Strictly Cultivating Morality and Returning Good for Evil

Zhao Gai, a Nanjing resident during the Song Dynasty, was once a royal court scholar and tutor of the emperor's son.

He was a colleague of Ouyang Xiu who was a renowned literary figure of the time and worked together with him compiling books. Zhao was an honest and cautious man and he was very quiet. Ouyang looked down upon him. When Ouyang was promoted as the emperor's secretary, Ouyang demoted Zhao for his plain writing style. Zhao didn't take it seriously, caring little for fame and wealth.

Later, Ouyang's niece had some indecent affairs and those who didn't like Ouyang wanted to take advantage of this to defame him. The emperor was very angry upon hearing about such affairs and nobody except Zhao dared to speak up for Ouyang. Zhao wrote to the emperor stating, "Ouyang Xiu became one of emperor's close officials for his outstanding literary talent. Your Majesty, don't believe the slanderous words you heard and hastily stigmatise him. I hardly socialise with him and he doesn't treat me well either, but what I am concerned about is the general interest of the royal court." Some people asked Zhao, "Weren't you upset with Ouyang?" Zhao replied, "I can't put personal interest above public affairs."

The emperor was not happy with Zhao's letter and Ouyang was still demoted. Zhao was subsequently in charge of Suzhou. He later quit his job in order to hold the wake of one of his relatives. When the wake period was over, Zhao was given the position of an official scholar at the royal court. Zhao again wrote to the emperor, asking him to reinstate Ouyang to his former position.

Although the royal court rejected Zhao's appeal, everyone admired Zhao's high moral quality and magnanimous gestures. Ouyang also came to know that Zhao was such a noble elder and grew great respect for him. Later they then became good friends.

When Zhao was in charge of the Yunzhou area, one of his junior officials embezzled three hundred thousand dollars from the public purse and bought some land to lease and make money. When Zhao heard about this, he used his own money to pay off the debt, as he knew about the financial struggles of that official. The history book tells of Zhao's high moral quality of kindness and mercy in the way he treated others during his lifetime.

Zhao's lofty moral behaviour was a result of his strict moral cultivation on a day-to-day basis during his entire lifetime. In order to have a high and strict moral standard for himself, he used to have two empty bottles. He would put a yellow soybean into one bottle whenever a kind intention arose in his mind or if he performed a good deed. He would put a black bean to the other bottle whenever there was an evil thought in his mind or if he performed a bad deed. At first, there were more black beans. Judging from this, we can see that everyone has shortcomings and makes mistakes. The key is how we deal with them.

Later, Zhao continuously cultivated himself strictly, and regularly looked at himself introspectively, exercised forbearance, and continually corrected his mistakes and moved towards kindness. Thus more and more yellow beans accumulated in the bottle. Zhao Gai finally achieved a lofty and noble character. This example illustrates that nobility and upright behaviour seem to be the result of strict gradual cultivation of oneself.