Hidden Virtue: The Most Important Inheritance

(Minghui.org) The I Ching, one of the great Chinese classics, states, “A family that accumulates good deeds will receive blessings; a family that accumulates bad deeds will experience misfortune.”

Very often, either virtue or karma can be passed down to future generations similar to an inheritance. Here are several stories that illustrate this idea.

Missing Money

Cao Jintao, an official from the Qing Dynasty, was renowned for his medical skills, and patients who received treatment from him would recover in a very short time.

One day when he was leaving home, Cao noticed a woman kneeling down outside his residence. The woman’s mother-in-law was suffering from an illness, but was too poor to pay the medical fee. After hearing what a kind person Cao was, the woman’s daughter-in-law decided to beg for his help.

Cao followed her, agreeing to treat her mother-in-law. He departed soon after, and the woman discovered that the five taels of silver kept under her mother-in-law’s pillow were missing. This was a huge loss for the impoverished family. Fearing Cao might have taken the silver, she anxiously went to Cao’s place to ask him. Without hesitation, Cao handed her five taels of silver.

After returning home, the woman discovered that the silver was back under the pillow—earlier on, her mother-in-law had put it elsewhere fearing it might become lost. Ashamed of accusing Cao, the woman returned the five taels of silver to him, apologizing profusely.

“You are a good person. But, why didn’t you tell me you had not taken the money?” asked the woman, curious.

“If I had done that, your mother-in-law would have been worried and thus found it hard to recover,” Cao explained. “I just wanted her to get well. I don’t mind people mistakenly thinking me a thief.”

This story illustrates the great compassion of Cao. As a result, he and his children were blessed; all three of his sons rose to become high-ranking officials.

Zhang Jun and His Offspring

Upholding one’s principles requires courage. As a result, sometimes people choose to act against their conscience for short-term gain.

Zhang Jun was once an accomplished general in the Song Dynasty, much like Yue Fei. However, after Yue was framed by the traitor Qin Hui, Zhang turned around and collaborated with Qin, planning to kill Yue. He even coerced another general, Wang Gui, to falsely accuse Yue—resulting in the death of Yue, making it one of the most infamous miscarriages of justice in Chinese history.

Although Zhang Jun was later promoted, his descendants suffered grave consequences. Among them, Zhang Ru was executed by ling chi, also known as “death by a thousand cuts,” and all the family’s accumulated assets were confiscated.

A Modern Day Story

Incidents like this have also occurred during our present time, especially after the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began to persecute Falun Gong practitioners beginning in July 1999.

Shi Jichang, a former director of the Xushui County Detention Center in Hebei Province, followed the persecution policy closely. He often instructed guards to torture detained practitioners and even mistreated their family members.

Later on, Shi’s two-year old grandson was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2001 and died that year. In early 2003, Ji suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and died instantly. In spring 2004, his wife also passed away due to lung cancer.

The tragic story of Shi’s family serves as a serious lesson. If the persecution of Falun Gong had never occurred, the family might have enjoyed a normal life in society. By blindly following the CCP for personal gain, however, Shi ignored the positive benefits of Falun Gong and harshly persecuted practitioners for following the principles of the practice—Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance.

Confucius once said, “Do not do unto others what you would not have them do unto you.” A similar principle is written in the Bible, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Living according to these teachings will bring blessings to ourselves and future generations.