It means that people are watched by heaven whether they do good or bad things.

from: Journey to the West Eighty-seventh Back by Wu Cheng'en in the Ming Dynasty

Original:

Everyone has a thought, which is well known in the world.

if there is no reward for good and evil, Gankun must have personal interests.

translation:

People have an idea, whether it's good or evil, the gods, the earth and the gods know it, so be careful not to move evil thoughts casually. There is retribution for good and evil. If there is no retribution, then heaven and earth (Gan Kun) will have selfishness, but we know that heaven and earth are selfless, so the retribution for good and evil must be true.

Extended information:

Creative background:

In the first year of Zhenguan of Emperor Taizong (627), a 25-year-old monk Xuanzang Tianzhu (India) traveled on foot.

after starting from Chang' an, he passed through Central Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and finally arrived in India. He studied there for more than two years, and gave a lecture at a large-scale debate on Buddhist classics, which was praised. In the 19th year of Zhenguan (645), Xuanzang returned to Chang 'an and brought back 657 Buddhist scriptures, which was a sensation.

Later, Xuanzang dictated what he saw and heard about his journey to the west, which was compiled into 12 volumes of "The Tale of the Western Regions of Datang" by his disciples. But this book mainly tells the history, geography and transportation of countries seen on the road, and there is no story.

The book Datang The biography of Master Sanzang, written by his disciples Huili and Yan Cong, added a lot of mythical colors to Xuanzang's experience. Since then, the story of Tang Priest's Buddhist scriptures has been widely circulated among the people in China.

The Southern Song Dynasty had Poems on the Three Monks' Learning from the Buddhist Scriptures, the Jin Dynasty had Tang Sanzang and Pan Taohui, and the Yuan zaju included Wu Changling's Learning from the Western Heaven in Tang Sanzang and Wu Mingshi's The Great Sage, which laid a foundation for The Journey to the West's creation. It is on the basis of China folklore, scripts and operas that Wu Cheng'en completed this great literary masterpiece through hard re-creation.

The Journey to the West's author, Wu Cheng'en (controversial), lived in the middle and late Ming Dynasty and experienced five periods: Hongzhi in Xiaozong, Zhengde in Wuzong, Jiajing in Sejong, Qin Long in Mu Zong and Wanli in Shenzong. The social situation in the middle and late Ming Dynasty was very different from that at the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Political class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and contradictions within the ruling class were constantly intensifying and becoming increasingly acute.

The ideological and cultural enlightenment is on the rise, the ideological trend of human liberation is on the rise, the civic literature is developing vigorously day by day, and the creation of novels and operas has entered a period of all-round prosperity, and capitalism has sprouted economically.