Stories from Ancient China: The Heavens Protect Those Who Are Good

At the beginning of the reign of Emperor Jiajing (1507-1576) in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), Mr. Jin owned a pawn shop in a town in Yizhen County. One time, almost all of the rich families in the town were robbed, but Mr. Jin's pawn shop was untouched. The County Head thought that the robbers must have known Mr. Jin, and that is why they left his home alone.

The robbers were arrested later. The County Head asked them, "Why did you not rob Mr. Jin's family?" The robbers told him, "We have tried to rob his place many times, but each time we saw countless guardians on his roof wearing golden armour, so we never dared to rob him."

The County Head did not believe them, so he called Mr. Jin's neighbours to find out. Mr. Jin's neighbours all said, "Mr. Jin is a good person who has accumulated lots of virtue. Other pawn shops buy items at less than their value and sell them at high prices, but Mr. Jin is always very fair, gives a good price, and lets you keep your items in the shop longer. If the customers are old, weak, or poor, he forgoes the interest. He chooses not to mark-up winter clothes in the winter, nor summer clothes in the summer. He does this every year. The heavens protect good people, so the spirit of good fortune is guarding him!"

The County Head finally believed it all. He highly praised Mr. Jin's moral character. When the Emperor's patrolling official heard the story, he also praised and rewarded Mr. Jin.