Ancient Tales of Wisdom

Heaven sees clearly your every thought

Chinese people often say, “Heaven has eyes.”, and believe this to be an absolute truth. Today, we will bring you a story from the Zhou Dynasty which demonstrates Ancient China’s reverence for the Gods.

According to the Book of Shang, one year after the Zhou Dynasty was conquered by the Shang Dynasty, Emperor Wuwang became very ill.

Wuwang ‘s loyal advisor, Zhougong set up an altar and prayed to the three former emperors of the Zhou Dynasty, pledging his own life as collateral. He said “Your grandson is very ill. I am willing to die if Wuwang lives and serve the gods and ghosts in his place”. Zhougong continued to say “Wuwang has been appointed by the Heaven to rule in the world, and as such, the lives of people are stable and they revere the Gods. Please let Wuwang continue his duties and consider my request before deciding who’s life to take.”

After the prayer, Zhougong performed a divination and it boded well. The official historian transcribed the words of Zhougong’s prayer and placed it into a metal casket and put it away. The next day, Wuwang health improved.

Years later, after Wuwang eventually passed away, Chenwang became the emperor and Zhougong served as an adviser to the thrown. Chenwang’s uncle Guan and his brothers spread rumors slandering Zhougong, ganging up on him with followers from the Shang Dynasty to rebel against the Zhou. Zhougong went to the East to fight against them for two years and finally put down the rebellion.

Despite Zhougong’s success in quashing the rebellion and his loyalty to the Emperor, Emperor Chenwang had heard Guan’s rumors and became suspicious of Zhougong. In the autumn when Zhougong put down the rebellion, the crops were bountiful and almost ready to be harvested. Suddenly, there was lightning, thunder and gale force winds. Trees were uprooted, and the crops were blown to the ground. People were frightened. Upon seeing this, Chenwang and his ministers dressed in grand ceremonial attire, and they opened the metal casket and read Zhougong’s prayer from years before. Questioning the words, Chenwang consulted several witnesses of the prayer, and they all said him “It is all true, but Zhougong did not want us to make this public.” From this, Chenwang realised the unwavering loyalty of Zhougong to the Dynasty.

Chenwang also realized that the thunder, lightning and wind were signs that the gods were angry with his suspicion of the Zhougong and to show him Zhougong’s merits and virtues. At the same time, Chenwang realised that these heavenly omens were to remind him to correct his mistakes. Therefore, when Zhougong was returning from the East, Chenwang went to the countryside to greet Zhougong in person. Although it was still raining the wind suddenly reversed direction, blowing the crops to be upright again.

The people in ancient China, truly believed that “There are deities and gods three feet above one’s head.” They believed Gods know mankind’s every thought and that deities only help those who have virtues. In particular, Emperors of the Kingdom believe they must adhere to and abide by the rules of Heaven.

Zhougong’s loyalty to the Zhou Dynasty could be seen by Heaven, yet Chenwang was swayed by the words of those with ill intentions and became suspicious of him. To show Chenwang his mistake, Heaven used thunder, lightning and wind to warn him. After Chenwang was able to realise and corrected his mistake, Heaven encouraged him by reversing the winds.

In other words, according to ancient Chinese people, Heaven is the most righteous and unbiased judge of good and evil. All good and evil in the human world, every single thought that a person has and each idea that crosses his mind are seen by the multitude of gods. Therefore, in Ancient China, whenever a strange phenomenon occurred, the good emperors and saints would examine themselves to see if any part of their conduct was not aligned with the heavenly principles. If they found anything inappropriate, they immediately corrected their mistakes. No one dared to lie to or act against the will of Heaven.

With the reverence for Heaven and belief that every thought and action can be clearly seen by the Gods, ancient Chinese people conducted themselves virtuously and honestly. Great Emperors would lead with example and heed to the phenomenon of nature, constantly reflect on their thoughts and behaviour to make sure they are in accordance with Heavenly principles.

Ancient Chinese people believe that when the ruler of the people has virtue and rule in accordance with the will of Heaven, his land and people are rewarded with stability and prosperity. The opposite also holds true, a kingdom which is ravaged by disaster and disease is merely a reflection of a ruler who has little virtue and commits deeds against Heavenly principles.

Heaven in deed has eyes, and will judge all deeds in accordance with unchanging principles.