One night in June of the 10th year of Yongzheng, there was a heavy thunderstorm, and a villager in the west of Xianxian County was killed by lightning. The county magistrate, Ming Sheng, went to inspect the scene and ordered the body to be buried in a coffin. More than half a month later, the county magistrate suddenly arrested a person and asked, "What's your purpose of buying gunpowder?" The man said, "To shoot birds." , at most one or two can be used for a day, so what do you buy 20 to 30 catties for?" The man said, "I plan to use it for many days." But a pound or two, where are the rest?" The man couldn't answer. After interrogation, he confessed to the crime of rape and murder, so he fought with the adulterer. Someone asked: "How do you know that the murderer is him?" The county magistrate said: "The gunpowder cannot be assembled into a detonator without a few kilograms. Sulphur must be used for dispensing. Now is the height of summer, not when firecrackers are set off at the end of the year, and few people buy sulphur. I He secretly sent people to the market to ask who bought the most, and the answer was a certain craftsman. He also secretly checked to whom the medicine was sold by a certain craftsman, and they all said that it was someone, and this person was him. He asked, How do you know Lei Is it fake?" The county magistrate said: "The lightning strikes people from top to bottom without cracking the ground. The lightning strikes the house from top to bottom. In this case, the grass and roof beams all flew up, and the earthen kang was also lifted up. It can be seen that The fire started from below. In addition, it is five or six miles away from the city, and the thunder and lightning should be the same. Although the thunder and lightning were very strong that night, they were all coiled in the clouds and did not strike, so I knew that the scene was fake. At that time, the deceased's The wife has already returned to her mother's house and it is difficult to interrogate her. So you must catch this person first, and then the shield can interrogate the woman." This county magistrate can be described as a clear and honest official.
Taipu Si Qing Ge Xianzhou said: In the thirteenth year of Qianlong, a person was killed by thunder on the bridge outside Ximen in Hejian. After this person died, he still knelt upright and did not fall down, holding a paper bag in his hand, which was not burned by lightning. The check is all arsenic-frost, I don't know why. After a while, his wife heard the news, she didn't cry when she saw it, and said, "I knew it would be today, but I hate that he died too late! This man used to insult his old mother, but yesterday he suddenly had a bad idea and wanted to buy arsenic-frost poison. Dead mother, I cried and persuaded all night and refused to obey."
From my brother Xusheng, he said: There used to be a fox girl in the south of the village, who confused many young people. The so-called "Second Girl" is this fox girl. There was a clansman who wanted to capture the fox girl alive, but he made a decision in his heart, but didn't say anything. One day, he saw a beautiful woman in a waste vegetable garden, suspecting that it was the second fox girl. So he sang provocative songs to her, sent seductive eyes, and folded flowers and plants and threw them in front of her. The beauty was about to lean over to pick up the flowers and plants when she suddenly stepped back a few steps and said solemnly, "You have bad thoughts." Then she walked over the broken wall. Later, two scholars studied in the monk's room of Dongyue Temple. One of them lives in the south room and has an ambiguous relationship with the fox girl. The other one lives in the north room and can't see the activities of the fox girl at all. The scholar in the southern room once blamed the fox girl for being late, suspected that she came from the northern room, and said jokingly: "Are you holding the Fuqiu sleeve with your left hand and patting Hong Ya's shoulder with your right hand?" The fox girl said, "You are not I despise me because I'm an alien, so I want to please myself and befriend you. As for the scholar of the Bei Shi, he has a heart like wood and stone, and he has no lust, how dare I approach him?" Nan Shisheng said, "Why not? Seduction may not be enough to keep him calm for three years. If he can change his temperament, it will prevent him from putting on a face of Cheng Yichuan in front of others." The fox girl said: "Magnets can only attract iron needles. If the category is different, it wont attract you. Dont worry about it, youll be humiliating yourself. At that time, my elder brother Xusheng and I served with my late father Yao Angong. After listening to Xushengs narrative, Yao Angong said, Before I I have also heard people talk about this incident. It happened in the last years of Shunzhi. The scholar who lives in the Beishi seems to be the ancestor of the clan, Lei Yang. Lei Yang is an old deputy. Pu Cheng, even the fox demon dare not get close. From this, we can see that everyone who is bewitched by the demon is because of their own evil thoughts first."
Madam Xiantai's maiden name was Cao, and there was an old woman who could see ghosts. When my grandmother went back to her mother's house, she told her about the underworld, and the old mother said, "I saw a ghost at so-and-so's house yesterday, and I was so crazy. But the situation was pitiful and heart-wrenching. The ghost's name was so-and-so. , lived in a certain village, and his family was well-off. He was twenty-seven or eighteen years old when he died. Just a hundred days after his death, his wife invited me to do the work. I saw him often sitting under the lilac tree in the courtyard, and sometimes heard his wife's words Crying, sometimes I heard the cry of my son, sometimes I heard the scolding of my brother-in-law and wife. Although he was afraid of the sun and could not get close, he insisted on listening carefully outside the window, with a miserable expression on his face. Later, he saw the matchmaker. When he entered his wife's house, he was startled and looked around with his hands open. Later, he heard that the negotiation had not been concluded, and his face became slightly happy. After that, the matchmaker came again, going back and forth between his brother and sister and his wife. He ran behind him. On the day of giving the betrothal gift, he sat under the tree and stared straight at his wife's room, with tears streaming down his face. After that, whenever his wife came in and out, he followed behind, and his expression of nostalgia became stronger. The night before his marriage, While his wife was putting away his makeup, he wandered outside the eaves again, or leaned against the pillar to cry, or lowered his head thoughtfully. Hearing a little cough in the room, he looked in through the crack of the window, and he tossed it all night. I sighed: "Why is this idiot! He didn't seem to hear. The man's man came in and walked forward with the candle. He was hiding in the corner, still looking at his wife. I accompanied my wife out, and when I turned around, I saw He followed him to the man's house from a distance, but was blocked by the doorman. He kowtowed in sympathy, and was allowed to enter the house. When he entered the house, he hid in the corner, watching his wife's wedding ceremony, standing there fascinated. When he entered Dongli, he was slightly close to the window, and the situation was the same as when his wife was packing makeup in the house. He didn't leave until he blew the lamp and went to bed, but was driven out by the god of earth and came out in a hurry. Entrusted, I went back to see the child, and he came back with me. I saw him press straight into his wife's house, and he looked at all the places where his wife sat and slept. Then he heard the child crying for his mother. Get up. He ran out and surrounded the child, clasping his hands together, as if he was helpless. After a while, his sister-in-law came out and slapped the child. It looked like he was gnashing his teeth. I couldn't stand it any longer, so I went back, and I don't know what happened after that. Later, I told his wife secretly that she gritted her teeth and regretted it. The young widow in the village was discussing remarriage and heard this. I swear by death: I can't bear to let dead people behave like this. Ugh, a gentleman restrains himself with righteousness and does not blame others, and it does not make a difference because he lives or dies; It doesn't make any difference because of living or dying. In general, people's feelings are that people are in love, and people's feelings are also dead. But when I think of the state of the dead, I still feel deeply moved. Confucian scholars see people's doubts. But frivolously praying for blessings and creating delusional things to fool people, then plausibly insisting on the theory of no ghosts, ignoring the profound meaning of the previous king's educational measures based on Shinto. I don't know that what this old woman said can touch people's feelings for the living and the dead.
Cousin surnamed An, forgot his name. He once made friends with a fox spirit and often talked in the yard where crops were harvested. When An could see a fox spirit, others would not see it. Fox Jing claimed to be born in the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. When asked about the historical events of the Song Dynasty, he replied: "I don't know. Anyone who learns immortals must travel around the world, which will cut off all karma and cultivate carefully. What he sees and hears, there must be right and wrong in his heart. If there is right and wrong, there must be love and hatred. If there is love and hatred, then the emotions of joy, anger, sadness and joy must alternate one after another, which is used to reduce his energy, and his spirit is exhausted. The shape has also declined, and how can it still exist today? After the Great Dao is completed, when you travel in and out of the world, seeing all the ingenuity and deception will be like a drama, and seeing all the successes and failures, even the rise and fall of chaos, will be like illusory blisters And the shadow. Since I didn't pay attention at that time, how can I remember each one? Even if I met you, this is also a forerunner. But for hundreds of years, I don't know how many people who have met you are like duckweed floating in the water. Occasionally meet, like a cloud of smoke and dissipate suddenly, and most of the past jokes can't be remembered. So you can imagine what you have never come into contact with from here." At that time, a thunderous incident occurred at the Sanguan Temple in Balizhuang. Ann asked about the longevity of things, and most of them were struck by lightning. Is longevity also forbidden by the creator? The fox spirit replied: "There are two aspects to this, such as refining the inner alchemy to guide the qi and pulling the body, or taking the outer alchemy that is smelted by gold and stone, it is a matter of course that you have experienced hardships to gain enlightenment, just like working hard to get rich, it is natural If you tempt nightmares, steal your essence, damage other people's lifespan, and prolong your own age, this is no different from robbery and stealing, and the laws of the sky are not allowed. The decrees of the sky are also not tolerated. If he maintains his spirit, perfects his life, does not bring harm to others, and has no competition in the world, then the things of longevity are just like people with longevity, how can they violate the taboo of the creator What?" After hearing this, Mr. Shizhai, his uncle, said, "What this fox said belongs to the superficial category of Lao Tzu's theory. But it is enough for self-preservation."
There was a scholar in Zhejiang who dreamed at night that he came to an official mansion, which he said was the Temple of the City God. An official of the underworld officials said to him: "Now a certain public accuses his friend of having a bad heart with him, and leads you to testify. Please think about it, has it ever happened?" The scholar recalled it and found it happened . Hearing that the capital city god was ascending to the hall, the underworld officials stepped forward to report the wrongdoing of a certain public accusation against a certain friend. The witness has been brought in, and the capital city god is requested to investigate. The Capital God brought the lawsuit to the scholars, and the scholars answered truthfully. The Capital God said: "These people form parties for selfishness and win over friends in order to make progress. They decide their own likes and dislikes based on whether they are on their side or not, and use their likes and dislikes as the standard for judging right and wrong. When the forces are alone, they cling to them for help. At about the same time, they pushed each other out and swallowed up each other. The clouds and the rain changed in an instant. They were originally friends of villains, how could they use the way of a gentleman to ask each other to sue each other! Now that the investigation is clear, all can be blasted out." The capital city God looked at the scholars again and said, "Do you think that the punishment for the unscrupulous people is wrong? Planting beans reaps beans, planting melons reaps melons, this is cause and effect. The flower bears the seed, and the seed blooms again. This is the mutual generation of cause and effect. After the person with the heart, there is another person with the heart, and there is no need for ghosts and gods to take care of it." The scholar suddenly woke up. A few years later, as God had said, another unfortunate thing happened.
A certain lady in Fujian likes to eat cats. If a cat is caught, a small jar is put into lime, the cat is thrown in, and then boiled water is poured into it. The cat's hair was completely evaporated by the lime gas, so there was no need to pluck the hair: the cat's blood poured into the internal organs, and the cat's flesh was as white as jade. She said that after this treatment, the taste of cat meat is ten times better than that of chicken. Every day she sets up a network to set up organs, and she kills an unknown number of cats. Later, the husband became critically ill, wailed like a cat, and died after more than ten days. Observe that Luigi used to live as a neighbor with this lady. Ji's son, Yin Wen, my son-in-law, told me about this. So I talked about a son of an official in Jingzhou, who likes to break the legs of small animals such as cats and dogs, twist them back, and watch them wriggling and crawling, wailing for fun, and killing a lot of them. Later, after his children came down, their heels were reversed. And my maid Wang Fa, who is good at shooting bird guns, can kill dozens of birds every day. He has only one son, Jining Prefecture; he was born in Jining Prefecture. When the child was eleven or twelve years old, he suddenly developed sores all over his body, which looked like burn marks. There was an iron bullet in every sore, and I don't know how it got in. I tried all kinds of medicines to no avail, and finally died. The retribution of killing evil is the heaviest, indeed. What I don't understand is that those who cultivate the fruit of goodness all fast on certain days, as if they are obeying the decree, but they cannot abstain from killing in normal times. Buddhists eat fast, is it considered a merit to eat vegetables and fruits? It is by eating fruits and vegetables to avoid killing. Today's Buddhists say that a certain day is the Avalokitesvara fasting period; a certain day is the Zhunti fasting period. The Buddha is very happy to eat fast on this day. If it weren't for this day, the kitchen was slaughtered and cooked, and the cutting board was piled with fat meat, despite the brutal slaughter, the Buddha would not care. Is there any reason for this in the world? Moreover, the emperor does not kill cattle for no reason, the doctor does not kill sheep for no reason, and the scholar does not kill dogs and pigs for no reason. Confucians follow the teachings of the sages, and of course there is absolutely no reason not to eat meat; but in addition to banquets and sacrifices, killing living beings like Ye Shi is absolutely inappropriate. In order to eat a piece of meat, I killed a life suddenly; in order to drink a meat soup, I suddenly killed dozens of lives, or hundreds of lives; with the infinite horror and pain of many living beings, infinite misery, for me to enjoy the moment Isn't it a bit contradictory to fasting on certain days? Mr. Su Tungpo has always adhered to this view. I think that's a more pertinent point of view. I am willing to debate this matter with those who cultivate good fruit.
The sage ignored and dismissed matters outside the world. However, there are things inside that are not discussed. For example, a dead person, according to Confucianism, is the soul ascending to the sky and the soul entering the earth. Can't go to the world anymore. But there is a saying of Huisha, that is, the soul will return to its original place after a period of time after death. The vulgar sorcerer also has a book, saying that he can know in advance the time of return of the ghost and the direction of departure. This is really absurd. However, I once watched the ghost from a distance from the window of the next courtyard, like a white smoke, going out from the chimney and slowly drifting to the southwest. This is exactly the same as the estimated time and direction. The ghost once again personally opened the lock twice and checked the dusty place. The footprints left on it were exactly the same as those of a living person, and relatives could recognize it. How can this be explained? Fortune and misfortune are destined, life and death have their own days, and sages cannot resist the arrangement of fate. But there are spells in the world that use drugs to enchant people and use nightmares to control people. Those who use such spells to harm people will be punished by criminal law. I haven't seen the drug charming, and the latter has seen it many times. Those who use this spell are no more than blind men, witches, and civil workers. This kind of magic can really affect people's life and death, and it is often effective. The power of the gods, the gods, and the gods was manipulated in the hands of these people and implemented indiscriminately. How can this be explained? There must be some truth to it, but people still don't know it. Song Confucianism generally concluded that there is no such thing as it does not make sense in theory. Is it a bit like a rubber column? Mr. Li Youdan said: "Song Confucianism talked about astronomy based on Neo-Confucianism, thinking that he understood the essence of yin and yang fortune, and he had a basis for the sun, moon and the five planets, and seemed to know everything. The more inaccurate it is. Since Guo Shoujing, through actual calculation and use of solar eclipses to verify, did they know that Zhou, Cheng, Zhang and Zhu knew nothing about astronomy. Even a famous mathematician like Shao Yong only used odd and even numbers and square circles. Rather than calculating the calendar according to the laws of celestial bodies, the higher their arguments, the more far-fetched they will inevitably be. The movement of the sun, the moon and the five planets is based on actual shapes and cannot be speculated with reason. , let alone infer the Taiji universe from time and space without form? The first sage said that it is better not to talk about things that you don't understand."
The witch, an old woman surnamed Hao, is the most cunning among the village women. When I was a child, I saw her at my aunt's house in Cangzhou. She herself said that the fox god is attached to her and can tell the good and bad of people. All the small matters of others can be known one by one, so many people believe it. In fact, it is to distribute disciples and comrades, befriend maids and old women, and spy on secret affairs on behalf of her, in order to achieve her fraudulent purpose. Once a pregnant woman asked whether the child was a boy or a girl, Hao promised that it was a boy, and later gave birth to a girl. The woman asked why God's words didn't work. Hao glared at him and said, "You should have had a boy, but on a certain day of the month, your mother sent twenty cakes, and you gave six to your in-laws and hid fourteen to eat by yourself. The Yin Si blames you for being unfilial, so you haven't realized it since you turned a man into a woman?" The woman didn't know that this matter had already been discovered by her, so she was frightened and pleaded guilty. Most of her tricks to cover up are similar to this one. One day, while burning incense to call the gods, she suddenly sat upright and said aloud: "I am the real fox god. Although my generation is mixed with people, in fact, we are all breathing and cultivating our bodies, why would we be willing to become attached to the old women in the village and interfere in other people's trivial matters? This? The old woman is full of conspiracies to get money with wickedness and falsehood, and she actually puts her name on my generation. So today, I really attached her to her, so that everyone knows her treason." Then she scolded her hideous and ugly behavior one by one. and cite the names of her followers. After speaking, Hao suddenly woke up like a dream and fled in a panic. I don't know what happened to her later.
The mother of my concubine, Mrs. Shen, said that there was a beggar in Gaochuan County who lived with his mother and wife in a dilapidated temple. In summer, the beggar picked up more than a bucket of wheat and told his wife to grind flour for his mother to eat. The wife hid the good noodles, mixed the rough noodles with sewage, and made cakes for her mother to eat. Heavy thunderstorms this night. In the darkness, the wife suddenly shouted. The beggar got up and saw that a large snake entered his wife's mouth, bit her heart, and killed her. The beggar dragged his wife out and buried her. The old lady Shen saw with her own eyes that the snake's tail was hanging on the beggar's wife's chest, more than two feet long.
There are two school teachers, who live and teach in neighboring villages, and both take it as their responsibility to inherit and promote what they have learned. One day, the two agreed to gather in one place for a lecture, with a dozen students and disciples sitting by the side. When they debated "nature" and analyzed "reasonable desires", they were all serious and serious, as if they were speaking to sages. Suddenly, a breeze blew, and some pieces of paper were blown and swirled and danced constantly under the steps of the pulpit. The disciples picked it up and saw that it was a secret letter between the two school teachers, and the content was a plan to seize a widow's property. This may be because the gods hate their hypocrisy and use clever means to expose their treacherous conspiracy. However, there are many people who use treacherous techniques, and not all of them can be exposed. After I heard that the private letters of the two school teachers were exposed, the trick could not be carried out, and the widow's property was finally protected. This should be the lonely widow who was struggling to keep the festival and moved the ghosts and spirits, so it was revealed that this kind of supernatural secretly protected her.
Juren Li Cunqi said that there was a haunted house in Li County, where an old scholar and several guests lived. At night, there was a fluttering sound outside the window, and the old Confucian scolded: "Evil cannot invade righteousness, and demons cannot conquer virtue. I have been preaching and studying for thirty years, are I still afraid of you?" Ive heard about preaching for a long time. Although Im an outlier, Ive also read a lot of Confucian books. The essence of Daxue is sincerity, and the essence of sincerity is to be cautious when you are alone. Your words and deeds must be To follow the ancient rituals, is it really for self-cultivation? Or is it a little bit for the sake of reputation? Cultivating oneself and promoting Taoism are the laws of heaven; What can you learn? I won't argue with you about this. You ask yourself in the silent night: How are you? You say that the evil dares to violate you, and that the demon can overcome the virtue? Then you fully understand. Why should you be right? Why am I so exhausted?" The old Confucian was sweating like rain, unable to speak. After a while, I heard a mocking voice from outside the window: "You dare not answer, it shows that you can still deceive your heart. I will let you sleep for the time being."
After Mr. X's death, the antique widow and orphans left behind did not know its value, so he asked his friends to estimate it. The friend deliberately overestimated these antiques for a long time. When the mother and son were too poor to live on, they took the opportunity to buy it at a low price. Two years later, this friend also died, and these antique wives and sons who were left behind did not know the goods, so he asked his former friend to estimate and sell them. This friend copied the deceased friend's strategy, and got the antique into his own hands. Some people argue: "The way of heaven goes in the opposite direction, so those who copy the tricks of their predecessors should be less guilty." I think this statement is very pleasing, but it cannot be regarded as an axiom. The thief is guilty. If someone steals the thief again, can it be said that the crime of this person is less than that of the thief?
The butcher Xu Fang was the one who met the drunk at night as mentioned earlier. When he slaughtered the donkey, he first dug a trench in the ground, put a board on it, made four holes at the four corners of the board, and embedded the donkey's feet. Some people come to buy meat, and according to the amount of meat they buy, they pour boiling water over the donkey's body to make the hair fall off and the meat is cooked. After a day or two, the donkey's flesh was cut off and he died. When the donkey was still alive, he clamped its mouth to keep it from making a sound. Its eyes were furious, like two candles. Later, Xu Fang fell ill and festered all over his body without a single piece of intact skin, and the shape was the same as the donkey he slaughtered. Tossing and turning on the mattress, begging for death, and screaming for forty or fifty days before dying. He blamed himself bitterly during his illness, and instructed his son Zhixue to quickly change his career. After Xu Fang died, Zhixue turned to butchering pigs instead. I saw him when I was a child, but I haven't heard that he has any descendants.
Bian Suiyuan Zhengjun said: A person who entered the Ming Si saw an old Confucian scholar standing under the corridor, and his expression was very frightened. A secret official seemed to be his old friend, and greeted him with greetings. He cupped his hands and smiled at him and said, "Mr. usually insists on the theory of no ghosts. I don't know what the hell is today, Mister?" The group of ghosts burst into laughter. The old scholar shrank back awkwardly.