Historical Stories: Chen Shu Gu Interrogates a Thief

Yi Dou

PureInsight | July 30, 2007

[PureInsight.org] When Chen Shu
Gu was posted to Pucheng County as governor in the Song Dynasty, many
residents lost possessions and some people were arrested, however it
was very hard to tell who the real thief was. Shu Gu told the alleged
culprits: "There is a bell in a certain temple, which can identify
thieves very effectively." The bell was transported to the rear of the
courtroom and the suspects were put in front of the bell. Shu Gu said:
"When the bell is touched, the people who did not steal will not make
the bell ring, however the people who did steal will."



Then Shu Gu and the officials paid homage to the bell and then had it
surrounded with curtains. Meanwhile, Shu Gu had someone paint ink on
the bell. The suspects were asked to stretch out one of their arms and
touch the bell through the curtain and then their hands were examined.
Amongst those people, only one person did not have an ink mark on his
hand. After interrogation, he was indeed found to be the thief and had
not dared touch the bell because of fear.



The old saying says: "One would not fear the ghost knocking at the door
in the night if they don't do anything wrong." The people who believe
in retributive justice will not do major evil deeds. Bit the evil CCP
came to power and started to destroy people's religions. Nowadays many
people do bad things but are not afraid of retribution because they
don't believe in it or the existence of the gods.



Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2007/7/10/44745.html

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