Heaven’s universal law is straightforward, and the following two stories, which occurred in the years of Jiachen and Yiyi and during the reign of Emperor Yongzheng, teach this lesson.
Ji Xiaolan once owned an estate south of Cangzhou called Shangheyai — later, he sold it. Ji’s estate had five Water-Clearing Pavilions from which one could look down at the River Wei.
Due to its high vantage point, the Ji family favored this spot, as it was an excellent place to watch the boats coming and going in the river. Ji’s grandmother, the former lady of the house, used to come here to enjoy the cool summer breezes, and the grandchildren took turns accompanying her.
Ji’s story
One day, Ji pushed open the window and looked south — dozens of men and women were boarding a ferry. The mooring ropes had been untied, and the ferry was about to leave the shore. At that moment, he witnessed someone suddenly striking an older man with his fist, knocking him down into the shallow water by the beach.
The older man’s clothes, shoes, and socks were all wet. As he struggled to sit up and was about to rebuke the person who had struck him, he found that the ferry had already caught the wind and sailed away. At that time, the River Wei was flooded, straining with the raging waves and loud groaning noises.
A grain boat, with two billowing full sails, came downstream, moving swiftly like an arrow, and collided with the ferry — almost smashing it completely! Dozens of people fell into the water and drowned. The only survivor from that initial journey was the older man who had been assaulted. The older man’s initial anger became joy as he realized his fortunate escape. He started reciting the Buddhist scriptures with folded hands, expressing his gratitude.
After the incident, the local people asked him where he was going. The elderly man said: “I heard yesterday that my cousin was going to sell his child-raising daughter-in-law for twenty taels of silver to become a concubine. Today, I will write a contract for her sale, so I quickly pawned my family’s land to raise enough money to redeem her.”
Upon hearing this, the locals said in unison: “This punch was truly heaven-sent.” They urged the ferryman to obtain another boat to take the older man across the river.
Heaven’s universal law
A second story, mentioned by the former lady of the house (Ji’s grandmother), was about a man from Cangzhou who forced his brother’s wife to remarry and even sold his two nieces to a brothel. His neighbors’ and all the villagers became indignant when they heard this news.
One day, carrying silver coins, this man boarded a boat and headed to Tianjin to sell his mung beans. That evening, the ship moored by the river, and the man sat on the side of the boat washing his feet. The rope of a salt-laden boat on the West bank snapped, and unexpectedly, the boat swept across, colliding with this man’s boat. His legs were crushed below the knees, and his bones shattered as if they had been cut off. He suffered in pain and cried out for several days before he died.
Upon hearing this, a servant told Ji’s grandfather about this incident: “So-and-so met with such a calamity — it’s truly a strange occurrence!” Ji’s grandfather calmly replied: “This is not strange! It would have been strange if he had not encountered such an event!”
Translated by Joseph Wu and edited by Maria
