warning to those who come after.

Taishang Ganying Pian, Volume Eight

Transmitted by Li Changling; eulogized by Zheng Qingzhi.

Stubborn and domineering, without benevolence or righteousness.

The Analects says that Confucius considered firmness close to benevolence, while the Treatise on Response and Retribution says that being overbearing is unbenevolent. Do the words of the sages contradict one another? The firmness praised by Confucius is steadfast resolve: a firm heart and a will that cannot be taken away. This is the firmness of a gentleman. A gentleman is even willing to give up his life to fulfill benevolence, which is why steadfastness is said to be close to benevolence. Confucius also said that benevolence is the foundation of a person. If someone is driven by desire, how can they remain upright and firm?

The Treatise on Response and Retribution warns against another kind of firmness: the forceful, self-assertive kind that lets anger show constantly. This is the firmness of a petty person. Such a person bullies others and harms all living things. How could that be called benevolence? That is why it is called unbenevolent. The Treatise on Response and Retribution also says, “The overbearing meet an untimely end,” and, “Hardness and overbearingness are a path to death.” In general, if one does not restrain an overbearing temper, it is easy to commit acts of cruelty. This is why the Treatise on Response and Retribution categorically calls this kind of firmness “unbenevolent.”

In the past, Huan Fan served as inspector with authority over the military affairs of Qingzhou and Xuzhou. As soon as he arrived in Xuzhou, he quarreled with the commandery governor, Xu Qi, over a house and even wanted to raise his tally of office and kill him. Xu Qi reported the matter to the court. Huan Fan was in the wrong and was dismissed. Later, when Huan Fan held office in Jizhou, Lü Zhaocai had just become General Who Conquers the North, under whose jurisdiction Jizhou fell. Huan Fan thought Lü Zhaocai’s career had advanced less far than his own and looked down on him. He told his wife, “I would rather have the Three Excellencies bow to me for the rest of their lives than lower myself to Lü Zizhan.” His wife replied, “When you were in Xuzhou, you were always threatening to raise your tally and kill Xu Qi. Everyone said you would be difficult to serve under. Now you have come to Jizhou and refuse to bow to Lü Zizhan. Everyone will surely say you are difficult to have as a superior.” Angered by her words, Huan Fan struck her abdomen with the ring of his knife, causing her to miscarry and die. Was such overbearing behavior not unbenevolent?

Bao Xiaosu (Bao Zheng, posthumously titled “Xiaosu”) was upright at heart and would not bend. When subordinates brought him matters, he often challenged them bluntly to their faces. But whenever they made a sound argument, he was always glad to correct himself. So people respected his integrity without thinking him stubborn. This shows clearly that the firmness of steadfast resolve differs from the firmness of overbearingness. The “firmness” spoken of by the Supreme One—that is, the Treatise on Response and Retribution—and by Confucius therefore differs as well.

I have also wondered whether even firmness that is not overbearing can lead to faults if it is indulged without restraint. Yang Yi, known as Yang Wengong, was famous for his writing and greatly admired by the emperor. But because he was stubborn and would not tolerate others, many people spoke against him, and the emperor’s regard for him gradually waned. Wang Yucheng, known as the Academician Wang, was also famous for his writing, and the emperor had intended to appoint him. But he too was stubborn and intolerant of others, and many people obstructed him, so the appointment was never made. Surely indulging one’s firmness without restraint can harm one’s own prospects. If even these two celebrated men met with such results, how much more so for others?

Praise says: “Brash force is not true strength; it only makes one seem brutal and heartless. Tyranny is no proof of self-mastery, but readily leads one to bully others. Such conduct is a vicious expression of De (Virtue/Power)—how could it be called benevolence? Once good intentions have been cut off, what evil deed will not follow? If you wish to accumulate blessings, correct your faults and turn toward goodness. A withered tree is unlikely to see spring again.”

“Cruel and self-willed” means having a savage, violent temperament, while stubbornly clinging to one’s own views and imagining oneself to be right.

The commentary says: In Buddhist terms, being “cruel and self-willed” is like being a vicious horse that is difficult to tame. How can someone so hard to subdue be compared with one who has no equal? Therefore, the Most High once used “not being self-willed” in the Scripture of the Dharma Wheel to exhort people; in this scripture, too, he uses…

One should give up the habit of being stubborn and harsh, acting only according to one’s own wishes. Confucius also said, “A foolish person who likes to make decisions for himself, or a person of low rank who likes to act arbitrarily, will bring calamity upon himself.” The sages of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism all offer this warning. How could we fail to take it to heart?

The stubborn and self-willed are certain to drive away their friends and people of insight. They will not want to hear teachings about nature, life, and De (Virtue). If they are obstinate and forceful in every matter of daily life, how can they avoid making mistakes? It is a pity that such people do not know how to heed good advice. Even a gentleman should not simply follow his own will in matters of principle. How much more should one guard against stubbornness and harshness?

In the past, Lord Li Wenzheng, Li Fang, a minister of the Northern Song, often said: “In the final years of the Xiande era of the Later Zhou, I served as a Hanlin Academician. After my period of mourning ended, an imperial decree recalled me to office. At the time, Dou Yan, Vice Minister of Rites, rebuked me: ‘The fish-shaped badge marks a minister who serves his ruler with diligence day and night, and its gold ornament is also a decoration worn on the body. When you were mourning your mother, even though the emperor’s gracious decree cut short your mourning and recalled you to office, you should not have worn ornaments of gold and jade.’ I at once admitted that I had not thought the matter through. From then on, I kept this lesson in mind: a child does not ordinarily have the chance to become familiar with the rites of mourning in advance. But if one fails to observe the rites during the three-year mourning period, one not only harms ethical instruction—what face could one then show among the scholar-officials? This made me understand all the more clearly that Dou Yan’s words were indeed the sincere counsel of an elder.”

Master Zhengshu, Cheng Yi, visited Fan Yaofu where he was serving and said to him, “I hear that after the former commander died, you had only just taken over for a few days when you held a banquet with music and rewarded the officers in the army. Is that true?” Fan Yaofu replied, “It is.” The Master said, “At the time, you should first have dismissed the banquet, so that everyone would know no food or goods had been distributed because the former commander had died.” Fan Yaofu’s face flushed and he broke into a sweat; he felt deeply ashamed. The next day, as he escorted Cheng Yi to the border, he said, “Had you not been making a long journey, I would never have heard this wise counsel.”

Both men were able to accept advice when circumstances called for it, correct their mistakes, and follow the good. Their reputations therefore spread in their own time, and their influence endured for later generations. How could the stubborn and self-willed hope to do the same?

The concluding praise says:

Zhong Hui, worthy minister of King Tang of Shang, gave sound instruction: when people rely only on their own judgment, their understanding grows narrow. Good advice is hard to take in, and the faults of arrogance are hard to correct. Clinging to one’s own position closes the mind; partiality entangles it. Rejecting admonition and despising others, one accumulates wrongdoing, and disaster takes root. When calamity falls upon a person, in the end that person has brought it upon himself.

The judgment of right and wrong was mistaken.

The Zhuangzi says: “The side over there has its own standards of right and wrong; this side has its own standards of right and wrong. Are there truly distinctions between ‘this’ and ‘that,’ right and wrong? Or are there fundamentally no distinctions between them?” This means that if we step beyond worldly judgments to consider right and wrong, it may seem that no absolute standard exists. Yet as long as we remain involved in worldly affairs, we cannot avoid encountering questions of right and wrong. What is called right or wrong is always bound up with interests and harms: within a state, one must weigh the interests of the state; within a family, one must consider the affairs of the family. Who can say otherwise?

So Xunzi said: “Being able to determine what is right and what is wrong is called wisdom; calling what is right wrong, and what is wrong right, is called folly.” The folly meant here is a reckless reversal of right and wrong that disregards interests and harms. Such conduct can ruin other people’s affairs—how could it not be foolish? Sadly, some people do not understand the need to keep a fair and balanced mind. They dare not make judgments about right and wrong, and even think that by doing so they can withdraw from the world. Have they never heard the stories of Yin Shilu and Zou Su?

In the past, whenever Yin Shilu discussed right and wrong with others, he never concealed his views or evaded the issue. He neither yielded carelessly nor echoed others, seeking only to get to the heart of the matter. As he was dying, he first wrote a letter to bid farewell to Duke Wenzheng. By the time Duke Wenzheng arrived, Yin Shilu had bathed, changed his clothes, put on his official cap, and died sitting upright. Duke Wenzheng wept in grief. Yin Shilu opened his eyes again and said, “I have already said goodbye to you. Why have you come again? Life and death follow the natural order. Xiwen”—Duke Wenzheng’s courtesy name—“do you not understand?” After speaking, he bowed once more and died. Had he not spent his life clarifying right and wrong without ever avoiding the issue, could he have faced death with such composure?

When Zou Su served as an Inner Palace Senior Guard, a military post at court, he was upright and single-minded. He judged right and wrong carefully and never spoke recklessly. He did nothing that betrayed righteousness, gave way to greed or cruelty, or wantonly took the lives of living beings. Later, the Perfected Lord Zhenwu, a revered Daoist deity, enrolled him and appointed him to his retinue. In the early years of the Qingli era, Zou Su served as a liquor inspector in Zhengzhou. One day, a sudden wind blew and hail fell from the sky, along with a lidless bronze coffin. Zou Su straightened his clothes and cap, then calmly lay down inside it. Before long, the coffin lid fell and fitted itself to the coffin. A clap of thunder sounded, and the bronze coffin rose into the air and drifted slowly northward.

Zou Su now serves as a judge in the Northern Pole Office of Life Spans. Each year, he descends to the human world with the Perfected Lord Zhenwu to examine people’s good and evil deeds, assess their merits and faults, and determine the length of their lives. Had Zou Su not spent his life distinguishing right from wrong without speaking recklessly, would the Perfected Lord Zhenwu have so readily entrusted him with such an important post? Yin Shilu and Zou Su both attained such exalted status through upright discernment of right and wrong. What fate, then, awaits those who turn right and wrong upside down?

The verse says:

Whom should one condemn, and whom praise? For three generations, people have upheld the Way of uprightness. Right and wrong should be judged as fairly as black and white are distinguished. Once cleverness becomes stubbornly one-sided, it turns good and bad upside down: it despises the upright and befriends the wicked, calling the robber Zhi honest and Yi and Qi thieves. Heaven sees clearly and is never confused, like the sun rising in radiant brilliance.

“Turning toward and turning away contrary to what is right” means choosing what to approach and what to reject in ways that violate moral principle.

The commentary says: “Turning toward” means approaching; “turning away” means rejecting. To reject what one ought to approach and approach what one ought to reject is what the Taishang Ganying Pian calls “contrary to what is right.” A noble person would not act this way, but a petty person does so without restraint.

In the past, Wang Cun, a senior official, gave fair and generous judgments, without bias or favoritism. He held firmly to his convictions, and nothing could shake his stance. Sima Guang once praised him, saying, “Among a thousand horses racing forward, the one who can still stop in his tracks is probably Wang Cun alone.” From youth to old age, Wang Cun served through five reigns. Though he repeatedly encountered upheaval, he remained steadfast in his loyalty and adhered to the same moral principles.

Liu Zhi, Duke Zhongsu, once submitted a memorial identifying ten harms caused by the exemption-from-service law. The ministers in power challenged him, asking where his sympathies lay, then sent him to the Court of the Imperial Granaries for questioning and demanded that he explain himself. Liu Zhi replied, “I turn toward loyalty and uprightness, and away from wickedness and flattery; I turn toward moral principle, and away from private gain; I turn toward the ruler and my father, and away from powerful ministers. If this policy brings me punishment, I am already prepared for it. Yet the exemption-from-service law will, in the end, become a calamity for the realm. I hope Your Majesty will not forget my words.” Others worried on his behalf, but he was not troubled at all. Could men like Wang Cun and Liu Zhi have acted contrary to moral principle in what they chose to approach and reject?

Men like Li Shizhong and Wu Xiaozong were different. Li Shizhong had long expressed views very unlike those of Wang Anshi. But once Wang Anshi gained power, Li tried to curry favor with him. In Shuzhou, he built a pavilion and named it “Chuanyan,” alluding to Wang Anshi’s former post in Shuzhou and the fact that Shuzhou later became his fief. When Wu Xiaozong first sat for the examinations, he fiercely criticized the new Xining policies. But after Wang Anshi won the emperor’s trust, Wu wrote ten volumes titled Alley Discussions and presented them to Wang Anshi, claiming that ordinary people in the streets and lanes were praising the new policies. Wang Anshi looked down on this behavior. Those who violate moral principle and change direction with the tide—are they noble persons or petty ones?

Acting in accordance with reason is called “righteousness.” See the principles clearly, and do not let your resolve waver. Once you decide whether to follow or defy what is right, fortune and calamity will immediately diverge. Do not distance yourself from the humane and virtuous, capable people, nor draw close to the wicked and deceitful. Only by following the right way among people can one accord with Heaven’s will.

Abusing subordinates to claim merit.

The Tradition says, “When a candle meets darkness, it serves to dispel it; when a boat has water, it serves to carry cargo.” In general, when the conditions are ripe, things succeed of their own accord, and merit should follow naturally. There is no need to seize it deliberately. One who sets out to claim merit may end up abusing subordinates. The merit may never come, while calamity may arrive first. To “cruelly seize their wealth” is to take other people’s money through violence; to “cruelly exploit their labor” is to force others to work through violence. Both count as abuse.

First, consider the cruel seizure of wealth. Money and goods are things people urgently need. Have you not heard the stories of Wang Zi and Ma Jiang?

Long ago, Wang Zi was domineering and vicious by nature, especially when he held office. In the early Shaoxing era, during the Southern Song, he served as an administrative officer in the Sichuan Circuit Commission for Transport and Finance. He was ordered to collect taxes in the Jingyan and Tongchuan areas and went to the salt wells himself, forcing salt producers to admit to excessive output. If they should have reported fifty jin, he insisted they report one hundred. He planned to confiscate their salt and have the government produce it itself. Before long, all the salt producers were ruined, and Wang Zi died suddenly. It was later said that he was reborn as an ox. On the night he died, his friend Lord Yang and his family all saw Wang Zi come to beg for help, with an ox’s tail already growing beneath his official robes. The next day, an ox was indeed born in a neighboring household.

There was also a man named Ma Jiang, another government official, who was exceptionally harsh and cruel. Whenever he went out to collect payments, he tried to take more, regardless of whether the amount was justified or how much property there was. If anything displeased him, he resorted to wanton violence. People called him “Ma the Scraper,” mocking his constant greed for money. Someone warned him by recounting Wang Zi’s story, saying that if he went on this way, he might soon grow two tails. Ma Jiang paid no attention. Before long, a malignant sore appeared on his left shoulder, and a few days later another formed on his right. The two faced each other, as though his back had been beaten with a staff. The sores were more than an inch deep, so that his internal organs could even be seen. His colleagues came to visit, and all were horrified. Only then did he admit his wrongdoing, saying, “From now on, anyone who extorts money should take me as a warning.” He did not die until the flesh on his body had rotted away.

Likewise, Li Zi had no sons, Chen Shu died in battle, and all of Lin Te’s descendants met violent deaths. These too were evil consequences brought on by abusing subordinates.

The eulogy says:

Some greedy officials in the world fear neither the court’s documents nor its laws and decrees. They recklessly drain the people’s wealth and use it for bribes. Their bags are already full of possessions, yet they offer the surplus to their superiors. In this way they enjoy high rank and generous salaries, and live in splendid mansions. They themselves, and even their descendants, benefit from these things. But what will their end be?

They flatter their superiors and cater to their wishes.

The scriptures say: Among the spirits who govern life and death, guilt and merit, Fengdu—the underworld seat of government in Daoist tradition—is foremost as the place from which these matters are overseen. Beneath the Northern Emperor of Fengdu are the Lord of the Mysterious Nourishment, the Four Lords who assist in governing, the Six Great Demons of Heaven, and the lesser officials of the three palaces of Heaven, Earth, and Water. Their surnames and titles have not become known to the world. As for their subordinates, those recorded in the Zhen’gao are all loyal and upright people from the human world. Looking higher, Shao Gongshi was honored as the Lord of Southern Brightness, and Wu Jizha as the Lord of Northern Brightness. One rank below them, Jia Yi served as Director of Prohibitions of Western Brightness, while Zang Hong served as Lord of the Northern Dipper among the ghost officials and as Head of the Heavenly Gate Pavilion. Lower still, Ji Zhan served as Gate-Repairing Gentleman of the Northern Heaven, and Wen Jiao as Earl of the Founding State who Oversaw the Sea. How could anyone who flatters superiors and caters to their wishes be admitted among these divine offices?

In general, the foremost duty in serving a ruler is loyalty. Uttering even one flattering word to curry favor means one can no longer be called a loyal minister. Disloyal ministers are sure to incur Heaven’s condemnation, so how could they hope to be freed from their sins through salvation?

In the past, Emperor Gaozong of Tang planned to make Wu Zhao-yi—Wu Zetian’s title at the time—empress. Worried that his ministers would oppose the plan, he could not make up his mind. One day he summoned Li Ji, Zhangsun Wuji, Yu Zhining, Chu Suiliang, and others to discuss it. Chu Suiliang and the others clearly objected, but Li Ji said nothing, while Yu Zhining hesitated and waited, offering no answer. A few days later, the emperor privately asked Li Ji for his opinion. At the time, a single word from Li Ji urging the emperor to abandon the plan could have preserved his standing as a loyal minister and perhaps spared the Tang imperial clan from the later calamity that befell it. Instead, Li Ji said, “This is Your Majesty’s family matter; there is no need to ask outsiders.” The emperor then made up his mind and installed Wu Zhao-yi as empress. This led to the large-scale killing of members of the Tang imperial clan.

Li Ji acted this way simply because he wanted to protect himself and feared misfortune, hoping to secure his own safety. He failed to understand that selfishness cannot keep one safe, and disaster cannot always be avoided. Not long after his death, his clan was exterminated and his grave was desecrated. In the end, calamity fell upon him too. Who can say that flattering superiors and catering to their wishes will not invite disaster?

Guo Chongtao also met with disaster for the same reason. He held a high position and believed his achievements were great, but he was uneasy. So he advised the emperor to make Liu empress, hoping to strengthen his own position. He did not understand that people’s hearts are hard to fathom and circumstances can easily turn against you. In the end, it was Liu who had Guo Chongtao killed. Given this, is flattering superiors and catering to their wishes really worth doing? And if one does, can one truly escape disaster?

To flatter one’s superior, cater to his wishes, and rush to offer advice on his behalf is what is called currying favor with the ruler. It is a grave offense. Before a ruler has settled on a course of action, he may still be able to change his mind. But if someone speaks to please him and strengthens his resolve, leading in the end to his own death and the ruin of his state, he should not blame Heaven.

Receiving kindness without gratitude.

The Fayuan Zhulin says: Receiving kindness is like growing grain. Though grain depends on the earth to grow, it cannot mature without rain. When the grain ripens, one cannot credit the earth alone and fail to acknowledge the rain’s beneficence. The Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom also says that being ungrateful for kindness is worse than being an animal.

When I read Liu Zongyuan’s writings, I came across an account that made me understand all the more clearly that some acts of ingratitude are ones even animals would not bear to commit. How much more tragic, then, for a human being to fall below the level of an animal?

Long ago, a falcon roosted on the pagoda at Jianfu Temple. On a winter night, it caught several small birds, each small enough to fit in one hand. It did not kill them. Instead, it took turns placing them on its left and right talons to warm its feet. At dawn, it returned the birds to where they had been. After releasing them, it watched from a distance as they flew away: when a bird had flown far to the east, it went west; when a bird had flown far to the west, it went east. It seemed unwilling to meet them again, and no longer caught them.

Alas, a falcon is an animal that ordinarily knows only how to seize its prey, tear it apart, and devour it. Yet it treated with such care the small birds that had warmed its feet for one night. Are those who receive kindness without gratitude not worse than animals?

Those who know how to be grateful come closest to the Dao; those who do not are far removed from it. Whether a person is grateful can also be seen in their everyday words and conduct.

During the Xuanhe era, a scholar named Xu Wenzhong once traveled to the Eastern Capital. One of his soldiers was accidentally run over by a cart. His foot was injured, and he could no longer walk. Along the way, they met a Daoist who gave the soldier a little medicine, and he soon recovered and could walk as before. Deeply grateful, the soldier searched the world for the Daoist, hoping only to offer a small expression of thanks.

One day, he met the Daoist on the road again. Weeping, he knelt and thanked him. The Daoist said, “I have helped many people, but no one has ever made a special effort to come and thank me as you have.” He then passed on a secret teaching to the soldier, who later attained the Dao.

When Xu Wenzhong heard about this, he went to ask the soldier to teach him. The soldier told him, “Stillness and purity are the Dao; simplicity is the highest path.” Xu Wenzhong understood at once, and ultimately attained the Dao as well. Who can say that someone who does not know gratitude can attain the Dao? How many people in the world are there who, like this soldier, remember kindness and repay it?

The eulogy says:

Some people in this world are more cruel than jackals and tigers. Though others shelter and raise them, they turn around and take an axe to those who showed them kindness. Such people have severed the bonds of human decency; they have no regard in their hearts for ruler or parent. One person once risked his life to save Zhao Dun beneath a mulberry tree; another covered himself in lacquer and swallowed charcoal to avenge a wrong, changing his appearance in the process. Kindness should be remembered and repaid, but those who bestow kindness need not keep thinking about a return.

The thought of resentment refuses to cease.

An old book says that Chan Master Deshan taught his assembly: even the faintest attachment can become a cause of falling into the Three Evil Realms—the hells, the hungry ghosts, and the animal realm. As soon as a thought arises, it may bind a person like a chain for many kalpas. Even focusing wholly on the Buddhadharma can become a burden; how much more so when one cannot stop dwelling on resentment? Know that clinging to resentment is one of the surest ways to imprison oneself: one remains bound for a long time, falls swiftly into the Three Evil Realms, and descends as quickly as an arrow shot from a bow, before there is even time to hear how to repent. Have you not heard the saying: without an enemy or adversary, there would be no such thing as the evil realms?

A careful examination of the Buddhist scriptures shows that the habit of resentment arises from mutual ill will and hatred. At the time of death, before the body has fully lost its warmth, such a person sees stones flying at them, being shut inside boxes or barred carts, or being put into jars or sacks and beaten. This is what it means for resentment never to cease: after death, one will fall into the hells.

The scriptures also say that those who commit offenses through greed and resentment, after suffering their punishment in the hells, are reborn as wormlike creatures and become a kind of ghost called a “venomous worm ghost.” This means that unceasing resentment can also lead one to fall into the realm of ghosts. The scriptures further say that when the harm caused by a worm sorcerer ghost has run its course and its karmic retribution is exhausted, it is reborn among humans, but often becomes a poisonous creature. This means that unceasing resentment can also lead one to fall into the animal realm. The Buddha’s words do not deceive. Who can say these teachings are untrue?

Some people continue to harbor resentment even after falling into the Three Evil Realms. A bandit from Jizhou, who fell into hell after dying for robbery and theft, still resented the prefect Zhang Ji for having overstepped the law and put him to death. His resentment never ceased; he even wanted to pursue Zhang Ji into hell. The Vibhasa Treatise tells of a ghost who, after accumulating evil karma and dying, fell into the realm of ghosts, yet still remembered that a woman had killed him five hundred lifetimes earlier. His resentment did not cease, and in the end he killed her. A mule in Yang Bao’s stable, reborn in the animal realm after dying from evil karma, still resented the realized master Wang He for a past feud between them; later it returned and killed Wang He. In light of these examples, are not the two words “resentment and hatred” among the surest ways to imprison oneself and remain bound for a long time?

Have you not heard the words of Master Can, the Thirtieth Patriarch? The Thirty-First Patriarch, Master Daoxin, respectfully said to him, “I ask you, Master, in your compassion, to free me from my bonds.” Master Can asked, “Who has bound you?” Daoxin replied, “No one has bound me.” Master Can said, “If no one has bound you, why seek release?” Hearing this, Daoxin immediately understood, and so attained liberation. If Master Can’s words were widely shared, those who cannot let go of resentment could bring it to an end, and those held in bondage could attain liberation.

The eulogy says: Bo Yi and Shu Qi did not resent others, but devoted themselves to pursuing benevolence and virtue. When others failed to treat Mencius with proper courtesy, he examined himself. If we forgive others with understanding, the knots of resentment in our hearts can be undone, and all things seem able to welcome spring again. Xi Ke remembered being laughed at by others, and this later led to his bones being left exposed and to resentment between neighbors. Even a little resentment in the heart may be the beginning from which many evil deeds grow.

End of Volume Eight of The Scripture of the Supreme One on the Response of Heaven and Humanity.

Volume Nine of The Scripture of the Supreme One on the Response of Heaven and Humanity

Related by Li Changling, with a eulogy by Zheng Qingzhi.

Despising the people.

The text says: Those who despise the people are mostly harsh and severe, and will soon bring calamity upon themselves. Such people hardly merit further discussion. Instead, let us consider a few gentlemen who cared for the people, so everyone may know what to emulate.

When Han Qi, Duke Zhongxian of Han, first served as commissioner for inspection and pacification in the Yili Circuit, he provided relief to the starving and saved more than 1.9 million lives. Later, while commanding in Hebei, the Yellow River burst its banks just as a great famine struck. Once again, he made every effort to organize relief and settle the people, saving more than seven million lives.

When Fu Bi, Duke Wenzhong of Fu, was stationed at Qingshe, the Yellow River burst its banks, and people from all eight prefectures fled into the Jingdong region. He urged the people to contribute grain and gathered more than 100,000 hu, which he stored in various places to feed those close to starvation. He also inspected unused buildings, both public and private, found more than 100,000 rooms, and assigned them to the displaced so they could easily obtain firewood and water. When the wheat ripened the following year, he gave each person enough grain for the journey according to the distance to their home district. The people returned home, and more than 500,000 lives were saved.

When Teng Yuanfa, Duke Zhangmin of Teng, served as prefect of Yunzhou, famine struck Huainan and the Jingdong region. He repaired abandoned military barracks outside the city, making more than 1,200 rooms available to house the displaced, and saved 50,000 lives.

When Li Yunze served as prefect of Tanzhou, famine struck. He asked to open the government granaries for relief and submit a report afterward, but the transport commissioner refused. Li Yunze said, “If we wait for approval after submitting a report before distributing the grain, how can we save anyone in time?” He then offered his own property as security and opened the granaries, saving 50,000 lives.

When Chen Yaozuo served as prefect of Shouzhou, famine struck there as well. He said, “Rather than asking the people to take the lead, why not begin with ourselves?” He gave his own money to relieve the poor. The local people eagerly contributed in turn, and tens of thousands of lives were saved.

Wang Su, Duke Yimin of Wang, was familiar with conditions in Taiyuan. The Fen River suddenly flooded, and the waters surged toward Pingjin, threatening to sweep into the prefectural city. He immediately made boats ready. When the flood arrived the next day, the people were spared panic. He also urged local wealthy families to contribute grain for relief, saving 100,000 lives.

When Hu Su, Duke Wengong of Hu, served as county commandant of Yangzi, a great flood struck and many people were swept away and drowned. He spent his own money to hire boats for rescue, bringing people back from the brink of drowning and saving several thousand lives.

When Zeng Gong served as prefect of Hongzhou, an epidemic was raging. He arranged for medicinal soups to be available to the sick in prefectural and county cities, as well as at markets and postal stations. When soldiers or civilians fell ill and had nowhere to stay, he arranged for them to be housed in government quarters, saving several thousand lives.

When Su Shi served as prefect of Hangzhou, a severe epidemic struck there too. He used his savings to prepare medicinal soups and sent officials with physicians to treat the sick in different neighborhoods. He also established infirmaries to care for the patients, saving several thousand lives.

Could those who despise the people have done these things? It is a pity they do not understand that those who hold authority over the people ought, by their very position, to care for them in this way.

Heaven and Earth are like parents, and all things are nourished by the primal Qi (vital energy). They were originally one body. The eldest sons of clans, the stewards of households, and people in every kind of trade should nourish and support one another, working together to help Heaven and Earth bring all things to life. How can those who hold high positions exploit the people and drive them into hardship and poverty? Such conduct harms more than the people; in the end, it harms those who act this way as well.

Disrupting the Government.

The Traditions says that Laozi believed governing a state was like cooking a small fish: it should not be turned over too often. Lu Xiangxian said that the world has few troubles to begin with, but ordinary people often stir them up. Good government lies in following circumstances and causing as little disturbance as possible. Laws and directives are meant to guide the people’s conduct. If the authorities have long maintained a policy, and the people have grown accustomed to it and find it convenient, how can someone change it at will based only on personal opinion and force their own ideas upon them? Even if that person’s method is followed, it may not benefit the people; it may simply invite trouble. One should not believe every impassioned speech from those eager to launch new initiatives.

In the past, when Duke Du Qi was overseeing and pacifying the Guanzhong region, a commoner named Zhang Dong came seeking an audience with a poem in place of a calling card. He had a thick beard and a dark complexion, and wore a blue cloth robe. His poem said: “Last night an urgent dispatch came from Yunzhong; with our troops standing still, who will sweep away the frontier threat? In Chang’an there is an iron-faced man. Please tell the king to build a platform soon and put me to work.” Zhang Dong was later given an official post, but before long his corruption was exposed.

When Duke Han Wei was stationed in western Shaanxi, a commoner named Yao Sizong submitted a memorial on government affairs. He also wrote a poem: “I would trample the stones of Helan Mountain and sweep the dust from the western Wei. A commoner, too, can accomplish great deeds; how sad that I now lie stranded, like a fish.” He was later given an appointment, but proved to be no more than a mediocre minor official.

While Duke Lü Xu was serving at court, a commoner named Lei Jianfu was recommended and summoned to answer questions. He gave the impression of being able to swallow an enemy army. After several audiences, he also seemed thorough and quick-witted, and the court briefly considered giving him an important post. Duke Lü Xu, however, firmly opposed the idea. Lei Jianfu later rose through the ranks to become an adjudicator in the Three Finance Offices, but his performance was much like Yao Sizong’s.

When Jiang Shaoyu was prefect of Jizhou, a commoner named Li Jie submitted a memorial on government affairs. He claimed that in his youth he had studied the Way of benevolence and righteousness, and that his learning was no less than Yan Hui’s. He also said that the Three Sovereigns could not be counted as sages: only Confucius was a sage, and no one from Mencius onward deserved praise. When Han Zihua was prefect of Chengdu, Li Jie presented him with the same claims. Han believed him, and later, while serving alongside Wang Anshi as commissioner of the Three Finance Offices, recommended Li Jie. Before Li could be appointed, however, he went mad and died.

These cases show that the words of people who speak passionately and eagerly pursue change are not necessarily trustworthy. Thus, during the tenures of the three chancellors Zhao, Han, and Wang, they ignored all memorials on the pros and cons of policy submitted by newly successful men eager to launch initiatives. During the tenures of the three chancellors Ji, Jian, and Mu, they likewise rejected the newly advanced men who, in sealed memorials and proposals, urged swift changes to established systems, stirred up trouble, and relied on glib but shallow arguments. People at the time praised them as fitting chancellors. Had they trusted such men’s words, would they not easily have thrown everything into disorder?

The encomium says:

Those who govern must be impartial. If they let private interests intrude, their decisions will be biased. The greedy rush after wealth, while those who love to show off delight in power. Public justice is overwhelmed by authority, and the law is altered to suit personal ties. Rewards and punishments are turned upside down, and discipline and law are discarded. Such conduct harms the state—how could you yourself remain safe?

A reward was given to someone who did not deserve it.

The Commentary says that Han Yu considered acting appropriately to be what is meant by “righteousness.” Broadly speaking, “righteousness” means what is fitting and proper. What is “unrighteous” is receiving a reward one does not deserve. Would a noble person really be willing to do that?

During the Jingde era, enemy forces from the north raided the border, and the prefectures and counties of the Hedong region repeatedly suffered their depredations. The generals in command cared only about protecting themselves; none was willing even to blunt the enemy’s advance. At the time, Li Juzheng was only a minor official, charged with collecting taxes in a town. Outraged by the enemy’s brutality, he gathered townspeople and recruited able-bodied men, then fought fiercely, penetrating deep into the enemy’s stronghold. He recovered the women, elderly people, and children who had been captured and sent them home.

Some in the court praised his courage, but no one was willing to propose a reward for him. Only Zhang Yong, whose courtesy name was Zhongding and who then held office, submitted a confidential memorial. When it reached the emperor, he was delighted. He immediately promoted Li Juzheng several ranks and summoned him to serve as a Gate Attendant of the Pavilion, an official responsible for court ceremonies and palace gates. Li Juzheng received the emperor’s favor but did not know who had recommended him. Later, when someone told him about Zhang Yong, he hurried to pay him a visit but was never able to see him. He then bribed the gatekeeper with a large sum and asked him to deliver a calling card. Zhang Yong still refused to come out. He wrote at the bottom of a sheet of paper: “You remained honest in the face of wealth, courageous in battle, diligent in your duties, benevolent in governing the people, and cautious and respectful. These are all great services to the state. Your coming to thank me is a matter of private feeling, so it would not be proper for me to receive you.” Li Juzheng felt that receiving these few words was better than meeting Zhang Yong in person. He held them and read them over and over, kept them with him, and never parted from them. Li Juzheng’s reward was deserved.

Shi Ji was a commander in Yanzhou. During the Kangding era, the Western Xia army attacked Yongping in Yanzhou. The fort commander and the supervising officer, who was responsible for the garrison, both wanted to take their troops into the mountains and wait there until the enemy had left before returning. Shi Ji led several hundred of his men to block the city gate. Standing before their horses, he asked, “Fort Commander, Supervising Officer, where are you going?” The two told him the truth. Shi Ji said, “Your soldiers may be safe this way, but what of the people and provisions in the city? How could you conceal your repeated flight? If the officials responsible later impeach you, I, as the commander, will inevitably be beheaded. Kill me here before your horses first. Otherwise, I dare not take this army with you.”

Ashamed and afraid, the two officers reined in their horses and turned back. The enemy soon surrounded the city, and Shi Ji again led his men in its defense. A few days later, the enemy withdrew. Because they had preserved the city, the fort commander and supervising officer were each promoted one rank. The author remarks: Was it not unrighteous for them to receive rewards in this way?

Alas, though Shi Ji did not receive this reward, he later rose to the rank of Military Commissioner, a regional military official. All three of his sons received appointments from the court, and one of his daughters married Guo Kui and became a commandery lady, a title bestowed on an official’s wife. His good fortune ran deeper than that of the two men who gained a single rank through unrighteous conduct.

The verse says:

Confucius once warned against gaining high rank through improper means. Emperor Guangwu’s decision to make a man a marquis for improper reasons was a failure of governance. If thieves are rewarded and wickedness encouraged, how can the state uphold its laws? To grant rank to people of bad character is to show contempt for Heaven’s Mandate. Therefore, the Grand Steward, the official in charge of state affairs in ancient times, must explain to the ruler the eight powers used in governing the state.

Punishment falls upon the innocent.

An ancient book says: “Punishment is used to punish wrongdoing.” When someone has committed no offense yet is punished, that person is what the Scripture on the Teachings of the Most High says is “innocent.” Words spoken privately among people sound like thunder in Heaven’s ears. When an innocent person cries out to Heaven, could Heaven fail to hear?

Qian Ju, a resident of Caizhou, falsely accused his younger brother of having a different surname and hid more than two hundred thousand coins of the family’s wealth, refusing to divide it equally. The officials who heard the case, one after another, took money from Qian Ju and failed to judge impartially. Only the witness Zhu Xijie kept her account consistent from beginning to end and did not favor either side. Later, Xu Yi, the assistant prefect of Xuzhou, an official who helped the prefect handle government affairs, was ordered to come…

(The Misjudgment Case of Xu Yi) Xu Yi set up a courtroom in Caizhou to investigate a case. But because he handled the matter carelessly, he was manipulated by Yang Zhonghe, a court clerk responsible for judicial affairs, and instead sentenced the witness Zhu Xijie to thirteen blows with the buttocks rod. From then on, Xu Yi always checked and rechecked his work, delaying decisions until he could no longer make them. Hearing that a Daoist priest named Pei Junsou at the Tianqing Temple was skilled in memorials to Heaven, Xu prepared incense, candles, and gifts. He went to the temple and held three consecutive Zhaijiao rituals, praying for Heaven’s blessing.

When Pei Junsou first prostrated himself to present the prayer, he immediately fell asleep, snoring. He did not wake until the next day. Then he said, “I went to Heaven’s Gate and saw the Great Emperor of the North Pole leading the True Warrior Perfected Lord, who judges good and evil at the Court of the Blessed Sages, into the court to report. They said that Assistant Prefect Xu Yi of Caizhou should not have wrongly sentenced the witness Zhu Xijie to thirteen blows with the buttocks rod. The Great Emperor of the North Pole glared and ordered, ‘Leave Xu Yi’s statement here for now. If the Golden Register, which records merits and faults for inspection, questions you, and your answer is wrong, you will not return.’ I had no choice but to hurry back. Did this really happen?” Xu Yi replied, “It did.” At once, sweat poured from him, and he was overcome with distress. Before long, he died.

There was also a scholar named Yang Zhiqi who set out one morning to see the examination results posted. His wife had rented a mule at home and planned to go to the Water Gate to meet her parents. On the way, she encountered a drunk who mistook her for someone else and beat her. The person who had rented her the mule quietly fled, and no one came forward to intervene. The matter eventually reached the authorities. At the time, Wen Zhongshu was a judge in the Kaifeng Prefecture. Seeing only the scratches on the drunk’s face, he did not ask what had happened and issued a blanket ruling. The woman felt deeply humiliated and had not eaten for several days. After failing the examination, her husband returned home and saw that his wife had been beaten with the rod. Enraged, he went to the prefectural office to appeal. Wen Zhongshu refused to hear his plea. The couple then drowned themselves.

That night, Wen Zhongshu dreamed that the City God’s Office, which oversees the affairs of the underworld in that region, rebuked him: “You handled the matter carelessly and unjustly punished good, innocent people. I have already reported this to the Eastern Peak. Now the matter has also been reported to the Supreme Emperor, and calamity is about to fall.” The next day, the emperor learned of the affair, and Wen Zhongshu and the others were all dismissed from office. As for the punishment they still had to endure in the underworld, what could they do about that?

The commentary says:

Minor faults should be forgiven; when the evidence of guilt is uncertain, the punishment should be lighter. The intention of the sages is to bring punishment to an end. How much more should one show compassion toward the innocent. In trials involving imprisonment and corporal punishment, the facts must be traced to their source and verified according to the law. Wrongful cases pile up like mountains. How can we fail to take warning and punish such conduct severely?

Murder for profit.

An old book says: Kidnappers who drive people into danger and physicians who take money from the sick when they are in a critical condition both harm others for the sake of money, and their guilt is the same. The example of physicians is given in the hope that patients will not fall into cruel hands.

To ignore how serious or urgent an illness is and demand fees recklessly is to harm people. To insist on charging more without asking whether a patient can afford it is to harm people. To be lazy and sleep in, treating human life lightly, is to harm people. To diagnose carelessly and prescribe the wrong medicines is to harm people. To see a patient but delay treatment until the illness suddenly worsens is also to harm people. Someone who commits these five faults yet practices medicine on the strength of their medical skills causes harm more serious than killing with a knife. If a knife strikes but misses a vital spot, the person may still survive. But if a bowl of medicine damages all the viscera, what chance of survival remains?

In the past, Yan Ji fell ill and sought medical treatment, but died as a result. He later revived, though his breath was faint and it was unclear whether he was alive or dead; this condition lasted for thirteen years. Zhang, the wife of Chen Jingren, also suffered from a mild illness, but a doctor mistakenly gave her medicine for blocked blood vessels, and she never recovered. After her death, the underworld authorities who govern the souls of the dead refused to admit her. Her spirit wandered without a fixed home. Wherever she went, the local earth god drove her away, and she endured every kind of suffering. One day, while Chen Jingren was outside the city in the suburbs, she happened to meet him and was able to become one with him again. From then on, Chen Jingren was dazed and seemed to have gone mad, singing and talking to himself. At the time, his father held office in the capital, and the envoy Qin Zhongli happened to pass through the administrative seat. Qin Zhongli had long venerated Zhenwu, a Daoist deity also known as the Perfected Lord Zhenwu. He therefore submitted a petition on her behalf to the North Pole. Taking pity on Zhang, who had died young and violently, the Perfected Lord Zhenwu arranged for her to be reborn that very day, without passing through the underworld. Who can say that physicians do not cause people’s deaths?

Sadly, some people do not understand that the profession of medicine can raise a person into blessed realms, but can also make them fall swiftly into ruin. In a former life, the Venerable Bakkula gave a single haritaki fruit, a medicinal fruit, to treat a sick monk. Through this karmic connection, he was reborn again and again among humans and in the heavens for ninety kalpas, never falling ill. In his final life, he met the Buddha, left home to become a monk, and attained the fruit of arhatship, becoming foremost among five hundred disciples.

Elder Wang made a living treating illnesses with acupuncture and never quibbled over the size of his fee. He cured many patients. One day he told the people around him, “By the beginning of next summer, I will no longer be able to remain in the human world.” When the day he had foretold arrived, he indeed passed away. Afterward, a fragrant scent lingered for several months in the place where he had lived.

Liu Jin also practiced medicine. Though the work was arduous, he never tired of it, and he cured many patients. Yet when he was buried after his death, his coffin was empty. These are examples of healers who devoted themselves to doing good and immediately gained release from the ordinary cycle of life and death.

Ding Fengji, who lived in our dynasty, was skilled in medicine. His son Ding Du placed second in the jinshi examinations and later rose to become a Grand Academician of the Hall of Literary Vision. Zhang Zhonghe was adept at applying Zhang Zhongjing’s methods to treat cold damage. Later, both his sons, Zhang Qi and Zhang Zhao, passed the jinshi examinations. Zhang Xingfu also practiced medicine, and among his descendants were men who governed major prefectures and served as transport commissioners. Their prosperity continued for several generations. These too are examples of healers who devoted themselves to doing good and thereby brought prosperity to their descendants.

The bodhisattva Xinxiang, a figure in Buddhism, came to a place in hell and saw a sinner being filled with molten iron and nailed through the body with iron spikes. The bodhisattva joined his palms and asked what crime the man had committed. The Buddha said, “In a previous life, this man often practiced acupuncture, but he needlessly and recklessly inserted the needles. That is why he has received this retribution.”

One morning, the Venerable Mulian left the city and saw a hungry ghost crying out: “My body is like a lump of flesh. I have no hands or feet, nor eyes, ears, or nose, and all kinds of birds and insects constantly devour me. What crime did I commit to suffer this retribution?” Mulian said, “In a previous life, you practiced medicine without sufficient skill and carelessly prescribed drugs, so that your patients could not survive. That is why you have received this retribution.”

The divine nun Huipu of Caizhou was once sitting with guests when someone led two oxen past beneath the hall. The nun said, “The ox in front was once an official who took bribes and unjustly convicted people. The ox behind was once a physician who treated patients wrongly and caused their deaths.” She called each ox by the name it had borne in its previous life, and both responded. This too is an example of a healer who failed to act with care and goodness and consequently fell into the Three Evil Realms: hell, the realm of hungry ghosts, and the realm of animals.

Alas, examples of good deeds and evil actions have already been recorded above. Whether you follow the path of good or turn away from it is for you to choose.

Eulogy:

Wealth is a source of resentment and a cause of conflict over profit. If you only amass it and never give it away, you may even invite disaster. How can anyone who acquires wealth by killing and robbery expect to keep themselves safe? Greedy officials who consume the people’s wealth ultimately have their households searched and their property confiscated, or are executed or exiled. Do they truly think Heaven cannot see them?

They ruin others in order to seize official positions.

The received text says: The Heavenly Lord of Primordial Beginning said that empresses, consorts, and court officials all fall under the authority of the Purple Tenuity Enclosure, the ancient name of a group of stars symbolizing the Heavenly Emperor’s residence. Those of a certain rank also fall under the administration of the Five Sacred Peaks and Four Great Rivers, which often represent the spirits of mountains and waterways. In general, every official post has its corresponding moral obligations and allotted destiny. If a post is written in one’s fate, it is no trouble to serve as a Commissioner of Military Affairs today and prime minister tomorrow. If it is not, one cannot obtain it even for a single day. Who could say otherwise?

In the past, Su Yijian first served in the Hanlin Academy, and Li Hang later entered the court. Before long, Li Hang was appointed Vice Grand Councilor. Su Yijian was displeased, so he presented ten poems titled “Steps in the Void,” sung at Daoist purification rituals, to express his feelings. That very day, the emperor ordered him to take part in major state affairs. Yet only a few days after accepting the appointment, he died.

Xiahou Jiazheng’s writing pleased the emperor, and he was appointed Right Reminder, Director of the Historiography Institute, and an official of the Secret Pavilion. Still, he felt this was not enough. He said he enjoyed writing and refining gold and silver, and that he would be satisfied if he could receive a coin’s worth of mercury and serve for one more day as Drafter of Imperial Edicts. The emperor agreed, but Xiahou died before the appointment edict was issued.

Li Jining was talented and served as Academician of the Bureau of Military Affairs. When Emperor Taizong summoned him, he promised to give him an important appointment in the future. Li returned home and told his brothers, who were delighted. But after drinking, he suddenly suffered a stroke and dizziness, and died soon afterward.

Li Juyuan was acting Censor-in-Chief. Emperor Taizong valued him highly, had praised him to his face, and planned to promote him. Later, he was demoted for adjudicating a case and appointed prefect of Langzhou. One day, a courier station delivered a court dispatch urging him to return to the capital by relay horse. He opened it and was overjoyed. He laughed once, then died. Does this not show that one cannot obtain an official post absent from one’s fate, even for a single day?

What is more, some people try to seize office by bringing down others. This also brings retribution, as the cases of Mi Dexao and Lu Duoxun show. Mi Dexao saw that the Commissioner of Military Affairs Cao Bin had great achievements and prestige and enjoyed the emperor’s deep favor. He falsely accused Cao Bin of treason and worked relentlessly to push him out. Cao Bin was consequently removed from his post, and Mi Dexao took his place. Within days, Zhao Pu resumed control of the government and vigorously defended Cao Bin. The emperor saw the truth and that very day banished Mi Dexao to a distant place, while restoring his former trust in Cao Bin.

Lu Duoxun saw that Chancellor Zhao Pu held a high position and enjoyed great prestige, so he secretly urged Wang You to help him push Zhao Pu aside. Wang You refused, and Lu then sought another way, using secret matters to frame Zhao Pu. Zhao Pu was dismissed as chancellor, and Lu Duoxun became chancellor in his place. Later, the truth came to light: Zhao Pu returned to the chancellorship, while Lu Duoxun was banished to Zhuyai, in the region of present-day Hainan. From these cases, can a person’s official post really be seized by pushing others aside? Those eager to gain office should take these events as a warning.

Anyone who acts in the name of the public and claims to carry out Heaven’s will must hold a position commensurate with their virtue. The shallow-minded congratulate themselves, stake their lives on the matter, and show off their strength through brute force. All they do is injure the lofty Way of righteousness; they bring no benefit to virtue. This is like a praying mantis watching a cicada, while a yellow oriole beats its wings behind it, ready to pounce. The Way of Heaven operates through cycles of retribution. Look at what I do, and you can know what will follow.

Killing those who have already surrendered and submitted.

The Traditions say that the Most High Lord Lao once said: “Weapons are inauspicious things, not something a gentleman should delight in using. They should be used only when there is no other choice. Anyone who delights in warfare delights in killing, and such a person cannot achieve their aims under Heaven. Therefore, auspicious occasions honor the left, while occasions of mourning and misfortune honor the right. The deputy general stands on the left, and the supreme general on the right. When many people have been killed, one should weep in grief; even victory in battle should be treated as a funeral.”

Moreover, each weapon people use is governed by its own star. The saber is called “Great Chamber” and is governed by the star Xu; the sword is called “Loss and Injury” and is governed by the star Jiao; the bow is called “Curved and Drawn” and is governed by the star Di; the arrow is called “Wandering Aimlessly” and is governed by the star Yinghuo; the crossbow is called “Distant Gaze” and is governed by the star Zhang; and warfare is called “Great General” and is governed by the star Shen. Since this is so, how can weapons be used recklessly, or people take pleasure in killing?

Have you not heard the story of Wang Xian? Wang Xian, a senior official serving as governor of Dingzhou, was one day visited by a Daoist priest. His clothes and headdress were shabby, his beard stiff as a pig’s bristles, and when he smiled the corners of his mouth nearly reached his ears. He said he was the abbot of Fengdu Temple, a Daoist temple associated with the underworld, and presented his calling card to Wang Xian. “Yesterday,” he said, “a document from the Lord on High arrived, concerning twenty thousand foreign souls. Our temple has not dared enter them in the register of the dead. If you are resolved to kill them, you will win renown in your own time, but you will lose ten years of your life. These are the two choices before you.”

Wang Xian thought the man was mad and ordered him to leave. Not long afterward, Khitan troops came to hunt around Liangmen. A heavy snow fell, and the Khitans’ bows froze and became unusable. Wang Xian remembered that the storehouses held several thousand pieces of wood for making bows and crossbows. He ordered the craftsmen to shape them through the night, then took the enemy by surprise and sent in his troops. The foreign army was routed. The following day, he built a triumphal mound of enemy corpses and severed heads to display his victory. The heads numbered exactly twenty thousand. Only then did he remember the priest’s words, but it was too late. He reported the matter to the court, and the emperor was delighted, summoning him to serve as an official in the Bureau of Military Affairs. Wang Xian died just thirteen days after leaving Dingzhou.

Alas, those souls had already been fated to die, yet Wang Xian lost years of his life simply because he had resolved to kill them. What of those who have already surrendered and submitted? One should understand that killing those who surrender and submit truly brings punishment upon oneself.

When Cai Juhou was governor of Yunzhou, five hundred bandits who had been raiding around Liangshan came to surrender. He had every one of them killed. The following year, as Vice Minister of War, he went to Jinling to offer sacrifices to the gods. Later, a malignant sore grew on his back. He asked a Daoist priest to perform a Zhaijiao ritual to pray for disaster to be averted and seek forgiveness. He also had his close associate Wang Gong write a petition to Heaven on his behalf. Cai Juhou died the next day, and Wang Gong died the day after that.

Later, Wang Gong returned to life and said: “Just now I went to the underworld, where an official in charge of its affairs rebuked me: ‘You are a Confucian scholar, yet you dared forge a petition for someone else and deceive the Lord on High!’ Wang Gong replied, ‘It was all Cai Juhou’s idea. I only wrote what he told me to.’ Soon afterward, I saw several ghost officials bring out Cai Juhou. He wore a cangue, with its pieces linked together, and was so emaciated that he looked scarcely human. Then I saw two ghost officials carrying a bucket of blood and pouring it over his head. As soon as it touched him, he screamed loudly. They dragged him from side to side, as if he were about to die. When he came around, they poured it over him again, and he fainted once more. In a very short time, this happened several times. From a distance he called out to me, ‘When you return, be sure to tell my wife to save me quickly. I am being tried here because of the killing of surrendered people in Yunzhou.’”

Since this is so, can anyone still kill those who have already surrendered and submitted?

In discussions of criminal law and capital punishment, killing someone in a fight is generally considered a lesser offense. Resisting an enemy army and killing its soldiers is part of fighting in response to an attack. If it was truly unavoidable, the divine beings will judge the circumstances and grant leniency. But if the enemy has already surrendered, why use force or punishment at all? If someone has been subdued and is still killed without cause, the gods of the Dao will surely take notice.

Belittling the upright and rejecting the worthy.

An ancient book says, “Only when Bole, who was skilled at recognizing fine horses, appeared in the world could there be thousand-li horses. Thousand-li horses are common; Bole is not.” The fortunes of talented people in the world are much the same. If those in office could all recognize talent as Bole did, people of virtue and broad ability could serve as prime ministers; those who understood the larger picture could serve as protectors of the officials; people with strategic skill could command troops; those able to bring peace to a region could govern it; people with authority and administrative ability could serve as inspectors overseeing local officials; the incorruptible could manage revenue and grain; and those who cared for the people could serve as local chiefs. In this way, every post would be filled by a suitable person. Talent would not go to waste among the people, and public affairs could be handled well.

Upright and worthy people, in particular, should be entrusted with important responsibilities. This would ensure that the court had an ample supply of talent, and that people within and beyond the court felt such respect and awe that they would not dare plot rebellion. How, then, could anyone demean and exclude them? To disparage and push someone aside is to deliberately eliminate that person so that one can satisfy one’s own selfish desires. Therefore, those who take pleasure in identifying and promoting talent will be recorded by the Most High, the supreme divine being. Those who arrogantly disparage and exclude talented people will surely face the Most High’s severe punishment.

In the past, Han Chong promoted Yuan An from the post of secretary clerk, a low-ranking writing official. Yuan An later rose to become Minister over the Masses. People praised Han Chong for a gentleman’s insight into character, and called Yuan An a bright pearl in the dark of night. This shows that Yuan An was indeed upright and worthy. The Most High also took notice of Han Chong and ordered the immortal official Wang Weixuan to teach him the Mud Pellet and Purple Gate method, a Daoist cultivation practice, enabling him to transcend the mundane world. He now serves in Fengdu, the underworld of Daoist tradition, as Left Assistant and Supervisor in the Register Bureau, overseeing those who have newly attained immortality.

Xie Mi, a remonstrance official of our dynasty, was highly skilled at recognizing talent and never made recommendations lightly. He recommended only a few people in his lifetime, yet every one of them became a prime minister. Whenever he had finished writing a recommendation, he would burn incense, face the palace gates, and bow twice, saying, “Your old servant has found another person of talent for Your Majesty.” Wen Zheng and Wang Dan were both people he recommended. At the end of his life, Xie Mi bathed, burned incense, put on a feather robe, and died sitting upright, without his head tilting to either side. Could this not have been corpse liberation, the Daoist transformation into an immortal through the body left behind? It was because he took pleasure in selecting talented people that the Most High recorded him.

During the reign of Chen Houzhu, a favored courtier named Sima Shen delighted in framing others. One day, while napping in the Department of State Affairs, he was suddenly attacked by a ferocious, strange bird that flew down and perched on him. It pecked at his mouth, and blood ran across the mat. People all said this was retribution for the harm he had done to others.

During the reign of Emperor Shizong of Zhou, Tao Gu also delighted in framing people. The execution of Li Song’s clan and the failure to appoint Yu Chongliang both resulted from something Tao Gu said. After his death, his tomb behind Zhaojue Temple was sealed again and again, yet the entrance kept opening by itself. The monks blocked it with a great stone. One night, amid thunder and torrential rain, the tomb entrance opened wide once more, and even his bones disappeared. Could this not have been the result of his arrogantly disparaging and excluding talented people and thereby incurring the Most High’s severe punishment? Who can say that belittling the upright and rejecting the worthy is without sin?

The encomium says: Wise and upright people care for the state and cherish its people. If they are put to use by the world, they can greatly protect the multitude. The harm caused by rejecting and belittling them does not fall on them alone. Who will care for the state’s troubles, and who will speak up for the people’s suffering? The harm left in their wake is immense, and the guilt of those who cause it is just as great.

End of Volume Nine of The Scripture of the Three Heavens on Response and Retribution.

Volume Ten of The Scripture of the Three Heavens on Response and Retribution

Transmitted by Li Changling; encomium by Zheng Qingzhi

Bullying orphans and oppressing widows.

The commentary says: Showing compassion for orphans and providing for widows were already listed above as good deeds; bullying orphans and oppressing widows are now listed as offenses. Does this mean that orphans may be bullied and widows oppressed? Alas, some people do not understand that even those who have attained the Dao and left the mortal world behind still care about orphans and widows. How much more should those who have not yet transcended the world?

Long ago, when Patriarch Shi Guang first arrived in Zhending to take up an official post, he passed through Tanzhou. He heard that a Daoist practitioner named Guo at Huentong Monastery was skilled at growing vegetables and could always produce fresh vegetables in season for everyone to eat, so he went to visit him. Guo was ordinarily mute, but when he met Patriarch Shi Guang, he suddenly spoke fluently and told him a few things in secret. Patriarch Shi Guang then resigned from office, bathed, and lay down peacefully to die. Guo the Daoist vanished soon afterward.

That evening, the emperor seemed to see Patriarch Shi Guang arriving through the air before Chongzheng Hall. The patriarch reported, “I was once an assistant staff officer under the Perfected Warrior of the Dark Heavens, in the Blessed Court of the Northern Pole. Guo the Daoist was an inspector of legal affairs under the Northern Pole. We were both demoted to the human world for a minor fault. Now our term has ended, and we should return. Since we once received stipends, I have one small request to make, so I have come to bid farewell. My son Tingzhi has not yet asked to enter the court and take up a post. I beg Your Majesty to guide him and not let him draw a salary without doing his duties, thereby tarnishing his father’s integrity.” With that, he disappeared. A little over a month later, a report arrived from Tanzhou, and it became known that Patriarch Shi Guang had indeed died.

Chen Yuyan says: There was once a scholar from Langzhou who, after failing the civil service examinations, stayed in the capital for a long time. While visiting Bailiang Mountain, he was suddenly taken away from Tianshou Cave by two attendants in blue robes. They showed him the Jade Emperor’s Golden Register, the divine record of names, then took him to the Hall of the Northern Pole in the Central Heaven. There he was given golden purple robes and appointed a judge under the Perfected Warrior of the Dark Heavens in the Blessed Court of the Northern Pole, responsible for recording life and death, good and evil, and the length of people’s lives.

One day, he accompanied the Perfected Warrior down to the human world. Suddenly he heard weeping. Leaning down to listen, he realized it was his wife. He asked the Perfected Warrior to let him send her a message, and the Perfected Warrior agreed to let him write a letter. He obtained a human-world delivery wrapper and seal, then sent a Talismans Officer to deliver it to the deputy governor’s office in his home prefecture. When the letter arrived, its seal could not be opened. His wife was then summoned, and only then could the envelope be opened. The letter described in detail how he had met the Perfected Warrior and repeatedly urged his wife: “Be sure to raise the orphans well and protect the household.”

Alas, even those who have transcended the mortal world still care so deeply for orphans and widows. How much more should those who have not yet transcended it? Disputes over graves and the like arise from this, too. If this were not so, why would the Most High include such matters in the General Register, so that people could submit petitions and pray to have their offenses absolved?

Words of Praise:

King Wen of Zhou always gave priority to those who were alone, destitute, and without anyone to whom they could appeal. Even when benevolent government was put into practice, it was sometimes impossible to ensure that all of them were properly cared for. It is lamentable that we are members of one family, yet brothers depend on one another in poverty. How could I bear to mistreat them at will, causing them grief and suffering, as though they had lost all support? Those who act this way will, in time, receive their due retribution.

Abandoning the Law and Accepting Bribes (violating the law and taking bribes).

The Commentary says: The Most High—a Daoist honorific for the supreme deity—asked, “When judging right and wrong and the severity of offenses, why mention abandoning the law and accepting bribes first?” This is because people often abandon the law in order to take bribes. Once the bribe has been received, they call what is right wrong and what is wrong right, and refuse to investigate anything further. Sadly, some people do not know that the gods and spirits see and remember every law and regulation. Those who abandon the law and accept bribes will have their rank and stipend reduced.

Long ago, before Fan Luzhi had risen to prominence, he was sitting in a teahouse in Fengqiu, holding a fan in his hand. He casually wrote on it, “May the blazing heat drive away harsh officials; may a cool breeze bring old friends.” Suddenly, an ugly-looking man came forward, bowed, and said, “The wrongful cases caused by harsh officials are more unbearable than the height of summer. In the future, you should investigate this abuse thoroughly.” He then took the fan and left. Fan was puzzled for a long time.

A few days later, as he passed a temple, he saw a clay-and-wood demon beside its gate. It looked very much like the man he had seen before, and it held the very same fan. Fan was astonished. Later, when he was given an important position, he first raised the problem of laws that were too complicated and punishments whose severity had no clear basis, leaving officials opportunities to commit abuses. The Founding Ancestor of Zhou therefore issued an edict ordering him to review and establish the laws. This code was called the Code of Punishments. Who can say that the gods and spirits do not know what happens in the human world?

When Hou Jian was magistrate of Jiangxia County, he was close friends with Juyue, the elder of Shengyuan Mountain. Whenever he had free time, he would visit him, and the monastery would always prepare a meal in advance. One day he visited again, but the monastery did not receive him properly. Hou Jian found this strange and asked why. Juyue said, “Whenever you come, the local earth god sends word ahead, saying, ‘The minister is coming.’ This time there was no message, so we had no time to prepare.”

Greatly surprised, Hou Jian secretly asked Juyue to find out from the earth god why he had not sent word. That night, Juyue again dreamed of the earth god, who said, “Hou Jian had once been destined to become a prime minister. Since my duties were connected with his, I used to send word in advance. Recently, he accepted sixty taels of silver from the Hu family and issued an unjust ruling in violation of the law. The Celestial Court, the agency said to administer affairs in Heaven, has already removed his name from the list of those destined to become prime ministers. He can now only serve as a regional inspector, an official responsible for overseeing local authorities. His duties are no longer connected with mine, so I no longer send word.” From this we can see that rank and stipend can indeed be reduced.

Sadly, people in the world do not understand that those who do not abandon the law can even transcend the world of mortals. In the past, Wang Changyu was a judicial official in Tongchuan. Because he did not dare to violate the law or accept bribes, the Lord on High eventually chose him, and he ascended in broad daylight. He is now the Perfected One of Baohe. Wang Laozhi was a judicial official in Puzhou. Because he too did not dare to abandon the law and accept bribes, he later met Zhongli, the immortal Zhongli Quan of Daoist legend, and received the essentials of the Daoist arts. He became able to foresee fortune and misfortune. During Emperor Huizong’s reign, he was summoned to court and granted the title “Cave Subtlety.”

Alas, to act with such intentions should surely bring one into accord with the Great Dao. Can only minor officials do this, while scholars and senior officials cannot?

The encomium says: Lun refused to accept a horse someone had offered him, and people remembered this even after he was later called into government service. Yang Zhen, an official of the Eastern Han, feared the “Four Knows”: Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, and I know. For that reason, he did not let himself become entangled in bribery. When a person is changed by desire for material things, their bearing must also change. Gifts and bribes are precisely what Tang of Cheng feared. Anyone who wishes to uphold the law should keep far away from even the appearance of impropriety, leaving no suspicious grounds for others to seize upon.

Do not twist what is upright and call it crooked.

It is said that when Lu Chong served as prefect of Fengxiang, he heard that the Perfected Lord Who Assists the Sage (a revered Daoist deity) had sent down a divine instruction. He therefore held a purification ritual and prayed for guidance, asking about the essentials of how to conduct himself and his affairs. The Perfected Lord said: “Serve your ruler wholeheartedly; do not covet money gained by improper means; do not meddle in crooked affairs; investigate and redress unjust cases; help the people; and make your actions accord with the Way of kings. Such a person will naturally be fortunate. As offenses accumulate, they bring calamity, and in the end one sinks into suffering.” If this is so, how can anyone charged with judging cases fail to make every effort to correct miscarriages of justice? How could they dare to turn what is upright into what is crooked?

Here I give one or two examples of officials renowned for their virtue, in the hope that everyone will understand and follow their example. When Han Wei Gong, the Northern Song statesman Han Qi, governed Daming Prefecture, there were many lawsuits. He personally judged every case, large or small. Even when ill, he allowed the details of cases to be brought to him and heard them in his bedroom. Someone advised him that he need not exhaust himself so, and could assign the cases to his subordinates. Han Wei Gong replied: “When two sides dispute and bring their case before the authorities, it concerns something of great consequence in people’s lives. It may involve life and death, or gain and loss. A single word from me can decide the matter. How could I treat it carelessly or neglect it?” After his death, he was honored as the Perfected One of the Purple Court, a title for a Daoist immortal.

Ouyang Wenzhong Gong, the Northern Song statesman and renowned scholar Ouyang Xiu, was a great Confucian of his time. Whenever he spoke with guests, he did not discuss literary writing, but spoke only about public affairs. Zhang Shunmin found this strange and asked him why. Ouyang Xiu said: “Writing can only cultivate oneself; public affairs can truly benefit the people.”

Ouyang Xiu had once been banished to Yiling. He was then in his prime, and his eagerness to study had not faded. He wanted to find copies of the Records of the Grand Historian and the Book of Han to read, but could find neither in public nor private collections. So he took up old case files that had been stored for years in the government archive and read them one by one. The judgments in those cases were often upside down as to whether they were fair: what had not happened was presented as fact, and injustice was called justice. There were cases of breaking the law to favor someone, harming relatives, corrupting public morals, and every other kind of wrongdoing. He often sighed and said: “If things are like this even in a remote, small place like Yiling, we can imagine the state of affairs elsewhere in the empire.” Then he swore to Heaven: “From this day forward, whenever I handle any matter, I will be all the more diligent and careful, and will not dare to be in the least negligent.”

For more than thirty years afterward, he served both inside and outside the court, rising to the highest ranks among the Three Dukes, and held himself to this vow throughout. Others who observed him might have thought that his achievements lay in writing and public service. He himself believed that what had truly benefited him was the vow he had made then. After his death, he became an immortal official of the Cavern of Divine Clarity, a Daoist title.

If taking such care in judging cases is already so important, what fate will befall those who judge what is upright to be crooked after death?

The eulogy says: “Those who act with integrity, without bias or favor, are good people and deserve respect and reward. If they are falsely accused of being crooked, and those who should be rewarded are instead punished, what fault have the good people committed to suffer such injustice? Now that Xiao Wangzhi—a Western Han official known for his integrity and outspoken counsel—has been killed, what good outcome can the two eunuchs Gong and Xian, Hong Gong and Shi Xian, expect?”

Calling the crooked upright.

An old book says: “Some matters are right in themselves, yet those involved cannot prove their case. Some arguments are wrong in themselves, yet those who make them do not realize it. The two sides may therefore dispute without end, until the officials in charge decide the matter. Officials should act with fairness and examine both sides’ accounts carefully. Then right and wrong, crooked and straight, will become as clear as ice melting away. Even the most tangled case can be resolved with ease. How, then, could anyone mistake the crooked for the upright? Such a mistaken judgment comes about because those handling the case have failed to act impartially; they must be showing favoritism or serving private interests.”

Long ago, Liu Gong, Prefect of Yizhou, began his career as assistant magistrate of Lianjiang County, where he was responsible for local security and related affairs. Two villagers disputed ownership of a field, and the case remained unresolved for ten years. The commandery then assigned it to Liu Gong. He uncovered the facts that had been concealed and issued his decision at once, making clear who was in the right and who was in the wrong. People called him “miraculous,” though they did not know that he possessed no supernatural powers: he had simply acted impartially.

After Liu Gong left office, the man who had received a fair judgment waited for him in Jianzhou. Once the others had been sent away, he said, “I have a few pounds of fine incense as a small token of respect. Please accept it.” When Liu Gong opened the gift, he found gold inside. Smiling, he declined: “Your case was right on its merits. I did not help you out of personal ties. How could I accept a private bribe in connection with official business?” He refused firmly, and people of that time greatly respected him. Later, both his sons, Yuanfu and Gongfu, became known for their scholarship and writing. Who can say that an official who acts impartially receives no blessings?

There was also a man named Liu Anmin, a minor clerk in Danling County. He was fair-minded and had long been respected by officials and commoners alike. When people had disputes, they did not go straight to the county office. They first went to him, laid out the arguments on both sides, and asked him to judge whether their claims had merit; only then did they decide whether to take the matter to court. Liu Anmin readily agreed to hear them and was confident in his judgments. When a claim was sound, he would say plainly, “This matter is reasonable; you may proceed.” When it was not, he would point out each problem in turn and say, “This matter is unreasonable and contrary to the law. If you proceed this way, you will surely be at fault.” As a result, lawsuits across the county fell sharply.

Later, both his sons passed the civil service examinations, one after the other. His eldest son, Ji, rose to the rank of Chaosan Dafu. His younger son, Shi, became Chengyi Lang and Director of Judicial Affairs for the Zizhou Circuit, overseeing legal matters there. His daughter married Yang Yun. Members of the Yang family also served as officials, and in time the family became one of the region’s leading lineages. Who can say that a minor clerk who acts impartially receives no blessings?

In sum, those who can distinguish right from wrong and judge fairly are blessed. Those who call the upright crooked and the crooked upright will inevitably invite trouble. This should serve as a warning.

Those who bend the truth to flatter others and turn away from what is right are treacherous and wicked people. They should be dismissed. How, then, can anyone cover up their crimes and praise them as upright? Rewarding such people can endanger the state and ruin a family. What good fortune could a wicked person have to deserve such favor and praise? Wasn’t Deyu demoted because Minzhong, a man of evil character, had gained power?

Turning a Minor Offense into a Grave One

An ancient book says, “When there is doubt about an offense, judge it leniently.” The Analects also says, “Once the facts have been established, handle the matter with compassion and care; do not treat finding someone guilty as cause for rejoicing.” These are the basic principles by which the sages showed mercy in administering punishment. How, then, can a minor offense be turned into a grave one? A gentleman must therefore be cautious when handling cases.

In the past, Wang Jin served as judicial commissioner for the Liangzhe Circuit. Whenever he sentenced someone to death, he first burned incense and presented a report to Heaven, and only then ordered the execution. One evening, in a hazy vision, he saw a divine being wearing a cloud-shaped crown and red robes, holding several scrolls of official documents. He also saw a jade maiden in a long, wide-sleeved robe, holding a document. The two stood beneath the eaves and called to Wang Jin from a distance: “These are the cases you have reported throughout your life. In every one, your judgment accorded with reason and the law; you wronged no one or imposed punishment unjustly. The Supreme Emperor commends you. He has extended your father’s life by twelve years and doubled your share of good fortune. Your two grandsons will both serve as regional inspectors. You should redouble your efforts to improve yourself.” With that, they vanished.

Li Guixiang also served as a judicial officer and was known for his integrity and care. One evening, as he rode past Sanjing Bridge, he suddenly saw more than a dozen people crying out that they had been wronged. They drew nearer in small groups. Terrified, he turned his horse around and hurried home. Soon afterward, he fell ill. He summoned several of his sons and warned them: “When you become officials, never accept an appointment to hear criminal cases. I thought I had been scrupulous and careful all my life. Who could have imagined that I would encounter something like this today?” He remained troubled and anxious, and eventually died.

Alas, both Wang and Li were prominent figures of their time. Lord Wang received such a good reward, while Lord Li suffered such terror. Could it be that Lord Li had not been sufficiently careful in some respect? And what of those who turn minor offenses into grave ones? Let me relate one or two more cases as a warning to all.

In the past, when Ouyang Yu heard cases at the Court of Judicial Review, a county magistrate named Yu Shaoqing of Liyang was imprisoned over an incident. His offense did not warrant a death sentence, yet Ouyang Yu condemned him to death. After the sentence was carried out, everyone cried that Yu Shaoqing had been wronged. From then on, whether Ouyang Yu was walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, he felt Yu Shaoqing following him, and he was deeply unsettled. He traveled far to Mount Lu and set up an altar to pray to the Nine Heavens Investigating Commissioner, a Daoist deity who oversees wrongdoing. He performed a three-day Yellow Altar rite to seek pardon for the matter. On the first night, he saw Yu Shaoqing standing beside him and felt intense revulsion. At dawn the next day, he once again submitted a sincere memorial. As he bent forward in prostration, several ghosts suddenly seized him and hurled him down beneath the hall. His whole body bled, and after a short while he died.

When Li Ruoshui served as judicial officer in Huainan, five men were arrested after a robbery. They also said they had once joined forces with a monk named Zicheng. The five men were executed, and only afterward was Zicheng arrested. He said he had never been a bandit. Li Ruoshui could have treated him leniently, but insisted that the bandits’ testimony was true. That night, he ordered people to cover the monk’s mouth and nose with wet paper and press down on him with bags of earth. Before long, the monk’s abdomen split open and he died.

A little over a month later, the prison officer Li Neng suddenly shouted for no apparent reason, “I had nothing to do with the monk’s death. The judicial officer ordered me to do it.” He shouted this and died. The next day, the assistant investigator Liu Yuan also died suddenly. A day later, Li Ruoshui suffered violent cramps in his lower abdomen, cried out, and died. The following day, the military prefect Sun Yu and the magistrate Zhao Yu also died suddenly. Before long, almost the entire Li family had perished, leaving no descendants.

Alas, the calamities that befell Li Ruoshui were horrific, and Zicheng’s abdomen splitting open at death was just as cruel. These events were punishments inflicted in the Supreme Emperor’s anger.

When judging someone’s guilt, if the law is too severe, blame may fall even on those whose guilt is uncertain. When two charges are treated together, it is easy to imagine whether mercy will be shown. If even the laws of the state must be applied with such caution, how can officials enforcing them abuse their power? In the Tang dynasty, someone fabricated charges that implicated an entire clan; it was only natural that this led to such an outcome. What good is it to pile up calamities, leave a foul name for posterity, and then die?

Anger at Seeing Someone Killed

The Nirvana Sutra says that when the dead arrive at a place of danger and hardship, they have no provisions. The road is long, and they have no companions. They travel day and night, not knowing when they will reach its end. The path ahead is dark, with no light. There is no gate to enter and nowhere to take shelter. Though they feel no pain, they cannot be healed. No one blocks their way, yet once they arrive, they cannot escape. It is truly pitiful when people reach such a state. Since this is so, how can we be angry when we see someone about to be killed?

Long ago, when Zhi Gong was alive, two Daoist practitioners were traveling together. One went to a garden to buy melons. The owner grew angry and said, “No one else has bought any yet. Why are you in such a hurry?” He refused to sell him one. The other went next, and the owner gladly sold him melons, comforting him as he did: “Are you thirsty and overheated?” He sold him one melon and gave him another as well. The two were puzzled and asked Zhi Gong about it. Zhi Gong said, “In one of his previous five hundred lives, the owner had committed an offense and was about to be executed. You two happened to pass by him. The one who bought the melons had felt pity for him at the time, so the owner is now pleased whenever he sees him. The one who did not get a melon had said, ‘He brought this on himself; let him reap what he has sown,’ so the owner is now angry whenever he sees him.” If a careless remark made in passing can create resentment like this, how much worse is it to respond to someone with anger?

Wang Tanlüe once killed an ox. When the ox saw the knife, it charged and tried to flee. Wang Tanlüe grew angry, first stabbing it in the eye and then killing it. In general, people and animals are no different. When we see them about to be killed, we should do all we can to save them. If we have tried our utmost and still cannot succeed, we should only grieve and sigh for them. How can we be angry?

A person may be guilty, and the circumstances may make it difficult to show mercy. But once that person has been punished, what does it have to do with me? If I continue to feel anger and hatred, I am adding my own resentment to theirs. Someone once set down his brush after sentencing a person to death, and a bystander saw this and came to his senses. It is the duty of a ruler striving to govern the state to judge criminal cases with compassion and care.

The Taishang Ganying Pian, scroll ten, concludes.

The Taishang Ganying Pian, scroll eleven.

Narrated by Li Changling; encomium by Zheng Qingzhi.

When you recognize that you have done wrong, you must correct it.

The Analects records that Yan Zi (Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius) never repeated a mistake once he had corrected it, and Confucius praised him for this. “Not repeating a mistake” means reflecting as soon as a mistaken thought arises and correcting it at once, so that it never again finds expression in one’s actions. In general, the most important thing after making a mistake is to correct it; to make a mistake and not correct it is the real fault. If one keeps refusing to change, how could one ever put an end to one’s wrongs? Thus, when a gentleman hears that he has done wrong, he corrects himself immediately.

In the past, Kou Laigong (Kou Zhun, a celebrated official of the Northern Song) was already wealthy and privileged in his youth, and lived very extravagantly. Later, when he became a Commissioner of Military Affairs, an important post overseeing military administration, the rewards he received became even more lavish. His guests gathered to admire them, and all were full of praise. Only an elderly wet nurse shed tears. Kou Zhun asked her in surprise why she was crying. She replied, “When the Grand Madam died, we could not even find a bolt of fine silk to make her burial clothes. Who could have imagined that you, my lord, would one day enjoy such wealth?” Hearing this, Kou Zhun beat his chest and wept bitterly. From then on, he changed his ways and embraced frugality, never again daring to live extravagantly.

Cai Qi (Duke Wen Zhong) enjoyed drinking throughout his life and drank himself into a stupor every time. His mother was already old, and often worried about him. One day, Master Cun Dao came to Cai Qi’s post and wrote him a poem of admonition: “The sage ruler’s favor is great: you were chosen for the highest office. Your kind mother is old, her hair hanging white. You have yet to repay either your ruler’s favor or your mother’s love; if drink makes you ill, what good will regret do then?” Cai Qi felt deeply ashamed after reading the poem and gave up drinking. He drank only on rare occasions when gathering with relatives and friends, and never again drank himself into a stupor for the rest of his life.

When Sima Wengong (Sima Guang) was five, he once tried to peel a green-skinned walnut but could not get it open. A maid loosened the shell for him by scalding it with hot water. Later, his older sister returned from outside and asked who had peeled it. Sima Guang said that he had done it himself. His father, who was nearby, scolded him: “How can a child tell a lie?” From that moment on, Sima Guang took the lesson to heart. He never dared to lie again, and treated everyone and everything with sincerity.

When Xu Jiexiao (Xu Ji) first went to pay his respects to Master Anding (Hu Yuan), his head was slightly tilted. Master Anding said sternly, “Keep your head straight.” Xu Ji immediately understood: if the head must be straight, how could the heart be allowed to be crooked? From then on, he never let his heart stray even slightly from what was right. When people asked him for the essentials of conducting oneself in the world, he would solemnly write the two characters “upright and just” and give them to them.

Could men such as these have known they were doing wrong and still refused to correct themselves?

In praise:

After an eclipse of the sun or moon, brightness returns. Can people not make mistakes? When correcting them, we must be sincere. If we use words to cover them up, pretend and deceive, persist in our errors, and conceal the truth, our faults will only accumulate. How, then, can a good heart grow? Do not begrudge a word of encouragement toward goodness; more valuable still is putting it into practice.

Knowing what is good, yet not doing it.

An old book says that the Perfected One Who Responds to the World once said, “Begin with small things, and you can accomplish great things; accumulate one, and you can gather millions.” The Book of Changes says, “A family that accumulates good deeds will surely have blessings to spare.” In general, the key to doing good lies in building it up over time. When you know something is good, you must do it, and once you do, you must give it your best effort. It is like planting crops: though they are small at first, they grow through watering and care. Their growth may not be visible at first, but in time they will become tall. Remember: in everyday life, do not neglect a good deed simply because it is small or seems to bring no benefit.

Have you not heard what the Primordial Lord said? He said: When a person does one good deed, the heart becomes settled and the body at ease. With ten good deeds, one’s energy and strength grow robust; with twenty, one is free of all manner of illness; with thirty, one obtains whatever one seeks; with forty, one prospers, lives in abundance, and enjoys life; with fifty, one’s descendants flourish; with sixty, one can escape calamity; with seventy, one receives the protection of heavenly spirits; with eighty, one gains the benefits of the land; with ninety, one becomes honored and distinguished through reverence for the worthy; with one hundred, precious treasures and auspicious signs arrive; with two hundred, one’s descendants become widely renowned; with three hundred, they grow very wealthy; with four hundred, they attain purity, honor, and distinction; with five hundred, they enjoy long life; with six hundred, they are loyal and filial; with seven hundred, they possess wisdom; with eight hundred, they possess De; with nine hundred, they become worthy sages; and with one thousand, their descendants become divine perfected beings who attain the Dao and perfection.

Continue accumulating good deeds: with two thousand, one can become a teacher or sage to the people, or an officer serving the Perfected Immortals; with three thousand, a teacher or sage to the state, or a general among the Perfected Immortals; with four thousand, a teacher or sage to all under Heaven, or a commander among the Perfected Immortals; with five thousand, a teacher or sage to spirits and ghosts, or a marshal among the Perfected Immortals; with six thousand, a teacher or sage to the divine, or a minister among the Perfected Immortals; with seven thousand, a teacher or sage in the heavens, or a high minister among the Perfected Immortals; with eight thousand, a teacher or sage in the Three Heavens, or an emperor among the Perfected Immortals; with nine thousand, one becomes one of the Five Emperors of Primordial Beginning; and with ten thousand, one becomes the Supreme Jade Emperor.

That is why the people of earlier times, once they learned of a good deed, never failed to do it, and gave it their full effort. The prime minister Li Fang once said to someone, “All my life I have followed the words in the Analects, ‘Be sparing in expenditure and love the people; employ the people at the proper times,’ yet I still have not managed to put them fully into practice.” This shows how earnestly he tried to live by them. The scholar Yang Yingzhi would always write down a good saying when he heard one. This shows that when he knew of something good, he never failed to do it. After passing the highest imperial examination, the Hanlin scholar Jia An said that he had learned the two words “do not deceive” from Lord Wenzheng, and that they had served him throughout his life. This shows that he never deceived others. The remonstrance official Liu Anshi was famous for daring to speak frankly. He said that he had learned the two words “utmost sincerity” from Lord Wengong and lived by them all his life, never straying from them even slightly. This shows that he was always sincere.

If everyone could be like these men, how difficult could it be to accumulate one good deed until it became millions?

The encomium says: “Although Lord Guo praised good deeds, why did his state still perish? Because he was pleased to see good deeds, but his resolve was not firm. Prolonged idleness obstructs the Way and righteousness, and makes it harder to discern right from wrong, good from evil. Thus the exemplary person resolves to strengthen himself. Each day seems too short, and he works diligently without pause, keeping his mind and spirit focused.”

Shifting One’s Guilt onto Others

The scriptures say that all beings in the world circle endlessly through birth and death. At the moment of death, before the body has lost its warmth, the good and evil deeds of a lifetime all appear together. Generally speaking, what appears at death reflects a person’s state of mind in daily life. The Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva’s pearl of guilt, said to reveal one’s transgressions, is one’s own pearl of the heart; the King of the Underworld’s mirror of karma, which illuminates one’s deeds, is one’s own mirror of the heart. When you do something wrong, can it really fail to remain in your heart and haunt you?

When Zhao Pu heard a Daoist speak of the character “fire” at the end of a placard, he understood at once that it must refer to Qin Wang Tingmei. When Wang Shao heard someone say, “The blade has struck eighteen times; can the worthy heart bear it?” a sore appeared on his back, and he died. These stories show that shifting one’s guilt onto others can bring no benefit.

Long ago, Zhao Ye had passed an examination in the Confucian classics and was appointed magistrate of Qinghua County in Bazhou. One day, he suddenly fell into a daze and seemed to be taken to the underworld in a dream. As soon as he arrived, he saw his brother-in-law Jia Yi there and was terrified, for he had once killed an ox together with Jia Yi. In the underworld, Jia Yi blamed Zhao Ye for the deed, trying to make him share the guilt, and argued his case persuasively. For a time, Zhao Ye could not refute him. Before long, a mirror more than a zhang wide appeared in the air, clearly showing Jia Yi raising a knife to kill the ox while Zhao Ye stood beside him, unable to bear the sight. Only then did Jia Yi admit his guilt, and Zhao Ye was able to return to life.

There was also a woman named Chang Shimei. Her husband, Chu Chunqing, had a concubine surnamed Ma and named Chunnu, whom he favored greatly. Chang was consumed by resentment. While Chunqing was away, she beat Chunnu to death with a heavy staff. After Chunqing died, Chang remarried, to Cheng Xuan. When she went into labor, she could not give birth for three days. At the point of death, she dimly saw Ma standing before her. Chang said fearfully, “I never truly meant to kill you. I only struck a little too hard, and you died. Why couldn’t you have forgiven me?” Ma replied, “My death was my mistress’s doing. How can you casually shift the blame onto someone else?” Ma seized her and would not let go. Chang did not survive.

If we know that shifting the blame after doing wrong cannot save us from punishment, why not refrain from doing wrong in the first place?

Sins are of one’s own making, and misfortune is brought upon oneself. Resolve firmly to repent; perhaps it is still possible to make amends. If you fail to reflect on your own faults and instead drag others into trouble, you may escape punishment for a time, but you cannot deceive Heaven. Sharing another’s blame and ill repute can become a starting point for guiding people toward goodness.

Cutting off another person’s livelihood.

The commentary says: “Skills and arts” here refers to people who earn a living by practicing some craft and receiving payment for it. To obstruct them with a single remark so that they can no longer make a living from their craft is to “cut off their livelihood through their skills and arts.”

At Baisha Village in Guankou stood a Temple to the God of Mount Tai, renowned for its efficacy. Nearly every day, people went there to fast and make offerings. One day, several physicians and diviners went out together. On the road, they met a desperately poor man, whom they all looked down upon. In a fit of anger, the man leapt into the river. A short while later, he surfaced holding a dragon. He said to them, “You use your skills in medicine and divination to relieve people in urgent need. These are all ways of drawing near to the Dao. From now on, never look down lightly on people who are poor and plain.”

Alas, though medicine and divination are crafts by which people make a living, a divine being says they draw near to the Dao. How, then, could one cut off the livelihood of those who practice them? Have you never heard what the female dragon of Yun’an said?

Long ago, when Zhai Qianyou was alive, he was famous for practicing the ritual arts of summoning and dispatching spirits. These rites were Daoist methods for invoking deities and commanding spirits. He thought that the river around Yun’an was perilous, with fifteen treacherous rapids, so he used his arts to summon the spirits of the rapids and ordered them to flatten them all. That night, fourteen spirits answered the summons; only one failed to appear. The Celestial Master grew furious and insisted on summoning it. When the spirit arrived, it proved to be a woman. Wearing a tall headdress and a wide-sleeved robe, she calmly spoke up: “The Celestial Master carries out transformation in accordance with Heaven’s will. I am only a water spirit; how would I dare defy your command? Yet there are matters that seem unwise, and I must report them. You are doing this, I suppose, to make it easier for boats to pass. But you may not know that those who earn their living by transporting goods by boat can make considerably more each day, and paying a small fee does not amount to a loss. Along the river live three or four hundred households. They have no fields to farm and no cloth to weave; they survive entirely by towing boats and carrying cargo for others. If all the rapids are flattened, boat travel will certainly become easier, but how will these people then secure their food and clothing? Surely this is not what the Most High intends. I fear I will incur blame for this in the future, and I also fear it will bring trouble upon you. Please reconsider.”

The Celestial Master sighed and said, “You have considered what never occurred to me.” He then ordered the fourteen spirits to restore the rapids in their respective stretches. That night, wind and rain howled and thunder roared. The next day, when people went to look, the raging torrents at all fifteen rapids had returned as before.

From this we can see that not only must people’s livelihood crafts not be obstructed; the means of subsistence of all who live by their labor must not be cut off.

Long ago, when Fan Wenzheng, that is, Fan Zhongyan, served in western Zhejiang, famine struck the two Zhejiang circuits, and the dead from hunger lay one after another along the roads. Knowing that the local people were devoted to Buddhist observances, Lord Fan summoned the abbots of the temples and told them that grain prices were high and wages low, urging each temple to undertake construction projects. He himself also launched extensive public works, repairing granaries and other buildings. As a result, many people who made their living through skilled trades and physical labor could earn a daily livelihood from the government or the temples. Their numbers reached several thousand. The local people were thus given help and did not have to flee and disperse. Was Lord Fan’s intention not also, like that of the female dragon of Yun’an, to take account of the people’s means of survival?

Praise says:

These minor arts also have their merits; the only worry is that people become obsessed with them. A gentleman who seeks learning should also broadly explore many skills. The so-called fangshu (techniques and arts) were not all discarded by the sages. Medicine, divination by milfoil and tortoise shell, astronomy, and the calendar can all help people in the world. If I were to block all of them, I would surely incur faults.

Ridiculing and slandering worthy people and sages.

Ancient books say there are three kinds of worthies and sages: the practitioners of the Three Vehicles taught by Buddhism, the Five Kinds of Immortals taught by Daoism, and Confucius, Mencius, and others in Confucianism. Although each school establishes its teachings differently, the methods of cultivating the mind have points in common. Have you not heard the Refutation of Heterodoxy (Pojie lun), which describes Confucius as the Youthful Bodhisattva (Rutong Pusa), Yan Hui as the Bodhisattva of Radiant Purity (Guangjing Pusa), and Laozi as Mahākāśyapa? Alas, the worthies and sages are already far from us, and merely slandering the books they left behind is in effect slandering them.

Yet Buddhist books are often slandered. Why? It is simply because people misunderstand the Buddhist teaching of kong (emptiness). They do not realize that the nature of the Tathāgata (Rulai) is like empty space, and that the nature of empty space is itself the Tathāgata. It possesses the qualities of purity, clarity, numinous subtlety, and transparent penetration. Abiding in this realm of purity, clarity, numinous subtlety, and transparent penetration is what makes one a Tathāgata. Ordinary people always possess this nature of purity, clarity, numinous subtlety, and transparent penetration, yet they cannot truly manifest it. If one could let go of all attachments, so that the mind is clear and unobstructed, cleansed as completely as empty space, then this nature of purity, clarity, numinous subtlety, and transparent penetration would clearly appear and be entirely identical with the Tathāgata. How could it be said that this is not so?

Have you not heard Layman Pang (Pang Jushi) say that one should only wish to empty whatever things already exist, and not wish to take what was never there as something real? Layman Pang's previous incarnation was Layman Vimalakīrti (Weimo Jushi), and Vimalakīrti's previous incarnation was the Tathāgata Golden Millet (Jinsu Rulai). When he spoke these words, he certainly was not deceiving the world. It is only that some people can comprehend them and some cannot; this is merely a difference in each person's innate capacity and aptitude.

In the past, Du Qigong (Du Qi) did not believe in the Buddhist Dharma and often mocked it before his guests, while Zhang Wending considered him to be flattering the Dharma. There was a physician surnamed Zhu who often visited both men's homes and sought an opportunity to persuade Du Qigong, but never succeeded. One day Du Qigong fell ill and sent for Dr. Zhu. Dr. Zhu replied that he was reading the Śūraṅgama Sūtra (a Buddhist scripture) and had not finished it, so he did not go at once. When he arrived, Du Qigong angrily asked, "What exactly is this Śūraṅgama Sūtra? I only know Confucius and Mencius." Dr. Zhu took the first fascicle of the scripture from his sleeve and showed it to him. After Du Qigong finished reading it, he asked for the remaining fascicles and, without realizing it, had read ten scrolls, whereupon he sighed, "This is truly an extraordinary book!" He then took Dr. Zhu along to visit Zhang Wending and blamed him for not having introduced the book earlier. Zhang Wending smiled and said, "It is like something lost that has now been found; there is no need to ask why it was found so late." From then on, Du Qigong seemed to have gained some understanding and came to have deep faith in the Buddhist Dharma.

There was also a famous scholar, Xu Xuan, who had never before encountered Buddhist books. The Southern Tang ruler Zhongzhu gave him a copy of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra and said, "If you read it for a long time, you will naturally see the profound principles within it." Some ten-odd days later, Xu Xuan reported to the emperor, "Your servant has read it several times, but it is like pouring the contents of one vessel into another; I truly cannot grasp it." Zhongzhu, upon hearing this, smiled and said nothing. Alas, Du Qigong finished ten scrolls in a single reading, while Xu Xuan could not understand it after reading for over ten days. Does this not show precisely that people's innate natures differ?

Harming and Bullying Those of Cultivated Virtue

People often say that they are like those who conceal their illness and avoid the doctor, knowing full well they are sick yet shunning the physician. The words of sages often strike right at the heart of a matter and expose many faults. When people cannot live up to those words, however, they wildly slander and mock them. Chen Jia criticized the Duke of Zhou, and Shusun Wu slandered Confucius. What they said sounded like the babbling of children. How could they not first stop to reflect?

The scripture says that in the past, the youth Sudhana (Shancai Tongzi) diligently studied the various bodhisattva teachings in order to practice the bodhisattva path. He widely visited fifty-three great good teachers (dashan zhishi) and only then attained bodhi, or awakening. A good teacher is a great guide who leads people onward. A single phrase from such a teacher can bring a person to sudden awakening, so how could the benefit be small?

The "virtue" spoken of here refers to people of cultivated virtue, and is not limited to figures within Buddhism or Daoism. Since ancient times, eminent people have also often been tempered, enlightened, and encouraged by great good teachers, and only afterward did their fame spread and their names endure for ages. Zhang Liang was instructed by the Yellow Stone Old Man. Zhuge Liang associated with Pang Degong. Li Jing was guided by Qiuran Ke, the Curly-Bearded Guest. Yan Zhenqing befriended Zhang Zhihe. Li Bai was appreciated by He Zhizhang, and Du Fu had dealings with Sima Chengzhen. Thus, can those of profound cultivation of virtue be of no benefit to others? And can they therefore be treated with contempt and bullying?

Long ago, when Yin Shu (courtesy name Shilu) was demoted to office in Daliang, he often associated with the elderly monk Chan Master Fayan. One day he said to Fayan, "Lately I feel that retiring to quiet seclusion is quite good." Fayan replied, "Why not also let go of both 'retreat' and 'quiet'?" Yin Shu immediately gained some insight, and later, when facing life and death, he remained clear and unperturbed.

Zhu Yan, a judge serving a jiedushi (military governor), read the scripture "Haiyan" for a long time but never grasped its essentials. One day he asked the lecturing monk Yijiang, "After I die, where will this mind be?" Yijiang answered, "Before you die, where is this mind now?" Upon hearing this, Zhu Yan suddenly awakened and thoroughly understood the meaning of the scripture.

Vice Minister Zeng Kai long admired Chan learning but never attained awakening. One day he visited Chan Master Yuanwu and asked him about the matter. Yuanwu presented him with two gong'an (Chan cases, question-and-answer exchanges or episodes used to inspire students), one from Yunmen and one from Zhaozhou, along with the case of "putting down Mount Sumeru." Zeng Kai suddenly awakened, and the doubts that had accumulated in him for years were resolved.

Ouyang Xiu at first did not believe in Buddhism or Daoism. Later, when he held office in the areas of Haozhou and Boshe, he heard that Xu Changling, a recluse in the mountains during the Later Tang period, had attained the Way. He invited Xu to stay in his official residence, conversed with him every day, often gained something from these talks, and was greatly pleased. From this, can those of profound cultivation of virtue be of no benefit to others?

Shooting Flying Birds (killing birds in flight)

The Taishang (the Most High) teaches that after chaos divided, Heaven and Earth took their places: the pure qi (Qi, vital energy) became the sky, and the turbid qi became the earth. The yang essence (Jing, essence) became the sun, the yin essence became the moon, and the finest essences of sun and moon became the stars. Harmonious qi formed humans, mixed qi formed beasts, light and thin qi formed birds, and turbid, tangled qi formed insects. Living beings succeed one another, gather, and multiply, and each meets its own fate according to its karmic retribution and conditions.

From this view, what fundamental difference is there between humans and flying birds? The Zhao Lun says, "Heaven, Earth, and I share one root; all things and I are one body." These words are not empty deception. Birds differ from humans only in their blessings and karma, and in the forms their bodies take.

I have examined the classics and found that some beings were originally human and were later reborn as birds, and that some immortals transformed into birds and wandered among them. Liu Anmin was originally a wealthy youth who prized empty fame but did not cultivate the Dao in earnest. After death he was reborn as a phoenix. Sixty years later he was reborn as a human. In that life he practiced diligently and at last attained shijie (liberation by corpse-release, a method by which a practitioner leaves the physical body and ascends as an immortal). He now dwells in the Qinghua Palace. Huang Anshi was originally a Confucian scholar who longed to ascend to immortality, but his resolve was not steadfast. After death he was reborn as a wild goose. Ninety years later he was reborn as a human. In that life he advanced in cultivation, attained ascension to Heaven, and now dwells in the Huangzeng Kuaile Heaven. Are these not examples of humans being reborn as flying birds?

On the Liaodong region's ornamental pillar, a crane once stood. Someone wished to shoot it, and the crane spoke: "I am a bird. My name is Ding Lingwei. I left home a thousand years ago and have now returned. The city walls remain, but the people are no longer the same. Why do you not learn to become immortals? Look at those rows of graves." This is the story of Ding Lingwei, who became an immortal and returned as a crane.

When Emperor Minghuang of the Tang was at Shayuan, he shot a crane. Though wounded, the crane beat its wings, rose, and flew straight toward the southwest. The following year, Emperor Minghuang traveled to Shu and saw an arrow lodged in a wall at the Mingyue Monastery. He asked where the arrow had come from. The Daoists replied, "On the Double Ninth Festival last year, Xu Zuoqing, a Daoist of Mount Qingcheng, came here carrying this arrow. He left it behind and departed." Only then did Emperor Minghuang realize that the crane had been a transformation of Xu Zuoqing. Is this not an example of an immortal transformed into a bird, wandering among them?

The Zan (Eulogy) says: In an age when the Great Dao (Dao) is bright and clear, people harbor no thought of killing living beings. When crows and magpies build their nests, a person can bend down close to watch, and the birds are not frightened. But if a person stirs even a thought of snaring birds and beasts, the gulls fly far away. Hawks and falcons still possess a heart of benevolence and righteousness, and crows are called "compassionate birds." Why, then, can people not be kind and generous, but instead take stretching nets and shooting birds as sport?

"Zhuzou" (chasing and running after animals).

The scripture says: Having already given a general account of the teachings of Taishang (the Most High), we now cite the words of Buddhism as corroboration. The Buddha says: All sentient beings are originally pure and clean. Because they give rise to false views, delusive thoughts and habitual tendencies (xiqi) arise in their wake, and with these habitual tendencies the cycle of birth and death continues without end. Sentient beings are born following their habitual tendencies, and after death they transform and transmigrate according to karma. Those whose minds are pure and who have only aspiration ascend and are sure to be born in the heavens. Those whose emotional desires match their mental thoughts neither ascend nor fall, and are reborn as humans. Those whose minds are clear are intelligent, while those whose desires are heavy and whose minds are dark are dull. Those with many desires and few thoughts will be reborn as "living beings outside the human realm" (animals): the heavier ones become beasts, and the lighter ones become flying birds.

In general, sentient beings transmigrate through the seven destinies (qu), the seven realms of rebirth, and unless they enter upon correct cultivation (zhengxiu), the proper practice of the Way, they cannot escape them. Now one has become an animal, which does not mean one was not a human in a previous life. Now one is a human, which does not mean one has never been an animal before. Therefore the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and perfected persons who have attained the Way often earnestly teach the world that the path of birth and death is especially fearful. Have people not heard that the arhat (Buddhist sage) Mipo Sicha was once a macaque in a former life, and that Jiaofan Bopti had once been an ox? Nor have they heard that Zhou Xun and Cai Junmo were both said to be serpent spirits?

According to the Record of the Eastern Studio (Dongzhai ji), when Zhou Xun was prefect of Anzhou, he was one day touring a garden when a garden official saw a great serpent lowering its head over the railing. Approaching, the official found that it was Zhou Xun, leaning on the railing and dozing. When Cai Junmo was prefect of Fuzhou, illness kept him from handling official business. Every night he dreamed that he went up to the drum-and-bugle tower and, leaning on the drum, fell asleep. At that time the assistant prefect demanded of the officer responsible for striking the drum for the hours why he had not struck the third watch. The officer replied that a great serpent was coiled on the drum and he could not approach. When Cai Junmo recovered, he told the assistant prefect about his dream, and its content matched exactly what the other had seen. Thus, if sentient beings transmigrate through the seven destinies without entering correct practice, how can one say they are certain to avoid it?

One should know that those who chase animals today may well become those who are chased by animals in the future. If one wishes to be free from transmigration and to avoid being pursued by others, then upon seeing an animal being chased, one should do one's utmost to save it. It is said that the King of Hejian fell gravely ill and had no hope of recovery. Suddenly a Daoist adept who called himself Xuansu came to the door asking to see him and offering to treat him. He had the King take a small dose of medicine, and the King vomited more than ten small snakes, after which his illness was cured at once. Astonished, the King asked the reason. Xuansu replied: "This is the lingering calamity accumulated over six generations of Your Majesty. I am not an ordinary person. Your Majesty once saved a doe in a former life, and that doe later bore a qilin. Your benevolent heart moved heaven and earth, so the Heavenly Emperor sent me down to treat you." Since this is so, when one sees animals being chased, how could one fail to save them?

Li Ying and Li Yan once chased a deer, untied its four legs and hung them from a tree branch, then took out its entrails and roasted them to eat. Before long, a giant about three zhang tall came striding toward them carrying an enormous sack, and Li Ying and Li Yan were nearly caught by him. The giant then took the roasted meat, put it into his sack, and went off into the mountains. Soon after, Li Ying and Li Yan both died suddenly. Since animals pursued by people fare thus, how could people presume to chase them at will?

The eulogy says:

When Hou Ji (Houji) was first abandoned, the cattle and sheep did not trample him. Xingxing (orangutans) can imitate human speech, and macaques are gentle and kind by nature. Every living thing that has awareness is not so different from humankind. Yet people cruelly treat them as food, put them into cauldrons to cook, and willingly savor their rich, tender flesh. Tigers and rhinoceroses may still escape, but the traps that humans set are hard to avoid.

"Fa zhe" (causing hibernating creatures to emerge) means bringing out insects that have gone into hibernation.

The commentary says that the Yueling (Monthly Ordinances) records that in mid-autumn, the thunder begins to subside, and the hibernating insects repair their burrows. In late autumn, the insects sense the cold and retreat deep into their holes, sealing the entrances with earth. In mid-spring, the thunder sounds, and they open their burrows and begin to move about. "Zhe" means to conceal oneself and lie dormant. "Huai" means to add to and repair, that is, to make the opening smaller. "Jin" means to plaster over with earth, sealing the opening tightly. Insects hide and emerge in accordance with the seasons and the climate, and in this way natural change takes shape. Given this, can one stir up or drive out hibernating insects at will? For this reason, the Taishang Ganying Pian (Treatise of the Most High on Response and Retribution) uses this teaching to warn the world, and the buddhas especially extend their compassion to protect all living beings.

Long ago, the monk Huijue planned to build a hall dedicated to Manjushri Bodhisattva (Wenshu Pusa) across a stream, and he intended to lay the foundation beside the water. Thinking that in winter the hundreds of insects are all in hibernation and should not be harmed lightly, he set up an altar by the stream and practiced there for three days and three nights. He made this vow: "On the day the foundation is laid, whether the creatures have one foot, many feet, or no feet at all, may the holy ones in their compassion protect them, so that they all keep away from this place." On the day the work began, the digging went down until spring water welled up, and the hall was completed over the bridge. Not a single ant was seen.

In the Song dynasty, there was also an elderly man whose father fell ill. He prayed before the Medicine Buddha Hall (Yaoshi Dian) of Yongzuo Temple. Later his father recovered, and he prepared incense, candles, and offerings, intending to hold a daochang (ritual assembly) in the hall to repay the gods for their grace. The temple monk Yizhao told him, "Beneath the seat of the Medicine Buddha there is a beehive that has been there for many years, and the swarm is very large. Now is exactly the time they hibernate, and I fear that disturbing them might injure many of them. Why not hold your ritual in another hall?" The old man did not listen. So the monk first prayed before the Buddha: "On the day of the zhai (vegetarian feast), may the Buddha, by divine power and compassion, protect us. May the bees inside the hive only eat the honey they have stored and not come out. May the bees outside the hive also remain calm and not be startled." On the day of the feast, the hall was bright with lamps and candles, and the sound of nao (cymbals) and luo (gongs) echoed for a day and two nights, yet not a single bee appeared.

Alas, although these two events arose from the sincere vows of two people, they truly had the protective power of the holy ones. Who could say that this is not so?

The eulogy says:

Do Not Disturb Roosting Birds

Those who govern the world through Virtue (De) extend their kindness even to the smallest living things. When building earthen walls, one chooses the proper season, and in winter one lets all things close up and rest. People will block up north-facing windows and mend broken doors, and birds and beasts likewise need secure places to dwell. Whether a creature walks on feet or breathes through its mouth, its instinct to survive can be fully cared for. Its recovery when sick, and its stretching of the body and loosening of the limbs, also fall within the protection of our benevolent hearts.

The scriptures say that the Most High Dao (Taishang) warns people not to disturb birds that are roosting. This agrees with Confucius's practice of not shooting birds that have already settled to roost while hunting. A bird that has settled is like a person who has fallen asleep. To startle it suddenly would throw an entire nest into alarm. Ordinary people see birds as separate from themselves, but those whose hearts embrace all beings without distinction regard them as no different from themselves.

Long ago there was a cultivator named Luoji Xian (Immortal Snail-Topknot), who entered the fourth dhyana, a Buddhist meditative state. He regulated his breath, sat motionless under a tree, and did not stir. Birds mistook him for a tree, built a nest in his topknot, and laid eggs there. Luoji Xian sensed the eggs above his head through his meditation and thought: if I rise at once, the birds will be frightened; if they never return, the eggs will be destroyed. So he returned to meditative absorption and waited until the chicks hatched and flew away one by one before he rose.

There was also a man named Dashu Xian (Immortal Great Tree) who lived beside the Ganges River. He devoted himself to meditation for many years, and his body became as thin and dry as a withered log. Birds gathered on him to roost and left seeds of the nyagrodha (a banyan-like great tree) on his shoulders. Over the cycle of cold and heat, the tree grew lush with branches and leaves, its shade spreading wide enough to embrace with two arms. One night he suddenly emerged from his trance and wished to leave the tree, but he feared disturbing the birds. So he moved his body slowly, with patience and skillful means, and rose only after he had moved away. The heavenly realms praised his virtue and bestowed upon him the title "Great Tree."

All of these people attained the fruit of their practice, and each held a universal compassion toward every living being. How much more, then, should those of shallow merit take care to cherish living creatures! It is regrettable that people often do not know that Li Xizi and Chen Anshi both attained realization because they did not disturb roosting birds. Li Xizi was originally an old woman in the mountains. Whenever heavy snow fell and the birds could find no secure branches, they often flew to her home. She let them stay, fed them grain, and did not disturb them. The Lord on High, judging her to have a benevolent heart, granted her the opportunity to transcend the mundane world, and she now holds a prominent rank in Fengdu (the netherworld city). Chen Anshi was originally a laborer in the household of Quan Shuben. Throughout his life he never trod on living insects or killed any creature. Whenever he went out and saw birds blocking the road, he always detoured around them, unwilling to disturb them, and so he was able to ascend to the immortal realms. One should know that no one who attains the Dao fails to first hold compassion for all things before reaching such a state.

Filling the Burrow

All living things wish to dwell in a place of their own, and at night both people and animals should be allowed to rest in peace. The sage is concerned that even a single life might lose its peace. The Analects of Confucius, a classic of the state of Lu, records that Confucius would not shoot birds roosting in their nests with arrows. Startling a flock of birds may seem a small matter, yet the harm it causes can be great.

Ancient texts say: from the human point of view, it is merely a hole in the ground, but from the perspective of the creatures living inside, is it only a hole? Each of them regards its dwelling as a magnificent and deep palace. Have you heard of the great scholartree to the south of the Peng family's house, where a colony of ants treated the burrow as their own kingdom and called it "Huai'an" (Peaceful Under the Locust Tree)? Behind Wang Yi's house there was a sandalwood tree whose shade covered an ant nest, and the ants within likewise regarded their burrow as a kingdom and named it "Tanluo." To ants, a burrow is their Huai'an or Tanluo, just as shrimp call their homes "Changbin" and swallows call their nests "Wuyi." That every living creature cherishes its home is no cause for wonder.

Given this, may a burrow be filled in? To fill it would be to block its entrance and cut off its way out, and would the creatures inside not all be trapped and die?

A scripture records that a bhikshu (a Buddhist monk) who possessed the six supernatural powers was living in the mountain forest with a shramanera (a young novice monk). After entering meditative concentration, the bhikshu saw that the novice would die in seven days, and he gently told him: "Your parents miss you. You may go home for a short time and return after eight days." The novice went home and, just as foretold, returned on the eighth day. The bhikshu was puzzled and entered concentration again to investigate, and only then did he learn that on the way home the novice had seen water about to flow into an ant nest. He hurriedly took off his robe, gathered earth, and blocked the water so that it could not enter. Because of this deed, his lifespan was extended by twelve years.

Song Jiao and his younger brother Song Qi were once traveling together when they encountered a strange monk. After examining their physiognomy, the monk said: "Little Song will in time place first in the whole realm in the examinations, and Big Song too will attain a high rank." Ten years later, the monk met Big Song again on the road. Startled, he said: "Your complexion and spirit are out of the ordinary, as if you have saved tens of thousands of lives. Have you ever done such a thing?" Big Song replied: "I have always been poor. How could I have done anything of the kind?" The monk asked him to think carefully. After a long while, Big Song said: "Beneath the hall of my house there was an ant nest, and once it was suddenly struck by a great flood. I quickly wove a bamboo bridge so the ants could cross. Could this be the matter you mean?" The monk said: "It must be. Little Song was destined to take first place this year, but your own rank will not, in the end, be lower than his."

Later, when the examination results were announced, Little Song did indeed place first. Empress Dowager Zhangxian, however, felt that a younger brother should not be ranked above his elder brother, so she ordered that Big Song be placed first and Little Song tenth.

From this, we may ask: may an ant's burrow be filled in?

Preface

The eulogy says: In remote antiquity, when people first appeared, they lived in caves, so-called guanku (tube-caves), simple hollows used as dwellings, and they kept company with deer, pigs, and other animals. Later, sages appeared, and people began to build houses with roofs and walls. Humans and animals are different, yet both prefer to dwell among hills and earth. Every living creature that moves has its own place to rest. How could we deprive them of a place to settle?

Overturned Nests (Fuchao)

The Taishang Baosi Zhang (Charter of the Most High for Preserving Descendants), a passage in Daoism that emphasizes protecting one's offspring, says that those whose lineages die out or whose children are few have, in past lives, destroyed bird nests, damaged eggs, set fire to forests, or drained lakes, harming unborn young and fledglings, and thereby violating one thousand six hundred and twenty precepts. Given this, can nests be destroyed at will?

All living beings, large and small, each have a place where they rest and find shelter. When they breed and raise their young, they also hide and protect their offspring. To destroy their nests is to take away the place where they live, making it impossible for them to reproduce. Would this not cut off their descendants?

I have examined the account in the Bencao (Materia Medica). It records that when someone destroyed a stork's nest and took away the fledglings, no rain fell for months within a radius of sixty li. It is said that storks can fly in flocks and stir the clouds, and when the clouds scatter, rain does not fall.

The Neijue further records that when the chicks of birds of prey have just hatched, they are carried out of the nest. To keep them from falling or being scorched by the sun, the mother bird always gathers leafy branches and sets them around the edge of the nest, replacing them twice a day. When the leaves wither, it means the chicks have left the nest; when the leaves are still green, the chicks are still inside. When people destroy nests, they often seize all the chicks. Who can say that birds living in their nests have no feelings?

Let me give one or two more examples, so that everyone may take warning. In the past, when Wen Zhang served as Jingzhaoyin (Governor of the Capital Region), he hung a bell-rope in front of his hall so that those who had suffered injustice could come quickly to plead their cases. One day, as he sat alone, he heard the bell ring several times. When he followed the sound to look, no one was there. He saw only a crow that had landed on the bell-rope. Wen Zhang said, "Someone must have destroyed its nest and taken its chicks." Later the culprit was indeed caught, and Wen Zhang punished him with the rod.

Yuan Ruzhi, during the Yuanfeng reign period, served as magistrate of Lushan County. One day, a stork dropped a straw garment in the courtyard, and he immediately ordered a search. Sure enough, someone had taken off the straw garment, hung it in a tree, and planned to destroy the stork's nest and sell the chicks for money, having first used the garment to cook meat. Yuan Ruzhi also punished the man according to the law. Seen in this light, can nests truly be destroyed?

When nests are destroyed, how do we know the birds do not cry out in grief for help? It is only that people cannot understand their language. How might one obtain the Jiutian Qinyu (the Language of the Birds of the Nine Heavens, said to be the speech of birds in the sky) and write it down so that people can read it?

Bai Guinian met Li Taibai (Li Bai) beneath the eastern cliffs of Mount Song. Li Bai said, "Your father, Letian (Bai Juyi), and I have both already become immortals." He then took out a roll of plain silk and gave it to Bai Guinian, saying, "Once you have read this book, you will be able to recognize the Jiutian Qinyu and the Jiudi Shouyan (the speech of beasts of the earth), that is, the languages of birds in the sky and beasts on the ground. If you further accumulate merit, the hope of becoming an immortal will be within reach." Bai Guinian followed these instructions, and he did indeed achieve results.

One day he passed through Luzhou. The prefect, having heard of his ability, invited him to sit down. Just then, two sparrows flew across the courtyard, chirping. The prefect asked, "What are they saying?" Bai Guinian replied, "They say that the granaries of the common people to the west of the city hold a great surplus of grain, and that we could all go there to eat." When this was checked, it proved to be true. After a while, a horse in the stable raised its head and neighed. The prefect asked again, "What is it saying?" Bai Guinian replied, "It says the fodder in the trough has heated up and cannot be eaten." When the groom was questioned, this too proved to be exactly so.

Praise:

It is said that in ancient times birds liked to build their nests close to human dwellings. To escape snakes and hawks, they relied on people as trusted protectors. Yet people, dressed in fine robes and appearing courteous, have hearts that are not kind. They eat the nestlings and burn the nests for firewood. The phoenix can soar high, while the vicious bird Jing is tamed.

Harming the Fetus.

An ancient text says that beings born from the womb, according to Buddhist teaching, enter the cycle of rebirth because they cling to desire and hold to inverted views. Sentient beings arise through the convergence of various causes and conditions, and because their minds are scattered, they take different forms of birth, such as birth from the womb and birth from eggs. Humans, animals, dragons, and immortals (xian) likewise fill the world. Alas, humans, animals, dragons, and immortals are plainly different, so why does Buddhism group them together? It is because all of them are drawn along by defilement and all of them remain within the cycle of rebirth.

People cherish the fetus in their wombs. Do other beings not cherish theirs? According to immortals' biographies, Bai Weinian once entered an immortal's cave and obtained a volume of plain silk scripture, after which Bai Weinian could understand the speech of birds of the Nine Heavens and beasts of the Nine Earths. One day, while passing through Luzhou, the prefect learned of this ability and invited Bai Weinian to share his table. Just then, an attendant drove thirty sheep through the courtyard. One of them refused to move even under the whip and cried out mournfully. The prefect asked, "Does the sheep have something to say?" Guinian replied, "It says it carries a lamb in its belly and is about to give birth. Once the lamb is born, it is willing to die." The prefect then spared the sheep, and it did indeed later give birth to two lambs.

Liu Daoyuan once served as magistrate of Pengxi County. After resigning, he lodged at the Qin family's home and dreamed of a woman weeping. She said, "I am the wife of the Qin household. My husband had a concubine who would not submit to me, and in a rage I beat her severely until she died. The concubine brought her complaint before the lord of the netherworld, and the underworld judged me guilty, calling me cruel-hearted and sentencing me to be reborn as a sheep. I am now in the Qin family's sheep pen, and tomorrow I will be slaughtered for you to eat. My death is deserved, but I still carry a lamb in my belly. If it suffers too because I am boiled and slaughtered, my offenses will be even heavier. Please say a word for me. If I can be spared this calamity, I would be most fortunate." At dawn, Liu Daoyuan told the Qin family of the dream, but the sheep had already been slaughtered and cooked. The whole household wept in grief, removed the lamb from its belly, and buried it elsewhere. If this is so, how can one harm the fetus in the womb?

Praise:

Deer confined in a hall grieve until their intestines break and they die. When an eel is about to be cooked, it coils its body to protect its young. The attachment of living things to their offspring surpasses their care for themselves. Humans, too, conceive and bear children to carry on their lineage. Why not reverse the perspective and consider that the fetus you cherish deserves that the fetuses of other beings be cherished in the same way?

Breaking Bird Eggs.

According to the tradition, Bodhisattva Xinxiang once asked the Buddha why some sentient beings have no children and must live alone. The Buddha replied that in past lives they had been violent and had done evil. They did not believe in the retribution of good and evil, so they captured fledglings and ate eggs, leaving the birds bereft of their young. The birds cried without end, sometimes until blood flowed from their eyes. Because of this, they suffered the retribution of childlessness in this life. The Buddha's account is matched by the Daoist Chapter on Safeguarding Offspring (Baosi zhang), a passage in the Taishang (the Most High) scriptures that seeks heirs, which makes the same claim.

Can bird eggs then be broken? The Pipoosha lun (Vibhasa treatise) explains that sentient beings transmigrate, and that at times they are reborn as egg-born creatures. The consciousness is enclosed within the eggshell, and the chick must peck its own way out before it can be born. From this we can see the consequences of destroying an egg. The same text says that the stork, wild goose, mandarin duck, peacock, parrot, myna, thousand-year bird, and golden-winged bird are all egg-born, and that some of them were originally dragons or humans reborn in that form.

I once found it hard to believe that any human could be egg-born. It is ordinary for birds to hatch from eggs, but how could a person come from one? Later I read the stories of Qishi, Fubo shi, and King Yan of Xu, and learned that legends of human egg-birth do exist. It is said that long ago a merchant named Kuodita went to sea in search of treasure and obtained two swans. One of them was later lost, and the other laid two eggs. When the shells cracked open, two boys hatched. When they grew up, both left home to cultivate the Way and attained the fruit of Arhatship (the Buddhist state in which all afflictions are severed and liberation is won). One was named Venerable Qishi Poluo, and the other Venerable Fubo shi Poluo.

The Gazetteer of Xuzhou records that long ago a palace woman in the court of the Lord of Xu gave birth to an egg, and when the shell broke, a boy emerged. The boy grew up to be benevolent and wise, and he inherited the lordship of the state of Xu. Because he was born lying on his back (yan), he was called King Yan. Given this, who can say that a human could never be born from an egg?

When Zhi Dun was young, he discussed the kinds of living things with his teacher. Zhi Dun argued that a life within an egg has not yet been born, so breaking it does not count as taking life. His teacher could not persuade him, so he dropped a chicken egg on the ground. When the shell broke, a chick ran out, but it soon died. The teacher used this to show that the egg already contained consciousness. Zhi Dun was moved by this and remained vegetarian for the rest of his life.

Li Daonian was fond of eating eggs, and in his later years he fell ill with a strange ailment. The prefect Chu Cheng gave him a dose of su zhi (a medicinal liquid), and he immediately vomited thirteen objects. When they were cut open, each contained chicken feathers, wings, claws, and spurs, fully formed, and they could even stand and walk. Li Daonian was terrified and from then on never ate eggs again.

But can fish roe be destroyed at will? I have considered this. Among egg-born animals, none lay more eggs than fish. A large fish may lay several thousand eggs at once, and even a small one lays no fewer than several hundred. Killing a single fish may destroy countless eggs. When Li Chongyuan was about to kill a catfish, he dreamed that an old woman in black clothing said to him, "I carry five thousand children in my belly. When I am born, five thousand children are born with me; when I die, all five thousand die. I beg you to have pity on them and let me live." Li Chongyuan then released the fish.

In the Xuanhe era, a wealthy merchant named Yang Xu dreamed that a deity told him, "You will die in ten-odd days. You may escape death only if you can save hundreds of millions of lives." Yang Xu replied, "My final hour is near, and the number of lives I can save is limited. It will be hard to reach that many." The deity answered, "The Buddhist scriptures say that fish roe, even when salted, can still be revived if it has not been left too long. Why not find a way to save it?" Yang Xu then wrote the deity's words in large characters on a wall beside the road. From then on, people knew to refrain from killing. Whenever they saw someone killing fish, they took out the roe and released it into the river. After more than a month of this, Yang Xu dreamed again that the deity said the lives saved now exceeded hundreds of millions and that his lifespan could be extended. Soon after, he indeed survived.

The meaning is this: if one can aid living beings while one's own life is failing, then when one's life is about to end, it may be continued because of that merit.

The eulogy says: As long as a person has a living body, the nature within carries a corresponding spiritual intelligence. How could Chaos (Hundun) ever have died? He died only because someone cut open his body. To harm one who has no knowledge or awareness in this way, how could it be called fair or forgiving? The Dark Bird (Xuanniao), a mythical bird said to be the origin of the Shang people, gave birth to the Shang ancestor, and a sacred spirit dwelt within it. Its marvelous events emerge and are impossible to fathom. How could people not be cautious and fearful?

May Others Err.

The commentary on the scripture explains that the Nirvana Sutra teaches that one who cultivates the mind should use six kinds of equalizing wisdom to gather and restrain the heart, so that in action and use one regards all things with equanimity. These six kinds of wisdom are: the wisdom that sees all things as empty like echoes, the wisdom that sees them as illusory like images in a mirror, the wisdom that sees them as conjured things, the wisdom of pure equality, the wisdom that regards worldly dharmas as equal, and the wisdom that regards the gathering of conditions as equal. In general, one who possesses such wisdom will have corresponding power. Are not all things in the world like echoes, images, and illusions? To understand things clearly in this way is surely wisdom. When the mind is pure, the conditions it gathers can also be regarded with equanimity. From this we know that to hope that others will err is simply because one has not yet reached this state.

At the drum and horn tower in Bo Prefecture (a place name), a ghost would cover the drumhead every night at the third watch, so that no one could beat the drum. The night watchmen were repeatedly beaten for it yet never managed to subdue it. Hearing that Chan Master Bēn (a monk) was accomplished in cultivation, they went to ask his advice. The Master said, "Why don't you seize it?" The soldier replied, "How can one seize a ghost?" The Master said, "Just hold your breath and make no sound, and you can seize it." The soldier did as he was told and indeed caught the ghost. The ghost said, "In this place, the only ones I fear are Chan Master Bēn and Uncle Huang. I am not afraid of anyone below the prefect, much less you." Later, when people searched for Uncle Huang, they found that he was only an old vegetable farmer who had sold vegetables for thirty years. He had no other skill, but he held to the same standard in judging the tenderness of the vegetables, the size of the bundles, and the price, and never showed partiality. Alas, when a person's will is single-minded, he can command the reverence of ghosts and spirits. From this we know that one whose heart harbors two intentions will certainly be toyed with by ghosts and spirits.

Have you not heard of the case of Assistant Envoy Yu? When Li Shiheng was sent as an envoy to Goryeo, the military officer Yu Ying served as his deputy. Shiheng paid no mind to the gifts and various presents received during the mission and left them all to the deputy to handle. The deputy, worried that the ship might leak while crossing the sea, placed all of Shiheng's goods beneath the hull and put his own on top. Before long they encountered a strong wind, and the ship nearly capsized. The boatmen begged that the load be lightened, and since the situation was urgent, there was no time to choose, so they simply grabbed whatever was at hand and threw it into the sea. After a while the wind subsided, and when the company took stock of their belongings, they found that everything thrown away had belonged to the deputy, while Shiheng's goods were intact, not one item lost. The deputy suffered such an outcome in return. How do we know that it was not the Sea God who, because his heart harbored private designs, was toying with him and so brought about this result?

If a person is not as wise as Yao or Shun, Yi Yin takes the responsibility upon himself. To think only of making oneself a gentleman is still not enough, and Qu Boyu considered it insufficient as well. One should hope that all people can live together without failing the profound kindness of Heaven and Earth. If someone is fierce and cruel, he will drag the multitude along with him in doing evil. What, after all, is the intention behind such conduct? Are such people not even inferior to birds and beasts?

Destroying others' achievements.

The sutra records that the Buddha told Elder Shoujia that there are ten kinds of good conduct that enable beings to obtain great power and virtue (the strength formed by merit and virtuous conduct). First, not to harbor jealousy toward beings. Second, to rejoice in one's heart upon seeing others gain benefit. Third, to feel compassion in one's heart upon seeing others lose benefit. Fourth, to feel delight in others' reputation and advantages. Fifth, to be willing to share the sorrow of others upon seeing them lose their good name. Sixth, to arouse the bodhi mind (bodhicitta, the aspiration to seek awakening and benefit beings), to create Buddha images, and to offer canopies. Seventh, to respectfully serve one's parents as well as worthies and sages. Eighth, to advise others to abandon actions that bring only minor power. Ninth, to advise others to cultivate good deeds that accomplish great power. Tenth, not to look down on those who lack power.

Bodhisattva Vimala said: forget self-interest and hold all people in your heart; upon seeing good deeds, follow and emulate them; use appropriate means to dispel jealousy, and you will receive the karmic result of having great worthies as relatives. In sum, one who is not jealous of others and does not slander them will surely increase his own power, and others will also rejoice. When future conditions bring about an encounter, the other person will become either a great good spiritual friend (kalyāṇamitra, one who helps us cultivate goodness and seek the Way) or a virtuous and good relative. Who can say it is not so?

During the Shanyuan campaign, after the Khitan accepted the covenant and withdrew, Lord Lai (Kou Zhun) often showed an air of self-satisfaction, and the emperor also felt that this campaign had been a meritorious achievement. Lord Ji, jealous of him, told the emperor: "In the Battle of Shanyuan, Kou Zhun treated Your Majesty as if he were gambling with dice against the enemy. Had we not defeated the enemy but instead been defeated, he would not have been planning a lasting strategy for Your Majesty. This is what the Spring and Autumn Annals calls 'a covenant sworn beneath the city walls.' The feudal lords still regarded this as shameful, yet Your Majesty treats it as merit?" The emperor was thereby greatly shaken.

Later, Kou Zhun was demoted once again. When fighting broke out in Guangzhou, the circuit intendant Wang Han toured to Haizhou, where the prefect Chong Jian sealed a letter in wax to report the emergency. Wang Han continued on to Huizhou, where local people again came on horseback seeking rescue. Wang Han ordered that each village have three great households each recruit two hundred able-bodied men, and he further ordered the subordinate counties to each recruit twenty bowmen. He also personally recruited twenty brave warriors to guard himself. Later, more than ten plunderers were captured, and Wang Han had them cut in two at the waist and displayed to the public. Upon arriving at Guangzhou, his son died at the hands of the bandits, yet he did not weep. From then on, the south gate of Guangzhou was no longer closed, grain transport flowed freely, and the bandits withdrew.

At that time, the judicial commissioner Bao Ke was stationed with troops at Chaozhou, yet he submitted memorials every day claiming that Wang Han was timid and would not fight, and the training officer Li Dui agreed with him. As a result, Wang Han was demoted one rank and sent to manage the commercial taxes of Xinzhou, while Bao Ke alone received a reward.

Alas, Lord Lai's merit was indeed great, and Wang Han's merit was no small one either. Lord Ji and Li Dui, with only a few words, brought about such results. Are the deeds these two men did to be considered good conduct? Do they understand how to counter jealousy? One should know that the karmic results they will receive will surely not include great power, nor will they have virtuous and good relatives.

The Eulogy says: In the early Western Han, three chief ministers who assisted the throne worked in harmony to govern the realm, bringing the land to a state of stability and prosperity comparable to the reigns of King Cheng and King Kang of Zhou. The institutions devised by Xiao He were continued by Cao Can, and the foundations of the Han dynasty flourished as a result. By the Tang dynasty, Li Xun, out of jealousy toward Zheng Zhu, instigated the "Sweet Dew Incident," which brought calamity upon the Tang. The matter did not originate with him, yet he recklessly expanded and manipulated it, and in the end brought about his own defeat. That so many states have declined because of such things is surely cause enough for profound grief.

"Endangering others to secure oneself" means placing others in peril in order to obtain one's own safety.

The Jing (scripture), citing the Zhuan (Commentary), says: "Subhuti" (the name of a disciple of the Buddha).