During the Shunzhi era of the Qing Dynasty, there was a highly accomplished scholar named Shao Shimei, who had been ranked among the top three in the imperial examinations. Since his childhood, there was a name that had been swirling around in his head: “Gao Xiaohuai.” He had no idea who this person was or what their connection was, but the name had been etched into his memory and proved impossible to forget or erase.
One day, while on a business trip, Shao Shimei passed through a small village called Gaojiazhuang and suddenly found the scenery very familiar, as if he had just left there yesterday. It reminded him of the enigmatic name that had been lingering in his mind since childhood: Gao Xiaohuai. He approached a villager to ask if there was a person named Gao Xiaohuai there. The villager replied: “Yes, there was, but he passed away many years ago.” Shao Shimei then asked when Gao Xiaohuai passed away and found out that it was on his own birthday.
In that instant, Shao Shimei suddenly understood that he had been Gao Xiaohuai in his past life. Memories of his past life came rushing back to him like a floodgate opening. He remembered being the head of the village, and that he had held the position for many years. He cared for the residents and always behaved with honesty and integrity — a rare and good village official, one might say.
Once, while overcome with illness, he found himself in a daze. While in this state, he saw two men in blue uniforms who looked like officers come to his side. They instructed him to close his eyes. Then they lifted him up, one on each side, and flew away with him. All he heard was the sound of the wind whistling in his ears. A short while later, the men in blue told him to open his eyes and he found himself lying in a strange little room, with two maidservants bustling about nearby.
Shao Shimei was reincarnated as a baby
It turned out that he had been reincarnated as a baby. His life as Shao Shimei had begun. Because he had been kind to the people and done a lot of good deeds in his previous life, he lived a prosperous life in this new incarnation. He was born into a wealthy family, received a good education from an early age, married when he was the right age, and had a happy family.
Unfortunately, his wife died early. Before she passed away, she held his hand and said that they would be husband and wife in her next life as well. In the next life, she would be reincarnated into the Dong family in Guantao County, living by the riverbank, in the third house. His wife predicted that Shao Shimei would become an official in the future, but he would be removed from office and live alone in Xiao Temple to study Buddhism. “When that happens, come find me,” his wife said before closing her eyes.
After his wife passed away, Shao Shimei did indeed become an official and served as the magistrate of Wujiang County. However, before he could be dismissed from his post, he resigned due to illness. After returning to his hometown, he visited friends in Guantao County and stayed in a nearby temple called Xiao Temple.
That day, he was looking through the scripture collection in the temple, when suddenly the words of his wife came to his mind. Could it be that his wife had been reincarnated nearby? Shao Shimei quickly went out and walked along the riverbank until he found Dong, the girl who had been his wife now reincarnated, living in the third house by the river. He later happily remarried her again.
Unfortunately, a dozen years later, Shimei’s wife Dong fell seriously ill. When she was on the brink of death, she said that in her next life she would be reincarnated into the Wang family in Xiangyang, living by the river with two willow trees in front of the door, and she instructed Shao Shimei to come find her again.
Shao found his reincarnated wife, Wang Shi, in Xiangyang and married her. The couple lived a happy life together and even had two children.
The story of Shao Shimei’s three marriages was widely circulated during the Qing Dynasty. People exclaimed that their destiny had been set in stone before they had come into the world.
Translated by Eva
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