A Person's Future Changes with One’s Thoughts and Actions
There was a xiucai (someone who has gained academic knowledge and passed the basic level of imperial civil service exam) named Zhang Sheng from Jingkou District, Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province, that came from an underprivileged family. Zhang behaved like a scoundrel and caused lots of trouble for fellow villagers, but in reality he was straightforward and generous. He often gave away whatever he could extort from the rich to help the poor. Although many impoverished villagers benefited from his actions, he himself was destitute.
One Chinese New Year's Eve, Zhang Sheng ran out of food. He thought above borrowing money from friends and family, but there wasn’t one who he was on friendly terms with, plus many of them were snobbish, sly people. He couldn’t bring himself to beg either. Therefore Zhang found a piece of old fabric in his home and took it to the pawnshop. He bargained hard and received one thousand wen (ancient Chinese monetary unit) for the fabric. He bought one bucket of rice, some food, and wax paper. He placed all the items in a basket and headed home. It was dark and snowy, and the ground was slippery. Just before he reached his house he slipped and fell. All the contents of the basket fell into the mud. Zhang Sheng quickly went home, fetched a lamp, and returned to look for the goods in the mud. To his surprise, he also found a very heavy bag. He opened the bag at home and found a few gold ingots, several dozen silver coins, a handful of foreign currency, several hundred pieces of loose change, an accounting book, and several memos. He learned that these items belonged to a silk shop. Zhang Sheng was very happy and thought about how he could live a comfortable life with what he had found. Then it occurred to him that an accounting clerk for a store might have lost it on the road. If the clerk could not come up with the money, the shop owner will want the clerk’s life. Zhang Sheng decided to leave the bag at home, took a lamp, and waited in the cold for the store clerk to return.
Not long after, Zhang Sheng saw an old man and two young men walking towards him, carrying lanterns with a silk shop's name inscribed on them. The three followed the road illuminated by the light, looking panicky. Zhang Sheng assumed they were the owners of the bag. He approached them and asked, "What are you looking for?" The old man saw Zhang Sheng and knew he was a rascal. He did not say anything and wanted to walk away. Zhang Sheng raised his voice and asked "You folks are carrying lanterns searching for something. Tell me quickly. Did you lose something?" The old man reluctantly replied, "We were collecting money owed to us earlier and passed by here. It was snowy and rainy and we were in a hurry. We realized that we had lost a bag, so we came back to look for it. Someone must have taken it since we cannot find it now." Zhang Sheng asked him about the contents of the bag. The old man told him that there were silver coins, an accounting book, and so on. Everything matched the items in the bag Zhang Sheng had picked up. Zhang Sheng said, "Why don't you come to my place? I know who found your bag." Then he took the old man to his home, showed him the bag and said, "Check the items in this bag and see if they belong to you." The old man was shocked and didn’t dare to say anything. Zhang Sheng consoled him, “You don’t need to be suspicious. If I wanted to take the contents of this bag, I wouldn’t have waited in the wind and snow to tell you this!” He passed the bag to the old man. The old man cried and replied, "I'm in charge of collecting money. Had I lost this bag, even if I sold my household and all my belongings, I would not have been able to repay it and I would have had nowhere to turn. Thank you for saving my life!" The old man kowtowed to Zhang Sheng many times and offered him half of the contents of the bag. Zhang Sheng declined his offer, but the old man insisted that he would not leave unless Zhang Sheng agreed. Zhang Sheng replied with a chuckle, "If you really insist, then why don't you lend me two pieces of silver so that I can buy a meal for New Year's Eve. I'd be very grateful!" The old man saw his sincerity and said no more. He gave Zhang Sheng two silver coins, thanked him, and left.
With the money, Zhang Sheng bought some grain and fruit and offered them to the gods. He and his wife had a New Year's Eve dinner. That night he had a dream. He dreamed that he was tied up and taken to someone that looked like a king. The king scolded him, "You have done many wicked deeds. If you do not change, you will become a hungry ghost!" Zhang Sheng kowtowed and asked for forgiveness. Someone then brought a report to the king. After reading it, the king's attitude changed and he said, "This is a very kind deed. Good enough to offset his previous misconduct. Let's restore his name in the 'registry of prosperity' and this year's passing list for the civil service examination." The king said to Zhang Sheng, "When you return home, you must correct your past misdeeds and do good without reservation. Then you'll have a bright future!" After Zhang Sheng woke up, he knew that the gods had forgiven him because he had returned the bag to the owner. He was grateful for their mercy and protection. After sunrise, he vowed to the gods that he would become morally upstanding, cease to do ill, and begin to do good in order to make up for the wrongs he had done.
Not long after, the old man visited wearing formal clothing. He said, “If it wasn’t for your kindness, my entire family’s lives would’ve ended. I told the owner about this. He will repay you for sure.” Zhang Sheng thanked him humbly. Zhang Sheng focused on performing kind deeds, yet his life became more impoverished, often going days without a warm meal.
At the beginning of autumn, all the xiucai traveled to Jinling City, the capital of Jiangsu Province, to take part in the provincial-level civil service examination. Zhang Sheng was penniless and could hardly feed himself, let alone think about taking the examination. Just then he ran into the old man who asked him, "Why don't you take the exam?" Zhang Sheng said he did not have any money for the trip. The old man replied, "You are a good person. How could you not participate in the civil service examination? Please go home and wait for me!" As soon as Zhang Sheng got home, the old man arrived with a young man. The old man said, "This is the owner of the silk shop. He was very moved by your righteous behavior and had wanted to repay you for a long time! When he heard that you did not have the money to participate in the exam, he wanted to offer you 20 gold pieces and four piculs (English word for a Chinese measurement of weight, one picul is about 133 pounds) of white rice." The old man took out 20 pieces of gold from his own bag and said, "I saved this from my salary, and I would like to give it to you as well so that you can travel to Jinling to take the exam!" Zhang Sheng tried but was unable to refuse the offer. He took the money and immediately caught a boat to Jinling, took the test, and passed it. Later, the old man and the owner offered Zhang Sheng enough funds so he could take the capital-level civil examination. Zhang Sheng also passed this exam to become a jinshi and became a government official. A poem was written about Zhang Sheng’s story.
A person's thought of compassion is most precious. Because of this charitable thought, Zhang Sheng was removed from the "hungry ghost list" and moved up to the "registry of prosperity" within a short time! Because his true intention was always to help the poor and the needy, he was not tempted to keep the bag of money and so changed his future. This story shows that a person’s fortune is not immutable, rather it is dependent on one’s choices in life.
止恶从善 心改运转
以前，江苏镇江京口有一位秀才张生，家境贫穷，品行恶劣，时常为祸乡里。他生性却相当豪爽，敲诈勒索来的钱财，随意散去，乡邻中许多贫困人也多受到他的帮助，因此他自己家里没有隔宿之粮。
这一年除夕，张生家中又断粮了。心想亲戚故友之中，都有旧怨，而且多是些势利小人，想不出有哪一家可以去借点钱来，自己又不愿去摇尾乞怜，向人求告。就拿了家中的一块旧布料，到当铺强当了千文钱，买了一斗米、食品和香蜡纸，放在篮子里，往家走。天晚雪大，路上又滑，快到家门口时，不小心跌了一跤，篮子里的东西全部翻倒在泥泞里。张生赶忙回家拿了盏灯，返回去找。意外的拾到一只口袋，用手一提，很重。拿回家一看，内有元宝几只，碎银数十两，洋钱百余，零钱数百，账簿一本，手折好几扎，知道是一家绸缎庄的东西。张生非常高兴，心想这下子可以过上安稳生活了。正要拿到里屋去，忽然想到，这东西一定是店中伙计收的账，路过这里丢失的。如果给店主交不了账，他必然只有死路一条，不如等他来找，还给他。就把袋子放好，自己拿著灯，坐在门外风雪中等待。
没过多久，见远处一老者和两个少年，手里挑著绸庄的号灯，沿路照寻著走过来，神色仓皇。张生想这一定是失主，就招呼他们说：“你们找甚么？”老者一看是张生，知道他是个无赖，不敢直说，支吾著想走。张生大声说：“你们打著灯笼到处照，是不是找丢失的东西，快告诉我！”老者只得实说：“刚才收账路过此处，遇上雨雪交加，急忙赶路，丢了一只布袋，所以返回来寻找。现在找不到，想必是过路人拾去了！”张生问他袋中有甚么，老者把银钱、账簿等物，一样样报出来，完全相符。张生说：“是不是请到我家小坐一下，拾东西的人我已知道是谁了！”说完将老者拉到他家，进屋拿出口袋说：“快看看这里边东西对不对？”老者大惊，畏惧万分的望著他，嘴唇动了动，不敢说甚么。张生安慰说：“老先生不要怀疑我。我要是想拿这袋中之物，怎能一个人呆呆的坐在风雪中傻等著你来告诉你呢！”说著把口袋递给他。老者泪如雨下，说：“我在店中管收账，今日丢失了东西，就是把家全卖了，也赔偿不起，只有死路一条。感谢先生救了我！”老者一连叩了不知多少头。起身后，请张生分取一半。张生严肃的拒绝了。老者说：“先生不取，我也不能走！”张生笑著说：“非要给，就借给我两块银洋，让我大年能吃上顿饱饭，就谢谢您了！”老者见他是真心实意，不敢再说甚么，拿两块光洋给他，叩谢而去。
张生拿了钱又出去买了粮食和果品，献神供天。夫妇吃了年夜饭。张生这一夜梦中被人捆绑，去到一个王者模样人的面前。王者呵责他说：“你多行不义，再不改正，当堕饿鬼道！”张生正叩头乞饶，忽然有一人手拿一张状子进前禀白。王者脸色立即和缓下来，说：“这是大善事，足以抵销以往的恶行。应该还他禄籍，入本年科榜。”又对张生说：“你回去后，应当痛改前非，一心向善，前程未可限量！”张生醒来，知道是那件还银事，感得神佑。天亮之后，就在神明前发誓遵行功过格，止恶从善，以赎以前的罪业。不久，以前的那位老者，衣冠楚楚前来拜谢，说：“前番若非先生之恩德，我全家老小的性命就完了！我已把这件事报告了我的东家，他必有所奉报。”张生谦逊的道了谢。从此尽心行善，而生活更加贫困，常常几天都揭不开锅。
初秋月半，所有秀才都去金陵参加秋试。只有张生一文钱都没有，每日饭钱都难措，就不再想应考的事。忽然遇到前老者，问他：“先生为甚么还不动身去应考？”回说因为没有钱。老者说：“先生是个善人，乡试岂可不去参加！请你先回去，在家等我！”张生刚到家不久，老者和一位青年人就赶到了，老者对张生说：“这位就是我东家，为先生高义所感动，早想报答！听说先生要去赶考，生活困难，奉赠二十金，白米四石。”又从自己袖袋中拿出二十金交给张生说：“这是我积蓄的工钱，也奉赠给先生，请快去应考！”张生推辞不过收下钱，立即搭便船赶往金陵应试。揭榜，果然考中。老者又和店东家来赠送张生进京赴试的路费，张生竟联捷中了进士，官位做到了观察使。有诗曰：行本无赖度残身，恶念顿除发善心。坐雪持银俟失主，前愆赦去锡福祉。
善念最为珍贵，张生靠一善念而超出饿鬼登上禄籍，多么的快捷！他能够见巨利而不贪，也是他乐于周济贫困的善根所致。这不正昭示人的命运并非一成不变，而重在自己的抉择取舍吗！
