If, in later life, a courtesan marries into a good family, her past life is no embarrassment.
If a woman who has been upright and chaste all her life loses her personal integrity in her later years, all the virtue she has stored up is thrown away.
A proverb goes: “When judging a man, look at his later years.” This is truly perspicacious advice!
声妓晚景从良，一世之胭花无碍；贞妇白头失守，半生之清苦俱非。语云：“看人只看后半截。”真名言也。
Notes
This passage from Tending the roots of wisdom – Cai Gen Tan emphasizes that “how one ends matters more than how one begins” and “perseverance to the finish outweighs past achievements.” It mirrors both the hope in a penitent’s redemption and the peril of a collapse at life’s finale.
One’s worth is ultimately defined by their closing acts—whether redeeming past flaws or guarding lifelong principles. Every step in the “closing chapter” weighs the entirety of one’s moral legacy.
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