One year during the Eastern Han Dynasty, a severe famine struck Henan.
One night, a thief sneaked into the home of Chen Shi and hid himself on a roof beam. Aware of the intruder, Chen Shi calmly got out of bed, gathered his children and grandchildren, and addressed them sternly: "One must always exercise self-restraint and strive for self-improvement, regardless of circumstance. Evil men are not born evil. It is only through a failure to restrain themselves that they develop bad habits and gradually become corrupt. The gentleman on the beam is a perfect example of this."
Deeply ashamed upon hearing these words, the thief promptly jumped down from the beam, knelt, kowtowed, and begged for forgiveness.
Chen Shi then enlightened him, saying: "Judging by your appearance, you do not seem like a wicked man. Perhaps poverty has driven you to steal. You must examine your conscience carefully and turn over a new leaf."
He immediately instructed someone to bring two bolts of white silk and gave them to the thief as a gift. The thief kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude.
From that time on, thefts became very rare in that locality.