In the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Ma Mo was the governor of Dengzhou in Shandong Province. He found a problem with the regulation of holding prisoners on the island of Shamen and had to devise a good solution.
According to the rule of the Song Dynasty, the number of prisoners that could be held on Salmon Island was limited to 300, and the government only provided food for 300 people. With no increase in food for the extra number of people, this quickly caused tensions on Salmon Island. Therefore, whenever the number of prisoners exceeded 300, some prisoners were forcibly thrown into the sea alive. Li Qing, the warden, threw more than 700 people into the sea during his two-year term.
Therefore, Ma Mo intended to modify the rule and suggested to the emperor that in the future, whenever the number of prisoners exceeded the limit, those who had served their sentences for a long time with good behavior could be selected and transferred to Dengzhou. Emperor Shenzong of Song agreed and made this modification a rule, thus saving many prisoner’s lives.
Ma Mo did not have any children at that time, but after he suggested the change, he dreamed that an envoy from the Great Emperor of Dong Yue delivered an order to give him a son and a daughter. Later on, Ma Mo’s wife gave birth to a boy and a girl.
Feng Menglong, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty, described Ma Mo’s practice of “not only saving lives, but also advising against evil” as a great act of virtue and that God’s blessings were bound to be bestowed on him.
Blessed for redressing the wrongs of the people
Qian Ruoshui, a magistrate in Tongzhou during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), was a sensible man capable of resolving essential matters. He disobeyed his superiors to redress an unjust case.
Qian Ruoshui’s superior, the governor of Tongzhou, was always subjective and impatient, and often made mistakes. Qian Ruoshui always argued with him whenever he encountered such a situation, but the governor did not accept his opinions. Even when the errors came to light, and the governor felt ashamed, he continued to do so afterward.
Once, a maid of a wealthy family went missing. The maid’s parents filed a complaint to the governor, and the governor ordered the Recorder to try the case. The Recorder had once tried to borrow money from a wealthy family, but was refused, so he had a grudge against them. During the trial, he arbitrarily said that the wealthy family had killed the maid and dumped her body in the river. Both the father and sons of the rich family denied the crime, but were forced to admit the murder because they were beaten up. As a result, all of them should be sentenced to death according to the law.
After the case was finalized, the governor reported it to his superior, who summoned the officials concerned for a review. Most of them thought the point was correctly handled and expressed their support. Only Qian Ruoshui was skeptical about the issue. He felt that the case should be handled with care and that a murder conviction without solid evidence was tantamount to killing people.
Then the Recorder came to Qian Ruoshui’s office and scolded him, saying: “Did you accept a bribe from the rich family to get rid of their death sentence?” Qian Ruoshui said: “Now that several people are to be sentenced to death because of this case, how can we not scrutinize their confessions more carefully?”
So Qian Ruoshui held up the case for nearly 10 days despite the governor’s repeated reminders and blaming from multiple sources. One day, Qian Ruoshui came to see the governor and said: “I withheld the case file because I was investigating the whereabouts of the maid, who has now been found.” The governor verified the case and ordered the release of the wealthy family.
The rich man and his sons cried and said to the governor: “Without your help, our family would have been annihilated.” The governor told them: “It was not me; it was Qian Ruoshui who helped you.” They went to Qian Ruoshui to thank him in person, but Qian Ruoshui closed his door. They cried around the wall and went home to donate some of their properties to the temple to pray for the blessings of Qian Ruoshui, which caused a sensation in the community.
As the case of several people’s lives was vindicated, the governor wanted to report the issue to the emperor to seek rewards for Qian Ruoshui. Qian Ruoshui firmly refused, saying: “I only want the case to be solved and the innocent to be spared from unjust deaths; it is not my intention to ask for rewards.” After hearing this, the governor respected him even more. Soon after, the emperor learned of this incident and promoted Qian Ruoshui to a higher rank.
Both good and evil are rewarded
“It is the law of Heaven that good and evil are rewarded, and there is a god three feet above each one’s head.” Those in power create injustice for their selfish purposes. In addition to morality and conscience, those who seek to redress injustice for the people also need courage, especially those in the public sector.
They may have some powers to seek justice, but at the same time, they have to resist possible pressure from their superiors and colleagues. Qi Ruoshui is one such case. He dared to stand up for his conscience and avenge the injustice of the people, and Heaven rewarded him.
Translated by Audrey Wang
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