Yuan Liao-Fan ( 1533-1606 ), a citizen of Jiashan County during the Ming Dynasty, originally believed in fatalism. However, his encounter with Zen aster Yun Gu triggered his conversion. He was persuaded that a person created is/her own fate and could determine his or her fortune; a belief elaborated in iao-Fan's Four Lessons, one of the most popular morality books of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and which upheld good deeds and the idea of retribution . Accordingly, the four steps implied in the implementation of the ethical thought of the Liao-Fan's Four Lessonsare: setting one's destiny, reforming one's life, cultivating kindness and practicing the virtue of humility. As one sets the direction of his or her life, the first thing to do is to eradicate fatalism. The goals of life become hence clear. However, the person still has to watch carefully his or her behavior, to examine her or his merits and demerits and do good deeds. Good deeds can be at the same time beneficial to oneself and to others. In practicing kindness, humility must not be flouted. As the idiom says, “Complacency leads to loss, modesty brings profit and pride comes before a fall.” Would one not be humble, his endeavor will easily come to naught. Ultimately, this research ponders on the realization of Liao-Fan's Four Lessons’ Ethical Thought in contemporary society. First, at social level, implementation requires eradicating fatalism and replacing it with the grid of merits and demerits as the basis for self-cultivation. Second, at educational level, education in modern time emphasizes the importance of body, mind and spirit so as the depth and breadth of life can be implemented through learning and practice. For this reason, Liao-Fan's Four Lessons can indeed be a fitting textbook for life education. Last, the ethical practice Yuan Liao-Fan fostered integrated the three Chinese religious traditions (Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism). Yuan Liao-Fan’s approach and intention are similar to those of modern society, highly concerned with world peace and striving to enhance ethics through interreligious dialogue.
