Original Text
In Zichuan there was a man named Liu, who was like a tiger clad in human skin, exceedingly vicious in nature. Later he left Zichuan and moved to Yishui County to live, yet his evil habits remained unchanged, and the villagers both hated and feared him. The Liu family owned several mu of land, which adjoined the fields of a man named Miao. Miao was diligent and frugal, and had planted many peach trees along the edge of his land. When the peaches were just ripe, Miao's son climbed the tree to pick them. Upon seeing this, Liu flew into a rage, cruelly drove the boy away, and claimed the peach trees as his own. The boy ran home crying and told his father. Miao was astonished at this, but just then Liu arrived at his door cursing and threatening to take the matter to court. Miao quickly smiled and tried to appease him, yet Liu's anger remained unabated, and he left in a huff.
At that time, a fellow villager named Li Cuishi was running a pawnshop in Yishui County, and Liu, holding a legal complaint, happened to encounter Li Cuishi as he entered the city. Because they were from the same hometown and well acquainted, Li Cuishi asked, "Where are you off to?" Liu told him about his intention to file a lawsuit. Li Cuishi laughed and said, "Your reputation, old sir, is known to all. I have long known that man surnamed Miao; he is a very gentle person—how would he dare to cheat you out of your peach trees? I fear you are speaking in reverse!" Thereupon, he tore up Liu's complaint, pulled him into the shop, and prepared to mediate between them. Liu, still seething with anger, secretly took a brush from the shop and wrote another complaint, hiding it in his bosom, insisting on going to court. Before long, Miao arrived and recounted the whole matter in detail to Li Cuishi, begging him to intercede and prevent Liu from suing. Miao said, "I am a farmer; in half a lifetime, I have never seen a magistrate. As long as there is no lawsuit, how dare I insist on keeping those few peach trees for myself?" Li Cuishi called Liu out and told him that Miao had conceded, offering to yield the peach trees. Liu, however, cursed incessantly, pointing at heaven and drawing on the earth. Miao only continued to speak gently and amiably, not daring to utter a single word of rebuttal.
After this, four or five days later, Li Cuishi encountered a villager who said that the man surnamed Liu had already died, and Li Cuishi sighed in astonishment. One day, Li Cuishi went out to another place and saw a man walking on the road leaning on a cane; it was none other than Liu. When he drew near, Liu warmly greeted him and invited him to his home to sit. Li Cuishi hesitated and asked, "Some days ago, I suddenly heard news of your death; how could such a rumor be so falsely spread?" Liu did not answer but simply pulled him into the village, and upon arriving home, set out wine and feasted him. Only then did he say, "The rumor from a few days ago was not false. A few days earlier, when I went out, I encountered two men who wanted to arrest me and take me to the authorities. I asked them what the reason was, and they said they did not know. I thought to myself that I had been in and out of government offices for decades and was not one to fear seeing officials, so I was not afraid. I went with them to the court, where I saw an official seated facing south with an angry expression, who said, 'Are you the one surnamed Liu? Your evil deeds are full to overflowing, and you do not know repentance; moreover, you have taken others' possessions as your own. With such violent and tyrannical behavior, you truly deserve to be boiled in oil!' A man checked the ledger and said, 'This person once performed a good deed and should not yet die.' The official looked at the ledger, his expression softened somewhat, and he said, 'Send him back for now.' Dozens of men shouted loudly and drove me away. I said, 'For what matter was I arrested, and for what reason am I released? Please enlighten me.' A minor clerk came down holding the ledger and pointed to an entry showing me: In the thirteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, with three hundred coins, he helped a couple reunite. The clerk said, 'If not for this matter, you would have lost your life today and would have been reborn as a beast.' Hearing this, I was terrified and quickly followed the two men who had arrested me out. The two men demanded a bribe from me, and I said angrily, 'Do you not know that I, Liu, have been in and out of government offices for over twenty years and am one who specializes in extorting money from others? How dare you seek meat from a tiger's mouth!' The two men then fell silent. They escorted me to the village, bowed to me with clasped hands, and said, 'This errand did not even yield a cup of water.' After they left, I entered my home and regained consciousness, having been dead for two days."
Li Cuishi, greatly intrigued by this, asked him to recount the full story of that good deed. It happened during the thirteenth year of the Chongzhen reign, a year of severe famine when even cannibalism occurred. At that time, the man surnamed Liu was still in Zichuan, serving as a constable in the county yamen. One day, he saw a man and a woman weeping bitterly and approached to inquire. They replied, "We are husband and wife, married just over a year. This year's famine has made it impossible for us to survive together, hence our sorrow." Shortly after, he encountered the same couple near an oil shop, seemingly engaged in a dispute. Liu stepped forward to ask. The oil shop owner, a man named Ma, said, "This couple is on the verge of starvation, daily begging me for sesame paste to stay alive. Now the husband wants to sell his wife to me. I have already bought over a dozen people for my household; why would I be in a hurry to acquire more? If the price is low, I will buy; otherwise, I won't. How absurd that they keep pestering me like this!" The husband then said, "Grain is as precious as pearls now; without at least three hundred cash, I cannot afford to flee the famine. Selling my wife is meant to save us both, but if even after selling her I still face death, why take this path? It is not that I dare haggle with you, but I beg you to consider this an act of charity to accumulate hidden virtue!" Liu, taking pity on the couple, asked Ma what price he would offer. Ma replied, "These days, a woman is worth at most a hundred cash." Liu urged him not to go below three hundred, offering to contribute half himself. Ma adamantly refused. Young and hot-tempered, Liu then said to the husband, "This shopkeeper is too stingy; no need to bargain with him. I will give you three hundred cash myself. If you can flee the famine together without parting as husband and wife, would that not be better?" So he took out three hundred cash from his pocket and gave it to the couple. The husband and wife, weeping, kowtowed in gratitude and then departed. After Liu finished recounting this, Li Cuishi praised him profusely.
From that day forward, the man surnamed Liu reformed all his former wicked ways, and now, though seventy years of age, his body remained hale and hearty. Last year, when Li Cuishi went to Zhou Village, he happened upon Liu arguing with someone, and though the crowd gathered to mediate, they could not resolve the matter. Li Cuishi laughed and called out loudly, "Are you again seeking to lodge a complaint over the peach tree?" Upon hearing this, Liu seemed struck by a sudden recollection, his demeanor changed, he lowered his hands, and with repeated murmurs of assent, he turned and departed.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: Li Cuishi and his brother were both wealthy men without official rank. Yet Li Cuishi was more honest and prudent by nature, delighting in good deeds, never lording his wealth over the villagers—truly a sincere and respectful gentleman. Observing how he mediated disputes and urged others toward virtue, one can imagine the conduct of his entire life. The old saying goes, "The rich are not benevolent." I wonder whether Li Cuishi first possessed benevolence and then became wealthy, or first became wealthy and then practiced benevolence?
Commentary
In this tale, the characters Liu, a certain Miao, and Li Cuishi are all real people, recorded in the "Zichuan County Gazetteer: Biographies of the Righteous and Generous." Apart from the fictional elements of the underworld, the story is based on contemporary events, representing a type of narrative creation in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio." Since it is largely factual, the plot and characters are relatively straightforward, yet they are highly typical of rural social life—whether it be the powerful landlord seizing farmland, the weak peasant selling his wife to survive the year-end famine, or the honest country gentleman, all reflect the social realities of the Ming-Qing transition.
In his work "Essentials of Good Governance," Pu Songling put forth the theory of "eliminating local bullies," stating, "In villages and towns, there are often ruffians and local thugs who, relying on their physical strength, the multitude of their followers, or their familiarity with the yamen, arbitrarily dominate the countryside, committing lewd acts and fraud with impunity. Should one inadvertently cross their path, beatings and floggings follow immediately. They come wielding clubs to one's door, their demeanor as fierce as tigers and wolves. These are the great scourges of a region, like the pests among the crops. They seize property and goods without anyone daring to speak out, encroach upon fields and homes without anyone daring to question them. If they are not dealt with according to the full extent of the law, then the people of that region cannot live in peace." The story "The Liu Surname" serves to illustrate this very point.