02 - Liao Fan 4 Lessons

Liao-Fan: The following year, at the three places of examination, I placed exactly as he had predicted. Then Mr. Kong calculated the predictions for my entire life.


He said.

Mr. Kong: You will pass such and such a test in such and such a year, you will become a civil servant in such a year, and in such a year you will get a promotion. Finally, you will be appointed as a magistrate in Szechuan Province. After holding that office for three and a half years, you will resign and return home. At the age of fifty-three, you will die around one o'clock in the morning on August 14th. It's a pity that you will not have a son.

Liao-Fan: I recorded and remembered all that he said. From then on, the outcome of every examination I took turned out exactly as Mr. Kong predicted. Mr. Kong also predicted that I would be promoted only after receiving a salary in the weight of ninety-one dans and five dous of rice. However, I had received only seventy-one dans of rice when the senior educational official Mr. Tu recommended me for a promotion. I secretly began to doubt Mr. Kong's predictions.

Liao-Fan: Nevertheless, the prediction turned out to be correct after all, because the recommendation was turned down by Mr. Tu's superior, Mr. Yang. It was not until several years later when Mr. Chiu-min Ying saw my old exam papers and exclaimed:

Mr. Ying: These five essays are as well written as reports to the Emperor! How can we bury the talents of such a great scholar?

Liao-Fan: Mr. Ying wanted the magistrate to issue an official order for me to become a candidate for 'imperial student' under his authority. After undergoing this eventful promotion, my calculations showed that I had received exactly ninety-one dans and five dous of rice. From then on, whether it was promotion, rank, or wealth, I deeply believed that all came in due time. Even the length of one's life is predestined. I began to view everything in a more detached manner and ceased to seek gain and profit.