Stories from Ancient China: What is Owed Must Be Repaid

Once upon a time, there was a fisherman named Gong Zhuan. He lived in Zhenjiang Town of ancient China (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 wealthy, and carried many valuable possessions. Thinking about all the money he pushed him into the water when the boat reached the middle of the river. The merchant drowned, Gong took all of his belongings, and with his new swag he quit his fishing 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 someday he would kill his parents. When he grew up, he lived a life of indulgence, 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 greatly adored him, 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 both the future and the past and 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 was acting out his revenge as his son. 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 unable to enjoy any of it. His creditor came back for the debt, and yet there was more punishment awaiting him upon his death. Why did he do this in the first place? It is a principle of heaven that everyone must pay back what he owes. Chinese sayings such as "creditors" or "I owe someone in my previous life" hold a lot of truth.