(Clearwisdom.net) 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 come back home. When Jin Yu received his wife’s letter, he immediately returned home from Jintan County. His wife prepared a family 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 will 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 with many illnesses. I don’t want to be unworthy of 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 made the highest score on the provincial exam and excelled in the higher level exam 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.
Category: Traditional Culture
