The ancient Chinese sages were noted for advocating benevolence, righteousness, politeness, wisdom, and integrity. To these ancient sages, wisdom not only denoted knowledge and truth, but also embodied intelligence and common sense. This is the story of Fu Rong, who used his wisdom to exonerate the falsely accused.
The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (A.D. 351-394), was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming), who originally served under the Later Zhao Dynasty, it completed the unification of northern China in 376.
Fu Jian had a brother named Fu Rong, his right-hand man and an outstanding minority political figure in Chinese history. According to historical records, Fu Rong was a wise and intelligent man, capable in both military and civil affairs, exhibiting an extraordinary skill set in governing local affairs and leading troops into battle.
His superior talent for discernment and reasoning made Fu Rong especially good at judging legal affairs. As a disciplined supervisor, he outperformed others in solving many complex cases. Under his administration, crimes declined.
The following two cases highlight his wisdom and prowess in judging and solving tricky prison cases.
Fu Rong solves the case of Dong Feng and his wife
Dong Feng, a native of Jingzhao, left home to study for three years. Upon returning home, he decided to visit his father-in-law’s house with his wife. During the night, as he slept, his wife was murdered in the bed. His brother-in-law accused Dong Feng of murdering his sister and turned him over to the responsible officials. Dong Feng could not stand the torture and confessed to killing his wife.
Fu Rong examined this case and found it lacked strong evidence. In the absence of any physical clues, Fu Rong carefully analyzed the case and applied his skill at analytical reasoning. He studied Dong Feng’s psychological state before and after the murder and delved into the couple’s relationship. Finally, he unearthed that Dong Feng’s wife had committed adultery with someone else.
Fu Rong even exposed the adulterer, and the case was thus solved. It was discovered that the adulterer and the adulteress had conspired to kill Dong Feng. Things didn’t go as planned during the night, and Dong’s wife was killed by mistake. Thus, Fu Rong vindicated a case of injustice.
An old woman and a thief
An old woman was on her way home in Jizhou when someone snatched her bag, which contained an amount of money that was very important to her. The old woman screamed and shouted out for someone to catch the robber. A young man nearby, seeing the old woman’s distress, ran in the direction the old woman was pointing to and quickly caught the robber.
The two fought and struggled over the bag, causing onlookers to gather. The bandit realized that he couldn’t get away, so he vocally accused the other man of being the thief, stating that he had chased the latter here after the robbery. The two resorted to accusing each other of being the thief — baffling the onlookers.
The old woman finally caught up with the group, and the people asked her to point out the robber. Since the incident occurred at dusk, with poor eyesight and her mind preoccupied with the money in her bag, she naturally couldn’t distinguish between the two men who were close in size, clothing, and age. She only knew someone had robbed her, and another one helped to catch the perpetrator.
The police officer could not solve the case and said: “I cannot distinguish who is guilty and who is innocent here, so I’m going to ask you to go to the police station. But remember that good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil!” Consequently, the three were sent to the police station.
At the time, Fu Rong happened to be touring this area. On the morning of the second day of the incident, the three were brought before him.
Having listened to the report, he took a closer look at the two young men, and upon reflection, he said to the local officials: “It is not difficult to tell who is good and who is bad, even though we can’t read their faces to tell who is guilty. Take these two men out and let them race together toward the Feng Yang Gate. Whoever runs out of the gate first will be the innocent one. Give him a gift and tell him to go home.”
The officials and magistrates had never heard of such an unusual way of identifying robbers. However, since they knew Fu Rong’s reputation as a wise and experienced officer, they followed his instructions.
In a short while, the running race began. The young man who ran out of Feng Yang Gate first got a gift and left happily. The slow runner finally reached the gate and was caught and brought back by the court officials. Fu Rong pointed at the slow runner and said: “You robbed the woman and falsely accused a good man. Now, are you ready to admit that you are the thief?” The loser of the race did not argue anymore and confessed honestly that he was the thief.
The officials queried Fu Rong as to how he could tell the innocent man about this run. Fu Rong said: “It’s straightforward. The thief, after grabbing the bag, naturally ran away as fast as he could. The helper who chased after him started later, but still caught up with the perpetrator, which meant that he was running faster. Therefore, the man who ran slower is the guilty man, and the one who ran the fastest is the innocent man. So by letting them run in a race, the truth was naturally revealed.”
After hearing this, everyone agreed that this was a simple but brilliant deduction, and from then on, they would ask Fu Rong to give them guidance and judgment to solve complex prison cases that arose in their areas.
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