冥報記 3.20

3.20

At the beginning of the Wude era, Kong Ke, an adjutant for records in the Area Command of Suizhou, suddenly fell ill and died, reviving after one day. He personally recounted that he was arrested and taken to an official's office. The official asked Ke, 'Why did you kill two water buffaloes?' Ke said, 'I did not kill them.' The official said, 'Your younger brother testified that you killed them; why do you not confess?' He then summoned the younger brother, who had already died several years earlier. When he arrived, he was under heavy wooden cangue and fetters. The official asked, 'Is what you said about your elder brother killing the buffaloes true or false?' The brother said, 'My elder brother was previously dispatched on an imperial commission to pacify and conciliate the Liao bandits. He ordered me to kill the buffaloes to feast them. It was truly done on my brother's orders, not of my own accord.' Ke then said, 'It is true that I had my brother kill the buffaloes to feast the Liao. But it was a state affair; what crime has Ke committed?' The official said, 'You killed the buffaloes to feast the Liao because you wanted to take the pacification as your own achievement and seek official rewards for your personal benefit. How can you call it a state affair?' He then said to Ke's brother, 'Because you were needed to testify against your brother, we detained you for a long time. Now that your brother has admitted to ordering the slaughter, you are innocent and are released to take rebirth as you please.' When he finished speaking, the brother suddenly vanished, and they could not even exchange words of farewell. The official further asked Ke, 'Why did you also kill two ducks belonging to someone else?' Ke said, 'During my former post as county magistrate, I killed the ducks merely to provide for official guests. How is that Ke's crime?' The official said, 'Official guests have their own rations that do not include ducks. You killed them to provide for them in order to seek a fine reputation. How is that not a crime?' The official added, 'You also destroyed six chicken eggs.' Ke said, 'All my life I have not eaten chicken eggs. I only recall that when I was nine years old, on the Cold Food Festival, my mother gave me six eggs, and I boiled and ate them myself.' The official said, 'Indeed. Do you wish to shift the blame to your mother?' Ke said, 'I would not dare; I am only stating the cause. It was indeed Ke who destroyed them.' The official said, 'Since you took their lives, you must suffer for it yourself.' When he finished speaking, several dozen men in dark clothes suddenly seized Ke and were about to lead him out. Ke cried out loudly, 'This official bureau is also greatly unjust and corrupt!' Hearing this, the official called him back and asked, 'How is it unjust?' Ke said, 'Since my birth, every sin I committed has been recorded without omission. Yet regarding the merits I cultivated in my lifetime, there is no record whatsoever. How is that not corrupt?' The official asked the clerk in charge, 'What merits does Ke have? Why were they not recorded?' The clerk replied, 'Merits are also fully recorded. But we weigh the amount of sins against merits: if merits are many and sins few, we first have them receive reward; if sins are many and merits few, we first have them undergo retribution. Ke's merits are few and his sins many, so we temporarily set aside his merits without discussing them.' The official said angrily, 'Even if he is to undergo retribution first, why did you not proclaim his merits to show him?' He ordered the clerk to be given one hundred lashes. In an instant, the whipping was finished, blood splattering the ground. Then the clerk chanted the merits Ke had cultivated throughout his life, not omitting a single one. The official said to Ke, 'You should receive punishment first, but I will release you to return home for seven days; you may diligently cultivate posthumous merits.' He then sent someone to escort him out, and he revived. Ke gathered a large assembly of monks and nuns to practice the Way and repent, striving with utmost diligence. He recounted this affair himself. When the seven days arrived, he bade farewell to his family and passed away shortly after. My elder brother was a subordinate official in the Sui Commandery, and so I know this in detail.