Rejecting Lust, Even Heaven Is Touched
 
Since ancient times, people have gained happiness and prosperity by conforming to heavenly principles and following their conscience. If a person went against heavenly principles and committed wrongdoings, he or she would bring about disasters. Everyone longs for longevity and good fortune. However, those who indulge in sexual desire and lust would get the opposite of what they long for and would suffer one disaster after another. People would only be blessed with happiness and good fortune by conducting themselves according to moral principles and ethics. Such stories were well documented in ancient books, and the following is just one example.
 
Jin Yu Refused to Take a Concubine
 
During the Ming Dynasty, there was a man called Jin Yu from Zhenjiang County, Jiangsu Province, who made a living by running a private school in Jintan County. He taught with tireless zeal and was highly respected for his moral ethics and literary grace. However, he was still childless after being married for twenty-odd years. His wife tried to persuade him to take a concubine, but he said, “While I do not have a son, I do work as a teacher and am doing my best to teach my students to become useful people for the country. This is truly like having descendants. Besides, it is decided by one’s fate whether one has a son or not, and it is not something one can obtain by force.”
 
After his wife saw that he refused to take a concubine himself, she paid for and took in their neighbor’s daughter as his concubine while he was away. She then wrote a letter urging him to return home. When Jin Yu received his wife’s letter, he immediately returned home from Jintan County. His wife prepared a banquet and asked the young lady to keep him company. She then told Jin Yu what she had arranged. Thinking that Jin Yu might feel embarrassed in her presence, she left and locked the room from the outside. When Jin Yu realized the door was locked from the outside, he broke the window and climbed out. His wife was very worried and said to him, “I have spent most of our savings to take a concubine for you so that the Jin family can have descendants.” Jin Yu said, “You meant well, but this young lady is only 18. I even held her when she was a little girl. When she saw me, she always called me Grandpa Jin. I only hope she can marry someone nice from a good family. I’m old and bothered by many illnesses. I don’t want to insult her.” His wife knew that she could not force him against his wishes, so she sent the young lady back home.
 
Not long after this, his wife (who had remained childless for over 20 years) suddenly became pregnant and later gave birth to a son. When their son was 17, he received the highest score on the provincial exam and excelled in the higher level exam at the capital when he was 18. He later became the prime minister in the court and was known as Duke Jin Wenxi. Everyone thought that Jin Yu’s moral ethics touched the Heavens, who then bestowed upon him a distinguished son.
 
拒色戒淫　上天感应（一）
 
自古以来，人们只有顺从天理，坚守良知，才能获得吉庆；违背天理，造作罪恶，就遭受祸殃。人们没有不希望自己健康长寿、吉星高照的。然而，那些好色贪淫之人，他心中所希求的，同他自身的所作所为却适得其反，致使恶运频频降临。人们所作所为合乎伦理道德，才能获得福运和善报。这类故事在古籍中多有记载，以下举几个例子。
 
靳瑜拒不纳妾
 
明代时江苏省镇江县人靳瑜，在金坛县设塾授徒，平日诲人不倦，是一位道德文章极受人们尊敬的好老师。他结婚已二十多年一直没有孩子，靳夫人于是劝其纳妾，靳瑜说：“我虽没有儿子，可是我当老师，善尽职责，教育后人成为于国于民有用之材，这也是真正的有后。况且有子无子皆由命定，不是强求所得！”
 
靳夫人见他不肯纳妾，就乘其不在家，出钱聘了邻家的女子，接到家里住。然后写信催靳瑜回家。靳瑜接到家信，立即从金坛回到镇江。靳夫人在家已摆好酒席，叫邻家的女子陪伴，并告诉靳瑜事情的原委。靳夫人认为自己在场，靳瑜不好意思，就出来把房门反锁上。靳瑜看到房门已锁，便打破窗户，跳窗而出。靳夫人著急地说：“我拿出大部份的积蓄，好不容易替你娶了一房妾，想让靳家有后。”靳瑜说：“你虽是一番好意，可这姑娘年方十八，她小的时候，我还抱过她。平日她遇见我时，常呼我靳公公，我只愿她将来能嫁一个好人家。我年老，多病，不能辱没了她。”靳夫人知道无法勉强，只得把那女孩子送回家。
 
不久，这位二十多年没有生育的靳夫人忽然受孕，生了一个儿子。这个儿子十七岁省试头名，十八岁会试高中，就是后来位至宰相的靳文僖公。人们都认为靳瑜的德行，感动了上天，因此上天赐他一个贵子。