# Physiognomy vs. Virtue: Which is More Powerful?

Look at this extraordinary case: Yuan Zhongche, a famous physiognomist of the Ming Dynasty and son of Yuan Gong, author of the *Liuzhuang Physiognomy Method*. Once, he predicted that his friend's servant boy would be detrimental to his master and advised his friend to send the boy away.

The servant boy had no home to return to and wandered in the countryside. One day, he miraculously found several hundred taels of silver in an old temple. He was about to take it when he suddenly sighed and said: "My fate is poor and I was driven away from my master without cause. If I take this silver today, it would be unrighteous, and Heaven itself would condemn me even more." So he stayed in the temple to wait for the owner.

Soon, a woman arrived in tears. Upon inquiry, it turned out her husband had been sentenced to death. She had sold her family property and borrowed money from everywhere to raise funds for his rescue. Unexpectedly, she lost the silver while resting in the temple and was now devastated. The servant boy carefully inquired and verified the facts, then returned all the silver to the woman and firmly refused any reward.

After the woman rescued her husband, she told everyone about the servant boy's virtuous deed. A military commander happened to hear this story, found the boy extraordinary, and took him as an adopted son. Years later, when the commander died, the servant boy inherited his official position.

Later, Yuan Zhongche visited his friend. The friend sighed and said: "Look at the oak tree in my garden—it's grown quite well, hasn't it?" When other guests arrived, the friend had the servant boy wear his old clothes and serve tea. Yuan Zhongche recognized him instantly. The friend playfully said: "After I drove him away, he had nowhere to go, and I called him back."

Yuan Zhongche laughed and said: "Stop teasing me. He is no longer your servant; he is now a respectable third-rank military official. Look at his appearance and bearing—they are completely different from before. Could this transformation not be the result of performing great good deeds?" The friend then sighed in realization: truly, cultivating virtue and accumulating merit can change one's physiognomy and destiny.