Two scholars with hearts as pure as gold embarked on different life paths, each displaying their unique qualities. One was destined to die young, while the other was generous and compassionate. Their intersecting destinies revealed that fate can indeed be altered.
An astrologer’s grim prediction
During the Qing Dynasty, an elderly gentleman, blessed with both longevity and prosperity, once endured extreme poverty in his youth, often going days without food. The year he passed the preliminary imperial examination, a highly accurate fortune teller told him that he would die an unnatural death before the White Dew Festival.
As the exam approached, the young scholar considered abandoning his studies due to the prediction. Scholar Wang, a wealthy and righteous friend who shared a close bond with him, persuaded him to continue and generously funded the expenses for his journey to take the exam.
Upon reaching Jinling, they heard of a renowned astrologer at Cheng’en Temple, whose predictions were remarkably accurate. The young scholar, along with six students, went to see him. The astrologer precisely described the family situations of each of the six students.
When it was the young scholar’s turn, the astrologer, after a brief inquiry and some calculations, urged him to return home immediately, claiming his face showed signs of impending doom. He predicted he would die within five days, likely on the journey home.
Everyone was shocked and asked if there was any way to avert this fate. The astrologer replied: “Without great virtue, such a destiny could not be changed.” The group returned to their lodging in silence.
Hearing the same prediction from both fortune-tellers, the young scholar returned home to avoid implicating his friends. Scholar Wang, in an act of compassion, hired a boat for him and provided him with 10 taels of silver for emergencies.
Saving lives with silver
The young scholar boarded the boat and headed home. A storm forced the boat to dock after traveling about 10 miles on the Yangtze River. Four days passed with no improvement in the weather. As the fifth day approached, the young scholar wondered if he would indeed die on the journey, as predicted.
Resigned to his fate, he wandered ashore and noticed a pregnant woman with three children crying as she walked. Curious and concerned, he asked if she needed help.
The woman explained that she had been deceived, selling two pigs for 10 taels of silver, but receiving counterfeit coins. Fearing her husband’s wrath, she planned to drown herself and her children in the river.
Moved by her plight, the young scholar quietly swapped his silver for her counterfeit coins. To convince her the coins were real, he accompanied her to a few silver shops to verify where the coins were deemed genuine. Relieved, the woman thanked him and returned home with her children.
Divine intervention and rebirth
After saving the woman, it was already dark, so the young scholar slept under the eaves of a dilapidated temple. In a dream, he heard officials shouting and saw a regal figure, possibly Guan Di, presiding over a court. The deity ordered the person who saved five lives to be identified and rewarded.
When his case was reported, the deity asked if he would pass the upcoming examination. An official noted that his life and fortunes were exhausted, and he was fated to die that night. The deity decreed that such a virtuous act should change his destiny, awarding him the top rank in the examination previously held by a disgraced candidate.
The deity also ordered the recognition of scholar Wang, whose generosity enabled the young scholar’s good deeds.
Awakening from his dream, the young scholar narrowly escaped death as the temple wall collapsed where he had been sleeping. Grateful for divine protection, he felt reborn. He returned to his boat and headed back to Jinling.
At their lodging site, everyone was ecstatic to see him alive. Scholar Wang celebrated his survival, predicting great fortune. They re-visited the astrologer, who was amazed by the change in the young scholar’s fate, attributing it to a significant act of kindness. He predicted the young scholar would achieve the top rank at the exam, enter the Imperial Hanlin Academy next year, and live to the age of 80.
The astrologer recounted how he saw another candidate destined for the top rank, but having his fortune reversed due to immoral behavior, highlighting the power of virtue and vice.
The astrologer also told scholar Wang that he would pass the exam as well, for he had accumulated hidden merits by doing good deeds naturally.
Back at the inn, the young scholar recounted his story to scholar Wang, attributing his survival and blessings to Wang’s generosity. Wang humbly acknowledged their mutual virtue, their hearts shining like gold, pure as a lotus flower.
That year, the young scholar indeed achieved the top rank, and both he and Wang later joined the Imperial Hanlin Academy.
This story reveals that while hardship and a short life may seem predestined, the Creator graciously rewards virtue and good choices. Even 10 taels of silver, when used virtuously, can alter fate, proving that fortune and misfortune are summoned by one’s own actions.
Translated by Katy Liu and edited by Tatiana Denning
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