冥報記 3.25

3.25

Liu Zhigan of Hedong, at the beginning of the Zhenguan era, served as Magistrate of Changju County in Xingzhou. One night he died suddenly, but revived the next day. He related that initially he had been summoned by netherworld officials and brought to a grand government office. An emissary presented Zhigan to the King, who said to him, “There is currently a vacant official post, and so we have improperly brought you here to assume it.” Zhigan declined on the grounds that his parents were aged, and moreover stated that his own meritorious deeds meant he was not yet due to die. The King had this investigated and found it to be true. He therefore said to him, “You are not yet due to die, but you may temporarily serve as an acting recording officer (lushi).” Zhigan agreed and bowed in gratitude. A petty officer led him back out to the department. In the department were five judges; together with Zhigan there were six. The office hall was a long building where people sat in three bays, each having a table and desk, and business was extremely congested and bustling. At the western end was an empty seat without a judge. The officer led Zhigan to take this empty seat. A group of petty officers brought document registers to Zhigan for his judgment, placed them on the desk, and then withdrew to stand below the steps. Zhigan asked about this, and they replied, “Our breath is foul, so we dare not approach you closely; we answer only from afar regarding the matters in the case files.” Zhigan read through the cases, which were just like those among mortals. He then proceeded to pass judgment and check them off. After a short while, food arrived, and the various judges ate together. Zhigan also went over to join them, but the judges said, “Since you are only serving as an acting judge, you should not eat this.” Zhigan heeded them and ultimately dared not eat. At dusk, the officer escorted Zhigan home, and when he revived, it was already late. From then on, whenever it grew dark at his home, the officer would always come to escort him; when he arrived there, it would be dawn. Thus he knew that the unseen and the manifest reverse day and night. Thereupon, judging netherworld affairs by night and presiding over county duties by day, it became his regular routine. Over a year later, while Zhigan was in the netherworld office, he got up to go to the privy. To the west of the hall, he saw a woman around thirty years of age, of fine features and wearing fresh, bright clothing, standing and weeping behind her hands. Zhigan asked, “Who are you?” She replied, “I am the wife of the Administrative Assistant for Granaries (sicang canjun) of Xingzhou. I have been summoned here, having just parted from my husband; that is why I am sorrowful.” Zhigan asked an officer about this, and the officer said, “The authorities summoned her for questioning simply to bear witness against her husband.” Zhigan then advised the woman, saying, “I am the Magistrate of Changju. If you are interrogated, I hope you will clear yourself of blame; do not implicate the Granary Officer so that you both die to no purpose.” The woman said, “I truly do not wish to implicate him, but I fear the officials will press me to do so.” Zhigan said, “If you take care not to implicate him, you will have no cause to fear duress.” The woman agreed. Soon after, Zhigan returned to the prefecture. He first asked the Granary Officer, “What illness does your wife have?” The Granary Officer replied, “My wife is young and has no illness.” Zhigan told him what he had seen, describing her clothes and appearance, and urged him to cultivate merit. The Granary Officer rushed home and found his wife weaving at the loom without any trouble, so he strongly disbelieved it. More than ten days later, the Granary Officer’s wife suddenly fell ill and died; only then was the Granary Officer terrified, and he cultivated merit. Furthermore, there were two officials of Xingzhou whose terms of office had expired and who were about to set off for the capital for selection. They consulted Zhigan, saying, “You judge matters of the nether paths; may we ask what offices we shall obtain through the selection?” When Zhigan went to the netherworld office, he asked the recording officer using their names. The recording officer said, “The registers are all sealed in a stone casket. To inspect them, a report can only be obtained after two days.” When he took his leave, the officer brought the report, and he saw the titles of the offices the two men were to receive. Zhigan reported this to the two men. When the two men arrived at the capital to take part in the selection, the Ministry of Personnel slated offices for them that were both different from what had been reported. When the prefectural officials heard of this, they told Zhigan. Zhigan again asked the recording officer, who re-examined the registers and said, “It is definitely as previously checked; there is no mistake.” Soon after, the appointments of the two candidates passed to the Chancellery (Menxia), which reviewed and rejected them. When the Ministry of Personnel resubmitted the appointments, they were indeed identical to those found in the netherworld register and reported earlier. Thereupon everyone believed and submitted. Whenever Zhigan saw in the netherworld registers the names, descriptions, and appointed dates of his relatives and acquaintances, he would inform them and instruct them to cultivate merit, and many thereby managed to escape [death]. Zhigan served as acting judge for three years, when the petty officer came to inform him: “We have obtained Li, Administrative Assistant of the Household (sihu) of Longzhou, who has been appointed to the substantive office to replace you. You will no longer judge.” The next morning Zhigan went to the prefectural office and told Prefect Li Defeng, who sent someone to Longzhou to check; that Administrative Assistant of the Household had already died. When asked on which day, it was precisely the time when the petty officer had come to inform him. From this time on, it ceased completely. Later, the prefectural administration sent Zhigan to escort prisoners to the capital. When they reached the borders of Fengzhou, all the prisoners escaped. Zhigan was worried and terrified; after hunting and pursuing them for several days, he was unable to capture them. That night he lodged in a vihāra, when suddenly he saw the netherworld officer of his former unit come to inform him, saying, “The prisoners have all been found! One is already dead, and three are in a southern mountain valley, all having been seized and bound. We hope you will not worry.” Having spoken, he took his leave. Zhigan immediately requested troops and entered the western valley of the southern mountains, where he indeed found the four prisoners. Knowing they could not escape running, the prisoners came forward to resist. Zhigan fought them, killed one prisoner, and the remaining three were bound, precisely as had been reported. Zhigan is still alive today, serving as Marshal (sima) of Cizhou. Liu Heng, Chief Minister of the Court of Imperial Entertainments (guanglu qing), related this to me, Lin. When Heng was Prefect of Caozhou, he met Zhigan and questioned him in person, and Zhigan confirmed it was so. Censor Pei Tongjie also said that he had heard it told, and it was entirely in accord with these words.