《赤松子中诫经》

Long ago, Gongming Zigao passed through the state of Song and saw that the minister Xue Ai had ten sons. Six were physically disabled, one had died in prison, and three others were blind and deaf and afflicted with sores and rashes. Zigao asked Xue Ai, “What have you done in your life to bring down such calamities upon yourself?”

Xue Ai replied, “Since you have asked, sir, I will tell you the truth. When I served as prime minister, I never recommended worthy people or befriended the virtuous. Whenever I saw someone of merit, I treated him like an enemy and tried to keep him from entering public service. If another person lost something, I felt as though I had gained; if another person gained something, I felt as though I had suffered a loss. I only regret that I could not do these things even more brazenly myself.”

Zigao said, “If you act this way, your family is likely to fall into ruin. Calamities and illnesses will afflict your descendants, who will suffer the consequences of your wrongdoing. How could such things be mere coincidence?”

Hearing this, Xue Ai looked terrified and bewildered. He bowed his head to Zigao, admitted his faults, and asked to change his ways. Zigao told him, “Though Heaven is far above us, it can see what happens in the human world. Those who commit evil deeds will surely meet with calamity; those who do good will surely receive blessings. If you correct your past mistakes and cultivate your conduct from now on, you can turn failure into success. It is not too late to change. I once received from you a volume of The Admonitions of Chisongzi, a book of counsel handed down by Chisongzi. If you follow its teachings, you can care for your own health and dispel illness, and you can also bring help to your descendants in this life. I know that your intentions in the past were entirely misguided. Now I will pass this book of admonitions on to you. Follow it, and you will come to understand the proof of Heaven’s responsive workings.”

With that, Zigao opened a chest, took out a scripture, and gave it to Xue Ai. Xue Ai bowed in thanks and received the book in both hands. Zigao then took his leave.

Several years later, Zigao returned to Song and saw that the illnesses afflicting Xue Ai’s sons had all been cured. He asked Xue Ai, “Since I left, what skilled physician have you found, or what miraculous remedy have you used to cure your sons?” Xue Ai replied, “The boys never saw a skilled physician, nor did we use any other methods. In the years since I received the Central Admonition Scripture from you, I have mended my ways. When I see another person suffer a loss, I feel sorrow for them; when I see someone gain something, I feel glad for them. I recommend capable and worthy people, while relinquishing my own office and salary. I have distributed the gold, silk, money, and grain I had accumulated to the lonely and impoverished, and given aid to those in need. I treat people generously and am willing to lend them things; I do not compete with others. I also fast and bathe in purity, praying for blessings on behalf of my parents and ancestors. I do not seek fine clothes or crave delicious food. I revere Heaven and Earth, believe in spirits, and practice contentment and frugality. In this way, each of my sons recovered.”

Zigao said, “How swift! Heaven repays good deeds more quickly than an echo answers a sound or a shadow follows its form. Now that you are wholeheartedly doing good, all your children’s illnesses have been cured. How much more must you have accomplished through your many other good deeds?”

Xue Ai brought out a thousand pieces of gold and, bowing, thanked Zigao for passing on the scripture, asking him to accept it. Zigao said, “I have no use for your gold. You would do better to keep it and use it to help people quietly. If you copy this scripture and pass it on to those who do not yet understand its teachings, that will be the finest way to repay me.” Then Zigao took his leave.

The Yellow Emperor Xuanyuan bowed to Master Red Pine and asked for guidance: “I see that people’s fortunes differ greatly. Some are rich and noble, others poor and lowly; some live long, others die young. Some are imprisoned for no apparent reason, some suffer from illnesses that never heal, and some die suddenly without ever having been ill. Still others live long lives and enjoy good fortune and prosperity. How do these differences come about? Please explain them to me.”

Master Red Pine replied: “Each person is born under a star of destiny. Some stars are great, others small, and they govern a person’s physical form, length of life, rise and decline, wealth and poverty, and life and death. Those who do good are sheltered by benevolent Qi. Blessings and De accumulate around them, evil influences withdraw, spirits protect them, and people respect them; thus they can stay clear of calamity. Those who do evil, by contrast, are shrouded in baleful Qi. Calamities follow, good fortune turns away, ominous stars shine upon them, and people despise them. Decline and hardship then descend together.

“From morning to night, a person’s thoughts, intentions, words, and deeds may unknowingly violate the taboos of Heaven and Earth, thereby bringing punishment and moral debts upon them. There is more than one cause. When a person does evil, the spirits report it to the Director of Destinies, the deity who governs human lifespans. The stars then shorten that person’s allotted years; Heaven’s life-giving Qi leaves them, while Earth’s Yin Qi clings to their body. This is why people fall into decline.”

The Yellow Emperor asked again: “How long, in principle, should a person live?”

Master Red Pine replied: “At birth, Heaven grants a person a lifespan of 43,800 days, amounting to 120 years, with each year corresponding to one year of life. Thus, everyone is originally allotted 120 years. But when people violate the taboos of Heaven and Earth, their allotted years are reduced, until their lifespan is spent and they die.”

The Yellow Emperor asked again: “Some die in the womb; others live only a few years before they die. They have not yet done anything. What taboos have they violated?”

Master Red Pine replied: “The calamity comes from the sins of their ancestors and is passed down to their descendants. Since ancient times, the wise have established teachings and preserved them in the scriptures of the immortals. They urge people to do good and understand the harm caused by every kind of evil deed. In this way, a good name can endure for generations, and descendants can receive its blessings.”

Human beings live between Heaven and Earth and receive the two Qi of Yin and Yang, the fundamental forces that constitute all things in the cosmos. Though Heaven is high and distant, its influence reaches downward; though Earth is low, its influence can rise upward.

Though Heaven does not speak, the four seasons still run their course on time. Though Earth does not speak, all things still grow from it. People live between Heaven and Earth, yet give free rein to their thoughts and desires. Heaven and Earth see every human action, every moment of daily life, every breath; therefore, it is said that Heaven has “four kinds of knowing.”

People do not speak of repaying Heaven and Earth for their kindness, yet they often complain about them. Heaven nourishes the people; Qian and Kun (Heaven and Earth) are like parents, the sun and moon like eyes, and the stars correspond to the human body’s nine openings—the ears, eyes, mouth, nose, and other orifices. The movement of wind and the power of fire become warmth. When a person’s life ends, they ultimately return to the soil.

In Heaven are the Three Terraces and the Northern Dipper, which oversee the Director of Destiny and the Director of Records, who govern people’s lifespans and registers of fate. Taiyi, a celestial deity in Daoism, sends the Directing Talisman, an officer of the gods charged with inspection, to remain above people’s heads, observe their transgressions, and reduce their years of life. If one year is taken away, the star above the person’s head loses its brightness, and they will meet with more adversity. If ten years are taken away, the star gradually becomes incomplete, and they will suffer calamity, decline, and illness. If twenty years are taken away, its light vanishes, and they will fall into hardship, become gravely ill, or face punishment and imprisonment. If thirty years are taken away, the star scatters, and they will die. If calamity strikes before a person’s allotted years are exhausted, the misfortune will also reach their descendants. If the descendants’ troubles continue without end, the family may even become extinct. People often do not know their own faults and simply say that their lives are short.

Thus, Heaven does not deceive the myriad things, but gives warnings through many signs: day and night, the changes of Yin and Yang, thunder and lightning, rain and snow, rainbows and halos around the sun and moon, the dimming or eclipses of the sun and moon, comets, brooms stars, meteors, and other such phenomena are signs Heaven shows to people. Earth, too, does not deceive the myriad things, but warns through responses and signs. It gives life and nourishment to all things; rivers flow, and they may also dry up. There may also be landslides and earthquakes, fierce winds shaking trees, flying sand and rolling stones, floods, insect infestations, famine, drought, miasma, and epidemics. These are signs Earth shows to people. The spirits, too, do not deceive the myriad things, but reveal themselves through fortune and misfortune, strange occurrences, and auspicious or inauspicious signs. These are the signs of the spirits.

A ruler must not deceive the myriad things or the people. He should show his sincerity to Heaven and Earth, so that the stars move in harmony, calamities subside, the four quarters are at peace, and the people turn to him with loyalty. Only then can he establish the authority of his rule. People’s actions, words, and intentions cannot casually be dismissed as “simply the way Heaven and Earth are.” Thus the sage says, “Heaven shows no partiality among people; it helps those who possess De.” People should revere the Mandate of Heaven, respect adults of virtue and rank, and honor the teachings of the sages.

Heaven and Earth know the truth about the good and evil deeds that ordinary people do in secret each day. When someone secretly takes a life, the spirits can see the traces of the act; ghosts and spirits can also hear what a person thinks and says. Once a certain number of prohibitions have been broken, ghosts and spirits will seize a person’s Jing and Qi; after a thousand violations, the underworld will record that person’s appearance. If someone does evil every day, shackles will soon be upon them. This is the karmic retribution of Yin and Yang. Heaven establishes precepts to warn the world; if people still knowingly violate them, ghosts and spirits, Heaven and Earth, will bring down calamities.

The Yellow Emperor then asked how immortals discern the signs of good and evil and know when blessings are approaching, and asked Red Pine Master to explain in detail. Red Pine Master replied: “The way to cultivate oneself, take hold of one’s destiny, and govern one’s nature is to persist in doing good each morning, keep one’s thoughts focused on goodness, speak good words, do good deeds, and treat others with kindness. If, throughout a whole day, one commits no evil in body, speech, or mind, and continues this for three years, Heaven will bestow good fortune. This is the reward for good deeds. By contrast, if someone speaks evil words, does evil deeds, harbors evil intentions, and urges others to do evil every morning, continuing for three years, calamity will befall them: they will lose their property, their family will suffer, and baleful influences will grow. That person will inevitably decline.

“The Nine Afflictions of Heaven correspond to the nine kinds of untimely disaster in the human world. Good fortune often comes as a sign of evil, while evil may also be a harbinger of good. As the saying goes, ‘The good person is the evil person’s teacher; the evil person is the good person’s lesson.’ Good fortune may foretell danger, while danger, once past, may turn into good fortune. A good person may sometimes repeatedly encounter disaster and decline; this may be calamity left behind by their ancestors.”

Therefore, a person who practices goodness throughout life need not deliberately choose an auspicious day and hour. Whenever they act, they will naturally turn danger into safety, receive the unseen protection of various spirits, and keep harmful influences at bay. A person who does evil throughout life may choose an auspicious day and hour, yet when the time comes, danger may still arise on a day that seems fortunate. Evil spirits may harm them, while the spirits of good fortune depart.

If people can persist in doing good all day, they will naturally receive Heaven’s increase of blessings and lifespan. Their bodies and minds will also become harmonious and peaceful, and shine with renewed vitality. This is the principle of form and shadow following one another. The following explains, step by step, how to keep blessings and longevity from diminishing and preserve them as long as Heaven endures; how to understand the taboos, gains, and losses that govern conduct between Heaven and Earth; and how to cultivate oneself and establish one’s destiny.

Perform one good deed, and the mind of the spirits will grow calm. Perform ten good deeds, and one’s strength will flourish. Perform twenty good deeds, and the body will suffer fewer calamities. Perform thirty good deeds, and one’s wishes will be fulfilled. Perform forty good deeds, and life will be abundant and contented. Perform fifty good deeds, and one’s descendants will prosper. Perform sixty good deeds, and one will avoid missteps caused by error and will not be implicated by evildoers. Perform seventy good deeds, and one’s learning will bring prominence and honor. Perform eighty good deeds, and one will gain benefits from the land. Perform ninety good deeds, and the heavenly spirits will protect one. Perform one hundred good deeds, and Heaven will bestow an official stipend and bring one into the presence of sages. Perform two hundred good deeds, and one’s name will be remembered by later generations, while one’s descendants will also enjoy official stipends. Perform three hundred good deeds, and one’s descendants for three generations will live in wealth and comfort. Perform four hundred good deeds, and one’s descendants for four generations will enjoy wealth, honor, promotion, and official stipends. Perform five hundred good deeds, and one’s descendants for five generations will receive honors and rise beyond their ranks. Perform six hundred good deeds, and descendants in every generation will serve loyally in office and enjoy wealth and honor. Perform seven hundred good deeds, and every generation will produce capable and wise people. Perform eight hundred good deeds, and the family will produce people of virtue. Perform nine hundred good deeds, and the family will produce sages. Perform one thousand good deeds, and the family will produce many immortals.

In ancient times, those who performed good deeds and governed well had their merits recorded by the Way of Heaven. They could not only lengthen their own lives and rise in rank, but even attain the Dao and become immortals. Their blessings also extended to their descendants, among whom worthy and sage figures would appear.

Conversely, when people do evil, they gradually bring corresponding misfortunes upon themselves. One evil deed leaves the mind and spirit unsettled. Ten weaken Jing and physical strength. Twenty bring frequent illness. Thirty make it difficult to obtain what one seeks. Forty bring hardship and declining fortunes, with many things going wrong. Fifty leave a person without a spouse for life. Sixty diminish one’s descendants, or bring their line to an end. Seventy invite the plotting of ghosts from the underworld. Eighty bring disasters involving water or fire, or accidental burns or drowning. Ninety bring poverty and hardship, a weak and sickly body, sores and skin disease, or disorders such as wind illness and madness. One hundred bring harm from heavenly calamities and entanglement in accidents, followed by punishment and an untimely death. Two hundred bring harm from the qi of the earth and disaster at the hands of robbers. Three hundred condemn one’s descendants, generation after generation, to low status. Four hundred leave them poor and lowly for generations, even reduced to begging for a living. Five hundred bring an end to one’s descendants. Six hundred bring descendants, generation after generation, who are blind, deaf, mute, or intellectually disabled and mad. Seven hundred bring descendants who violate moral and family relations, fail in filial duty, or break the law. Eight hundred bring treacherous ministers and rebellious sons, bringing the extermination of their relatives. Nine hundred bring wicked, aberrant people who cause their entire clan to be wiped out. One thousand bring descendants, generation after generation, whose forms are transformed and deformed, incomplete like those of animals. When evil deeds accumulate to the extreme, calamity extends across several generations.

This is how the Director of Destinies (the deity who governs human lifespans and registers of fate) shortens a person’s years, and how the stars fall as a person dies. After death, the soul is judged and punished in Fengdu (the underworld in Daoist tradition), and the calamity is passed down to later generations.

The Yellow Emperor then asked, “When the Director of Destinies shortens people’s lives, what wrongs have people in this world actually committed to bring these misfortunes upon themselves?”

Red Pine replied, “People in this world commit wrongs themselves, yet claim that the Way of Heaven is unjust. When they suffer injustice, they refuse to reflect on and examine their own faults. Instead, they curse Heaven and give way to resentment and anger. Even when imprisoned and put in shackles, they resent Heaven and say, ‘When the Director of Destinies shortens people’s lives, what wrongs have people in this world actually committed to bring these misfortunes upon themselves?’”

Master Red Pine replied: People in the world often commit wrongs themselves, then turn around and say that Heaven’s Way is unjust. When they suffer an injustice, they refuse to distinguish right from wrong and instead curse and resent Heaven. They blame Heaven for imprisonment and fetters, hunger and poverty, illness, heat and cold, frost and snow, and the length of day and night.

They do evil and then pray to Heaven or curse it. They go against the seasons and the workings of the Five Phases—Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water—and offend the Three Lights: the sun, moon, and stars. They go naked or relieve themselves before the sun, moon, and stars, or before community shrines where the earth gods are worshipped. When they see the sun or moon eclipsed, they show no reverence or caution and care only for their own pleasure. They show no respect for Heaven, Earth, or the spirits; fail to honor their parents; and scold and curse the wind and rain. They destroy the scriptures and teachings of the sages and community shrines, dig up graves and take the dead’s possessions, deceive people who are blind, deaf, or unable to speak, and steal gold and silk. They splash filth onto other people’s homes, carelessly ruin clothing, and use unclean vessels to serve food and drink. They use talismans and spells to harm the living, curse them, and bury talismans in the earth. They envy the worthy and capable, cultivate gu poison, and kill living beings. They submit unsigned documents, falsely accuse and harm the innocent, and expose other people’s secrets.

They also block roads and fill in ditches and canals, take other people’s belongings, and discard medicines carelessly. They cut down trees belonging to others, ruin crops, flowers, fruit, and gardens, and harm domestic animals. They pollute wells, Daoist temples and monasteries, other temples, and their own mourning clothes. They sing and play music in inappropriate places, set fire to mountains, and destroy other people’s property. They drain ponds, lakes, and marshes, and catch turtles, fish, and other aquatic creatures.

After making an agreement with someone, they break it. They slight the spirits, act deceitfully, say one thing while meaning another, and use malicious words to stir up conflict. They bring lawsuits without cause and urge others to sue repeatedly. They expose themselves in public and eat with their hair loose. They encourage evil and undermine good, seeking their own profit at others’ expense. They blindly trust misguided teachers and instruct people to break the law, or kill the innocent. They call what is right wrong, abuse their position and authority, resort to cunning schemes, and make minor offenses seem grave.

They kill wantonly in spring and take the lives of all manner of creatures in summer. In autumn, they see wrongdoing but do not correct it; in winter, they dig up things buried underground and destroy the bonds between other people and their families. They delight in killing and despise the nurturing of life. They esteem themselves and look down on others, bully orphans and widows, harm others to benefit themselves, and put others in danger to secure their own safety. They borrow things without returning them, boast of themselves and disparage others, side with the wicked and pursue power, flaunt the authority they wield, and appear kind while harboring malice.

When they witness killing, they grow even more furious. They know they are at fault but do not change, and refuse to follow good examples when they see them. They turn away from their relatives and draw close to outsiders, neglect their elders and treat those younger than themselves with arrogance. They reject the guidance of their parents, teachers, and friends. They let their wives and concubines stir up quarrels, trust shallow words, and slight their own kin. They regret acts of kindness after doing them, delight in seeing others deprived or distressed, secretly pry into other people’s affairs, incite and seduce others’ wives and concubines, act against the proper Way, and take away what others love. They claim other people’s good deeds as their own.

They also make the innocent serve as guarantors for people accused of serious crimes, slight young and old alike, and fail to observe distinctions of rank. They use the influence of alcohol to bully others, misuse objects, throw away food and drink, and treat clothing carelessly. They seek things they have no right to and disregard danger and calamity. They receive something new and forget what they had before, abandoning what is fundamental in pursuit of what is secondary. Though they know they have received kindness, they do not repay it; they deceive and mock others.

The transgressions listed earlier include wasting food and drink, treating clothing carelessly, seeking wealth beyond one’s due, disregarding danger and death, forgetting old possessions as soon as something new is acquired, abandoning what is fundamental to chase after what is secondary, failing to repay kindness, and deceiving or slighting others.

The book lists more than eight hundred kinds of transgression. Only a brief account can be given here; they cannot all be described one by one. The gods who oversee the registers of human lives record people’s transgressions according to the stars and report them to the Supreme Emperor. The Seven Stars, Six Tones, Four Seasons, Eight Winds, Nine Palaces, and Five Phases also take part in keeping watch. Then the Director of Fate, the god who governs lifespans and registers of life, reduces a person’s allotted years, shortening their life and allowing calamities to reach their descendants.

The Yellow Emperor asked again, “People’s lifespans are shortened when they violate the prohibitions of Heaven and Earth. How do people’s transgressions arise?” Red Pine replied, “Human beings are the root among all things born of Heaven and Earth, and should practice goodness and accumulate good connections. People may appear gentle on the outside while harboring jealousy within; they violate prohibitions, and the transgressions they accumulate differ from one another. The Director of Fate records each one and reports them. Some people are killed in battle, on the field between two armies. This is partly because of their own transgressions, entangled with debts from past lives; and partly because the Five Cycles are changing and Taiyi, the revered deity in Daoism, carries out a punishment. They happen to fall amid a shift in the cycles of time and so suffer the calamity of destruction.”

The Yellow Emperor asked again, “From what you have said, people who violate prohibitions cannot even sleep in peace. Can transgressions be erased?” Red Pine replied, “Some can be erased, and some cannot. If people happen to do something contrary to the right way and can repent in their hearts, that transgression can be dispelled. But if they hear this and do not believe it, know they have done wrong and refuse to change, and instead commit still more evil, with wicked thoughts burning fiercely within them, that transgression cannot be dispelled.”

Red Pine added, “When people practice goodness, the gods of Heaven and Earth grant them blessings and assistance, extend their years, and keep them far from all manner of calamity. Since this is so, why not follow the path of goodness? People should revere Heaven and Earth and the Three Luminaries—the sun, moon, and stars—avoid violating prohibitions, honor and care for their parents, and live in harmony with others.”

People should honor Heaven and Earth, the Sun and Moon, and the stars, observing the taboos associated with them. They should be filial to their parents and loving toward their siblings; show compassion for those who are alone and helpless, and help the poor and sick; and respect their teachers, the sages of antiquity, and the elders in their communities. They should listen carefully to their teachings and treat others with humility and respect.

When storms, extreme heat or cold, ominous stars or strange celestial signs occur—or when halos appear around the Sun or Moon, or either seems diminished or eclipsed—people should hold good thoughts, revere the spirits, and make offerings to Heaven and Earth. The scripture says that these good deeds will be recorded in the heavenly realm, increasing a person’s blessings, prosperity, and lifespan.

When they see someone doing wrong, they should urge that person to do good. When they meet someone virtuous, they should respect and learn from them. If someone faces danger, they should do everything they can to help, taking hardship upon themselves so that others may be at ease. They should leave the easier tasks to others and take on the heavier duties themselves. They should urge people not to sue or fight over official matters or verbal disputes, and to maintain public wells and ditches and repair and fill in roads.

They should not neglect an important matter because it seems small, nor abandon a small matter because it seems important. When they see someone suffer a loss, they should feel sorrow for them; when they see someone gain something, they should rejoice sincerely. They should support the weak, protect the vulnerable, and offer aid to those who are alone, helpless, or poor. They should treat others with courtesy and humility, and yield their stipends and advantages to them. The scripture says these merits, too, will be entered in the heavenly ledger of merit, lengthening a person’s life and bringing blessings to their descendants.

If someone is resolved to do good, sincerely believes in the Dao and remains steadfast, honors Dao and De in their heart, and does not retreat in the face of danger; if they are willing to save someone from drowning, do not covet another person’s wife or daughter, seize no one else’s home or property, and harm no life without cause; if they cherish life and growth and abhor killing, treat others with courtesy, diligently read the scriptures, remember to repay kindness, help others without regret, are generous and patient, and devote themselves to filial duty; if they do not throw their weight around, waste possessions, crave fine clothes and lavish food, or kill living beings without reason—such people can draw close to others without considering themselves wise or virtuous. They do not defend themselves, flaunt their wealth, act arrogantly or high-handedly, praise or exalt themselves, exaggerate their merits, or stubbornly insist on their own views. Their good deeds will be entered in the register of merit, and their lifespan will be lengthened. Those whose merit and practice are greater will receive a proportionately greater increase.

Those who serve their ruler with loyalty and their father with filial devotion; who are not arrogant, respect their teachers and elders, guide and teach the young and inexperienced, and praise their teachers’ instruction; who cultivate themselves, act with humility and courtesy, live in harmony with people above and below them, care for everyone fairly, refuse to heed slander and false teachings, and act with integrity; women who are filial to their parents and respectful and obedient to their parents-in-law; and men who are upright and chaste, restrain themselves and yield when circumstances call for it, examine themselves morning and evening, treat others with kindness, and serve their elders without selfish motives—all these people will be rewarded with longer life and greater blessings and prosperity. Calamities and accidents will also be averted, and their sons and daughters will be intelligent.

Some people, by contrast, will have their lifespan cut short and receive only meager blessings. They include ministers who murder their ruler, sons who murder their fathers, and those who disobey their teachers’ instructions while serving them, then forget their kindness once they have learned what they can. They also include those who behave perversely and without respect, make no distinction between close kin and strangers, and indulge themselves without restraint. Women who defy their parents and fail to honor their parents-in-law are guilty of the same kind of offense.

When women disobey their parents, fail to honor their parents-in-law, look down on their husbands, sow discord, slander others, stir up conflict among relatives, steal or neglect their duties, or make enemies of their neighbors, they diminish their blessings and shorten their lives. They may be afflicted by terrible illnesses, hated by others while alive, and fall into hell after death.

The Yellow Emperor asked again, “Is there a supreme and wondrous principle in human life that you can explain to me?”

Red Pine replied, “When people do good or evil, it all begins with a thought in the heart. The heart is the source of the Five Thieves—the five harms that damage people—and the root of all evil. The moment someone intends to do good, even before the good deed is carried out, the benevolent spirits have already sensed it. The moment someone gives rise to an evil thought, even before the misdeed occurs, the baleful spirits already know. Thus, even if a noble person does good for a thousand days, their good deeds are still not enough; yet a brief moment of wrongdoing may already bring many offenses. Usurping what is not one’s due and seizing others’ possessions also begin with an evil thought in the heart. In the end, Heaven’s Dao determines what is gained and what is lost. Someone may intend to harm another and still gain nothing from it; people’s lives and deaths, their rise and decline, are also shaped by fate.

“The Jing says: ‘Heaven has Five Thieves. Those who discern and follow them will flourish; those who disregard them will decline.’ The way of moral instruction has five virtues: those who practice them will flourish, and those who violate them will decline. What should be practiced are gentleness, kindness, respect, frugality, humility, and benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. What should be avoided are cruelty, rebellion, greed, jealousy, killing, violence, disorder, deceit, falsehood, and flattery.

“People in the world often violate these virtues and harbor all kinds of evil thoughts. Seeing another family prosper and rise to prominence, they bring up its former hardships and hope its members will be demoted and exiled. Seeing others become wealthy, they mock their former poverty and hope their family fortune will be ruined. Seeing others possess abundant wealth, they wish to have it seized. Seeing another man’s wife or concubines are beautiful, they think of acting improperly. Seeing another person’s house is large and spacious, they wish to set it on fire.”

Those who owe others money wish their creditors would die. Those who ask to borrow money or goods and are refused grow resentful. When they see someone fall into danger, they mock him for past mistakes. Some even hope their own parents will die soon so they can inherit their money and homes. These are nine evil thoughts harbored by fools. Heaven, Earth, ghosts, and spirits despise such people and bring down calamities upon them, shortening their lives.

Those who cultivate the Five Virtues keep nine good thoughts in their hearts. When they see someone rise to prominence, they reflect that their own blessings and good deeds are insufficient. When they see someone’s granaries full, they reflect that they have not worked hard enough to cultivate the fields. When they see someone with gold, jade, and other possessions, they reflect that these are not things they are entitled to. When they see someone with beautiful wives and concubines, they remind themselves to uphold the proper way between husband and wife and harbor no improper thoughts. When they see someone living in a spacious, magnificent house, they reflect that even if their own home is plain, they should be content and live in peace. When someone who once treated them unfairly is now caught up in a lawsuit, they feel moved to help him. When they owe someone a debt but cannot repay it at once, they remain remorseful and make every effort to repay it. When they wish to borrow money or goods from someone, they first reflect that they have given that person no kindness or help in the past. When they see someone caring for parents and elders, they often reflect that they themselves have not labored wholeheartedly to repay the people of the world.

If they practice these nine good thoughts all day and cast aside the nine evil thoughts described earlier, they are people of wisdom and insight. They will receive blessings while alive, and those blessings will pass down to their descendants. Sudden calamities and misfortunes will find it difficult to harm them.

The Yellow Emperor asked the Master again, “What ranks come below the wise?”

The Master replied, “There are three ranks, all of them benevolent and virtuous. Those of the highest wisdom understand the patterns of Heaven and clearly discern the geography of Earth. They grasp things without studying and understand without being taught. They can commit things to memory in silence, distinguish musical pitches, and tell the worthy from the foolish. They are compassionate and do not look down on others. They know how to judge success and failure, when to advance and withdraw, and how to discern life, death, and survival. Even if such people are poor for a time, they will eventually become prosperous; even if they are lowly for a time, they will eventually rise to prominence. These are people of the highest wisdom.”

People of middling wisdom can understand the scriptures. They keep a respectful and reverent heart, and when they meet someone worthy and wise, they think of learning from that person. They help those in danger and aid the weak, giving to others without regret. They are loyal and filial, and fulfill the duties they owe. Their words do not wound others; they are humble and gentle in their conduct. They may not have received a systematic education, yet in time they come to understand. Though they may not achieve prominence, they eventually grasp how things work. Such are people of middling wisdom.

People of lower wisdom can still cultivate good deeds and correct their past mistakes. They strive to do their work well and apply themselves to learning. They firmly believe that good and evil bring their due rewards, and do not take what belongs to others. They cherish life and their own bodies, understand reason, and know written characters and laws. They care for the weak and fear bringing calamity upon themselves. By acting with such caution and avoiding wrongdoing, they will not meet unexpected disaster. Such are people of lower wisdom.

The Yellow Emperor said, “Excellent, excellent! The merit of these words is immeasurable. I will carefully follow what has been said, record it, and share it with everyone, as an important bridge on the path to the Great Dao.” The assembled ministers bowed deeply in homage, withdrew, and put the teachings into practice.