Debts must be repaid — it is an ironclad law of this world. When a person dies, they cannot take their fame or fortune along with them. But does that mean all the debts they owed in life are simply wiped away?
Consider the following true stories and the lessons they hold — stories that reveal how karma works to balance the scales, even beyond this life.
From villain to pig: The reincarnation of a Shanghai tyrant
In 1923, an extraordinary rumor began circulating in Shanghai about a person who’d reincarnated as an animal. Eleven years later, in 1934, Mr. Di Ziping witnessed what many believed to be proof of this phenomenon — a pig with a human hand discovered in the garden of Baohua Temple. Fascinated, he asked the Jinghua Photo Studio to capture photos of the creature and wrote an article titled ‘Iron-Clad Proof of Human Reincarnating as Animal’ to encourage people to do good deeds. The incident, along with the photos, quickly became a sensation and were widely publicized as compelling evidence of human-animal reincarnation.
According to Di Ziping’s article, a man named Shi Qingzhong from Taixing, Jiangbei was known for his fierce and tyrannical nature. In 1923, Shi Qingzhong suddenly fell gravely ill and was nearing death. At that time, a traveling monk arrived and, upon seeing his suffering, told him: “Because you have done too many bad things, you will be reborn in the body of a pig when you die. You should repent immediately, and you might be able to reduce your karma.”
Knowing that death was imminent, Shi Qingzhong became frightened, regretting the many wrongs he had committed throughout his life. In a moment of remorse, he raised his left hand in a half-clasped gesture to salute the monk. The monk sighed and said: “With just this hand, if you sincerely worship Heaven, it will be spared the pig-knuckle shape in the future. But it is only this hand that will be spared. Even so, you will save yourself from the agony of the knife.” Soon after, Shi Qingzhong passed away with all his sins.
Just after Shi Qingzhong died, a sow raised by a neighboring villager gave birth to a peculiar piglet. The piglet’s left knuckle was exactly like a human’s left hand, complete with five fingers and even fingernails. When the piglet walked, its hand-shaped knuckle never touched the ground and remained in a half-clasped position, as if saluting people.
The villagers suddenly recalled the monk’s words, and the news of Shi Qingzhong’s reincarnation as a pig quickly spread throughout Taixing. People began talking about it everywhere, and Shi Qingzhong became a living symbol of good and evil deeds.
Upon hearing of the pig, Shi Qingzhong’s family quickly bought it to spare it from slaughter, sending it to Baohua Temple in Shanghai to be released into their garden. At that moment, the monk’s prophecy was fulfilled, and all that he had predicted about Shi Qingzhong’s fate had come to pass.
Reincarnated as a horse: The price of stealing a bracelet
One day in 1979, a foal suddenly appeared in Linchengpu Village, Niutuo Town, Gu’an County, Hebei Province. It looked like it had just been weaned. The villagers quickly rushed to capture it, but despite their efforts throughout the afternoon, no one could do so. At the time, villager Wei Hanchen was in his breeding shed, mixing fodder for his livestock, and was unable to join in the pursuit.
Then something strange happened — the horse wandered into the shed on its own and walked up to Wei Hanchen. Without hesitation, Wei Hanchen picked up a halter, and the horse, which was surprisingly docile, allowed him to tie it up. As night fell, Wei Hanchen led the horse home.
Twenty days later, Wei Hanchen took the horse to the market and sold it for a good price. The following day, while sleeping, he dreamed of his late neighbor Hui, who had passed away a few years earlier. In the dream, Hui confessed that she had once stolen a bracelet from his family and owed him a debt. Now, reincarnated as the horse, she was able to repay the debt. Upon waking, Wei Hanchen remembered that his wife had indeed lost a gold-encrusted bracelet some time ago. When he counted the money from the horse’s sale, he realized it was just enough to buy a new one! He couldn’t help but be amazed.
As Wei Hanchen recalled the story of the bracelet, he remembered his wedding day, when his mother, in accordance with local custom, had given his new wife a beautiful, gold-encrusted bracelet as a welcome gift — considered a very generous offering at the time. Grateful for the gesture, his wife wore it on her wrist every day. She was a good and capable woman, and the family lived a happy and harmonious life after their marriage.
One day, while Wei’s wife was frying feed for the livestock, the bracelet on her wrist kept clinking against the edge of the wok. Concerned it might get damaged, she took it off and set it aside. At that moment, their neighbor Hui stopped by for a visit, and after a brief chat, she left. When Wei’s wife finished her work and went to retrieve the bracelet, it was gone. She searched through the boxes and cabinets, but it was nowhere to be found. Distraught, she cried over the loss. Wei Hanchen comforted her and promised: “I’ll buy you a new one in the future.” In time, the incident was forgotten.
But now, looking back, it was clear — Hui had taken the bracelet. The couple couldn’t help but sigh when they thought of their neighbor, who had become a livestock animal in this life due to her misdeed. Wei Hanchen couldn’t shake the memory of the incident. He often told anyone who would listen that if a person commits bad deeds in this life, they will have to pay for them in the next — even if it means being reincarnated as an animal.
There is an unavoidable truth: our actions in this life carry consequences that echo into the next. These stories are powerful reminders that no wrong is ever truly unnoticed, and every misdeed, no matter how small, must eventually be repaid. They encourage us to reflect on our own lives, urging us to act with integrity, kindness, and respect, knowing that what we sow in this life will inevitably shape what we reap in the next.
Translated by Cecilia
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