(Clearwisdom.net) Once upon a time, there was a fisherman named Gong Zhuan. He lived in Zhenjiang Town (now a City in Jiangsu Province) and made a living by fishing and transporting travelers across the Yangtze River.

One day, a rich merchant needed to cross the river. Gong discovered that he was very rich, and carried many valuable possessions. Gong generated some bad thoughts, and when the boat reached the middle of the river and the merchant was not paying attention to him, he pushed him into the water. The merchant drowned. Gong took all of his belongings, and since then, Gong has no longer fished. He became a rich person and started a business. Soon, he had a son.

Even when his son was little, he was very rebellious and wild with no obligation or loyalty towards his parents. He treated his father like an enemy and always professed that he would kill his parents someday. When he grew up, he lived a life of indulgence. He spent a lot of his family's money and Gong's business was ruined.

Gong and his wife only had this one son, so they adored him very much, but they could not do anything about his disloyalty and bad behavior. They were very sad and always complained about their destiny.

One day Gong heard that a person could see the future and the past. So he visited him with the hope that he could get an answer about his son. That person told him these words, "The evilness happened in the eighth month of Geng-Zi Year, in the waves of the Yangtze River. All because of this one evil idea twenty years ago, you should ask your conscience about this."

Gong was very surprised, as his own son was the reincarnation of the merchant he murdered in the Yangtze River, and he came for revenge. Afraid of being killed by their son, Gong and his wife fled their home without their property. Later they both died.

Gong Zhuan murdered for money, however, he was still not able to enjoy the money. His creditor came back for the debt, and punishment awaited him in hell as well. Why did he do this in the first place? Everyone must pay back what he owes. This is a principle of heaven. Chinese sayings such as "creditors" or "I owe someone in my previous life" have some truth in them.

March 3, 2007