Prevod

During the Han dynasty, a dutiful daughter-in-law in Donghai cared for her husband’s mother with the utmost devotion. Her mother-in-law said, “She toils so hard to support me. I am old now—why should I cling to my remaining years and go on burdening one so young?” And so she hanged herself. Her daughter reported to the authorities, saying, “My brother’s wife killed my mother.” The officials arrested and imprisoned the daughter-in-law. Subjected to savage torture, she could not bear the pain and falsely confessed. At the time, Lord Yu was an officer of the court. He said, “This woman has cared for her mother-in-law for more than ten years, and her devotion is widely known. She cannot have killed her.” The governor would not listen. Unable to prevail in his protests, Lord Yu clasped the records of her case to his breast, wept in the governor’s office, and left. Thereafter, drought withered the commandery, and no rain fell for three years. When a new governor arrived, Lord Yu told him, “The dutiful daughter-in-law did not deserve to die. The former governor had her unjustly executed. Surely this is the cause of our misfortune.” The governor at once went in person to make offerings at her grave and had it marked in her honor. Rain fell immediately, and that year brought a bountiful harvest. The elders handed down this account: “The dutiful daughter-in-law was named Zhou Qing. As Qing was about to die, a cart carried a bamboo pole a hundred feet long, from which five banners were hung. Before the assembled crowd she swore, ‘If I, Qing, am guilty, I willingly submit to death, and my blood shall flow downward. But if I die unjustly, my blood shall flow upward.’ After the execution, her blood, blue and yellow, climbed the bamboo pole along the banners to its very tip, then flowed down along the banners.”