Bao Zheng

Bao Zheng

Personal details
Born (999-04-11)11 April 999
Hefei, Song Empire (in today's Feidong County near Hefei, Anhui)
Died 20 May 1062(1062-05-20) (aged 63)
Kaifeng, Song Empire (in today's Kaifeng, Henan)
Resting place Monument at Luyang District, Hefei, Anhui 31°51′27.17″N 117°17′56.39″E / 31.8575472°N 117.2989972°E / 31.8575472; 117.2989972
Spouse(s)
  • Lady Zhang (張氏)
  • Lady Dong (董氏)
Children
  • Bao Yi (包繶), son
  • Bao Shou (包綬), son
Full name Surname: Bāo (包)
Given name: Zhěng (拯)
Courtesy name: Xīrén (希仁)
Posthumous name: Xiàosù (孝肅)
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Bao.
Bao Zheng
Chinese 包拯

Bao Zheng (包拯; 11 April 999 – 20 May 1062), commonly known as Bao Gong (包公, "Lord Bao"), was a government officer during the reign of Emperor Renzong in China's Song Dynasty. During his twenty five years in civil service, Bao consistently demonstrated extreme honesty and uprightness, with actions such as sentencing his own uncle, impeaching an uncle of Emperor Renzong's favourite concubine and punishing powerful families. His appointment from 1057 to 1058 as the prefect of Song's capital Kaifeng, where he initiated a number of changes to better hear the grievances of the people, made him a legendary figure. During his years in office, he gained the honorific title Justice Bao (包青天) due to his ability to help peasants overcome corruption.

Bao Zheng today is honored as the cultural symbol of justice in Greater China. His largely fictionalized gong'an and wuxia stories have appeared in a variety of different literary and dramatic mediums (beginning with The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants), and have enjoyed sustained popularity. In mainstream Chinese mythology, he is often portrayed wearing a judge miter hat and a crescent moon on his forehead. Some Chinese provinces later deified Judge Bao, equating him to the benevolent war god Guan Gong.

Early life

Bao Zheng was born into a scholar family in Luzhou.[1] Bao's family was in the middle class. Though Bao's parents could afford to send him to school, his mother had to climb up mountains to collect firewood just before she gave birth to him.[2] As Bao grew up among low working class, he well understood people's hardships, hated corruption and strongly desired for justice.[2]

At the age of 29,[3] Bao passed the highest-level imperial examination and became qualified as a Jinshi. Bao was appointed as magistrate of Jianchang County, but he deferred embarking on his official career for a decade in order to care for his elderly parents and faithfully observe proper mourning rites after their deaths.[2]

During the time Bao looked after his parents at home, Liu Yun (刘赟), Magistrate of Luzhou who was renowned as an excellent poetic and fair-minded officer, usually visited Bao. Because the two got along well, Bao obtained great influence from Liu Yun in respect of the love for people.[2]

As magistrate of Tianchang

After his parents' demise, Bao Zheng, then 39, was appointed magistrate of Tianchang County not far from his hometown.[2] It was here that Bao first established his reputation as an astute judge. According to an anecdote, a man once reported that his ox's tongue had been sliced out. Bao told him to return and slaughter the ox for sale. Soon another man arrived in court and accused the first man of privately slaughtering a "beast of burden", an offense punishable by a year of penal servitude.[4] Bao bellowed: "Why did you cut his ox's tongue and then accuse him?" In shock, the culprit had to confess.[1]

As prefect of Duanzhou

In 1040, Bao Zheng was promoted to the prefect of Duanzhou (modern Zhaoqing) in the south, a prefecture famous for its high-quality inkstones, a certain number of which were presented annually to the imperial court. However, Bao discovered that previous prefects had collected far more inkstones from manufacturers than the required tribute — several dozens of times more — in order to bribe influential ministers with the extras. Bao abolished the practice by telling manufacturers to fill only the required quota.[5]

When his tenure was up in 1043, Bao left without a single inkstone in his possession.[1] It was in Duanzhou that he wrote this poem:

清心為治本 (qīng xīn wèi zhì běn) The essence of governing is to have a cleansed heart,
直道是身謀 (zhí dào shì shēn móu) The strategy of life is to follow upright ways.
秀幹終成棟 (xiù gàn zhōng chéng dòng) An elegant stem will eventually turn into a pillar,
精剛不作鉤 (jīng gāng bù zuò gōu) Refined steel cannot be bent into a hook.
倉充鼠雀喜 (cāng chōng shǔ què xǐ) Rats and sparrows overjoy when the granary is full,
草盡兔狐愁 (cǎo jǐn hú tù chóu) Rabbits and foxes worry when the grassland dies.
史冊有遺訓 (shǐ cè yǒu yí xùn) History books contain teachings by those deceased:
勿貽來者羞 (wú yí lái zhě xiū) Don't leave your descendants with only embarrassment!

As investigating censor

Bao Zheng's statue in Xiqing Park (西清公园), Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China.

Bao Zheng returned to the capital and was named an investigating censor in 1044. For the next 2 years in this position, Bao submitted at least 13 memoranda to Emperor Renzong of Song on military, taxation, the examination system, and governmental dishonesty and incompetence.

In 1045, Bao was sent to the Liao dynasty as a messenger. During an audience, a Liao official accused the Song of violating the peace by installing a secret side door in the border prefecture of Xiongzhou, so as to solicit defectors from Liao for intelligence. Bao retorted: "Why is a side door required for intelligence?"[6] The Liao subject could not respond.[1]

In the following years, Bao held the following positions:

Impeaching Zhang Yaozuo

Emperor Renzong's favourite consort had been Concubine Zhang, whom he had wanted to make empress but could not because of opposition by his (unknown to him, fake) mother, Empress Dowager Liu.[7] Nevertheless, the concubine's uncle Zhang Yaozuo (張堯佐) was quickly promoted within a few years from minor local posts to high office, including the state finance commissioner (三司使).[8] On July 12, 1050, Bao and 2 other censors together presented a memorandum, which in strong language accused Zhang of mediocrity and shamelessness, even attributing natural disasters to his appointments. Probably annoyed, Emperor Renzong not only did nothing to Zhang Yaozuo, he awarded Consort Zhang's sister with a title 4 days later. But Bao did not give up. In another memorandum submitted by himself alone, he wrote:[9]

In all dynasties, family members of imperial consorts, even when talented, were not appointed office, to say nothing of a mediocre, talentless one... In prostration, your subject saw our nation-dynasty since its founders had always carefully selected intelligent ministers for appointments, even at times of overflowing treasuries... The current (financial) state is dire and dangerous from all directions, how could this man be appointed to that post and hold on to it, dashing the world's hopes and neglecting the world's matters? Your subject really and painfully feels sorry for your majesty.

Partly to appease protests by Bao and others, the emperor relieved Zhang Yaozuo from the state finance commissioner, but instead appointed him a concurrent four-commissioner position: commissioner of palace attendant, military commissioner of Huainan, Qunmu military commissioner-in-chief (群牧製置使), and commissioner of Jingling Palace (景靈宮). In a memorandum dated December 26, Bao voiced his strong protest and wrote:[10]

The situation right now is, if your majesty is determined to appoint Yaozuo, then expel this advisor; if your majesty is to listen to this advisor, then (your majesty) must remove Yaozuo.

In the next court meeting to authenticate these posts, there was a heated argument in court led by 7 ministers including Bao, which resulted in the removal of commissioner of palace attendant and commissioner of Jingling Palace from Zhang's appointment.[10] A few decades later, Zhu Bian (朱弁, 1085–1144) wrote a humorous account in his Anecdotes from Quwei (曲洧舊聞),[11] which probably contributed to the development of future legends:

One day, when the emperor was about to hold audience, Wencheng (Concubine Zhang's posthumous name) sent him off all the way to the door of the palace court, caressed his back and said: "My husband, don't forget, commissioner of palace attendant today." The emperor said, "OK, OK." When he issued his edict, Bao Zheng asked to speak. Bao spoke at length on reasons to oppose, spoke hundreds of sentences repeatedly, his voice so loud and agitated that spittle spattered the emperor's face. The emperor, to stop him, gave up (on the edict). Wencheng, ... on receiving (the emperor), bowed and gave thanks. The emperor, wiping his face with his sleeve, said: "... All you know is ask for commissioner of palace attendant, commissioner of palace attendant. Don't you know that Bao Zheng is the vice censor-in-chief?"

During his years in the government service, Bao had thirty high officials demoted or dismissed for corruption, bribery, or dereliction of duty. In addition, as the imperial censor, Bao avoided punishment despite many other contemporary imperial censors had been punished for minor statements.[2]

As prefect of Kaifeng

In 1057, Bao was appointed the magistrate of the capital city of Bian (now Kaifeng).[3] Bao held the position for a mere period of one year, but he initiated several material administrative reforms, including allowing the citizens to directly lodge complaints with the city administrators, thereby bypassing the city clerks who were believed to be corrupt and in the pay of local powerful families.[12]

Although Bao gained much fame and popularity from his reforms, his service after the tenure as Magistrate of Bian was controversial.[12] For example, when Bao dismissed Zhang Fangping (張方平), who concurrently held three important offices, Bao was appointed to these offices as Zhang's successor. Ouyang Xiu (欧阳修) then filed a rebuke against Bao.[12]

Bao had also been the Minister of Finance.[13] Despite his high rank in the government, Bao led a modest life like a commoner.

Apart from his intolerance of injustice and corruption, Bao was well known for his filial piety and his stern demeanor. In his lifetime, Bao gained the name "Iron-Faced Judge" (鐵面判官) and it was also said among the public that his smile was "rarer than clear waters in the Yellow River".[14]

Due to his fame and the strength of his reputation, Bao's name became synonymous with the idealized "honest and upright official" (清官), and quickly became a popular subject of early vernacular drama and literature. Bao was also associated with the god Yanluo (Yama) and the "Infernal Bureaucracy" of the Eastern Marchmount, on account of his supposed ability to judge affairs in the afterlife as well as he judged them in the realm of the living.[15]

Death

“ Any of my descendants who commits bribery as an official shall not be allowed back home nor buried in the family burial site. He who shares not my values is not my descendant.

— Bao Zheng's instruction to his family[1]

 ”

Bao died in the Capital City of Bian. It was recorded that he left the following warning for his family: "Any of my descendants who commits bribery as an official shall not be allowed back home nor buried in the family burial site. He who shares not my values is not my descendant."[1] Built in 1066, his burial site in Hefei contains his tomb along with the tombs of family members and a memorial temple.

Family

Bao Zheng had two wives: Lady Zhang and Lady Dong. Bao had only one son, Bao Yi, who died at a relatively young age while being a government officer. Bao then adopted a new son, Bao Shuo, who also died prematurely.[12] However, when a young maid in Bao Zheng's family became pregnant and Bao dismissed her, Bao Yi's wife, knowing that the maid was pregnant with her husband, secretly saved the maid and her son, enabling the continuation of Bao's family line.[12]

Bao Yi's wife was greatly praised in the official sources for her devotion to the protection of family line.[12] This story was very influential to the formation of the legend that Bao Zheng was raised by his elder sister-in-law, whom he called "sister-in-law mother" (嫂娘).[12]

Legend

Literary traditions

Bao Zheng's tomb in Luyang District, Hefei, Anhui, China.

Bao Zheng's stories were retold and preserved particularly in the form of performance arts such as Chinese opera and pingshu. Written forms of his legend appeared in the Yuan Dynasty in the form of Qu. Vernacular fiction of Judge Bao was popular in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. A common protagonist of gong'an fiction, Judge Bao stories revolve around Bao, a magistrate, investigating and solving criminal cases.

In the Yuan Dynasty, many plays (in the forms of qu and zaju) have featured Bao Zheng as the central character.[16][17] These plays include:

Also discovered from this period include some ballads which had been translated by Wilt L. Idema in 2010.[20]

The 16th-century novel Bao Gong An by An Yushi (安遇時) (partially translated by Leon Comber in 1964[21]) increased his popularity and added a detective element to his legends.

The 19th-century novel The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants by the storyteller Shi Yukun (石玉昆) (partially translated by Song Shouquan in 1997[22] as well as Susan Blader in 1997[23]) added a wuxia twist to his stories.

In Pavilion of Ten Thousand Flowers (萬花樓), Five Tigers Conquer the West (五虎平西), Five Tigers Conquer the South (五虎平南) and Five Tigers Conquer the North (五虎平北), four serial wuxia novels composed by Li Yutang (李雨堂) during Qing Dynasty, Bao Zheng, Di Qing and Yang Zongbao appear as main characters.[24]

In What the Master Would Not Discuss (子不語), a Qing Dynasty biji by Yuan Mei (袁枚), Bao Zheng as well as the belief that he was able to judge affairs of both human beings and supernatural beings is featured.[25]

Stories

Bao Zheng portrayed by a Peking Opera actor.

In opera or drama, he is often portrayed with a black face and a white crescent shaped birthmark on his forehead.

In legends, because he was born dark-skinned and extremely ugly, Bao Zheng was considered cursed and thrown away by his father right after birth. However, his virtuous elder sister-in-law, who just had an infant named Bao Mian (包勉), picked Bao Zheng up and raised him like her own son. As a result, Bao Zheng would refer to Bao Mian's mother as "sister-in-law mother".

In most dramatizations of his stories, he used a set of guillotines (鍘刀, "lever-knife"), given to him by the emperor, to execute criminals:

He was granted a golden rod (金黄夏楚) by the previous emperor, with which he was authorised to chastise the current emperor. He was also granted an imperial sword (尚方寶劍) from the previous emperor; whenever it was exhibited the persons surrounding, irrespective of their social classes, must pay respect and compliance to the person exhibiting as if he were the emperor. All guillotines of Bao Zheng were authorised to execute any persons without first obtaining approval from the emperor, whilst some accounts stating the imperial sword was a license to execute any royals before so reporting.

He is famous for his uncompromising stance against corruption among the government officials at the time. He upheld justice and refused to yield to higher powers including the Emperor's Father-in-Law (國丈), who was also appointed as the Grand Tutor (太師) and was known as Grand Tutor Pang (龐太師). He treated Bao as an enemy. Although Grand Tutor Pang is often depicted in myth as an archetypical villain (arrogant, selfish, and cruel), the historical reasons for his bitter rivalry with Bao remain unclear.

Bao Zheng also managed to remain in favour by cultivating a long-standing friendship with one of Emperor Renzong's uncles, the Eighth Imperial Prince (八王爺).

In many stories Bao is usually accompanied by his skilled bodyguard Zhan Zhao and personal secretary Gongsun Ce (公孙策). Zhan is a skilled martial artist while Gongsun is an intelligent adviser. There are also four enforcers named Wang Zhao (王朝), Ma Han (馬漢), Zhang Long (張龍), and Zhao Hu (趙虎). All of these characters are presented as righteous and incorruptible.

Due to his strong sense of justice, he is very popular in China, especially among the peasants and the poor. He became the subject of literature and modern Chinese TV series in which his adventures and cases are featured.

Famous cases

Sculptures inside the Lord Bao Memorial Temple, a tourist attraction in Kaifeng, Henan, China. In this scene, a fearless Bao Zheng takes off his official headwear to challenge the empress dowager, in order to execute the prince consort Chen Shimei.

All of these cases have been favorites in Chinese opera.

Modern references

The Kaifeng Court, a tourist attraction in Kaifeng, Henan, China, displaying the three guillotines Bao Zheng had allegedly used.

Linguistic influence

In modern Chinese, "Bao Gong" or "Bao Qingtian" is invoked as a metaphor or symbol of justice. There is a chain of cafes selling baozi in Singapore called Bao Today (Bao Jin Tian), which is a pun on Bao Qingtian (Justice Bao).

In Thai language, Than Pao (ท่านเปา; "Lord Bao") has become a colloquial term for a judge. The Royal Institute of Thailand recorded the term in the Dictionary of New Words, Volume 2, published in 2009.[26] Furthermore, the word "Pao" is used colloquially by the sports media to mean a referee in a game, especially a football match.

Films

Stephen Chow also made a spin-off movie based on Bao Zheng called Hail the Judge and titled "Pale Face Bao Zheng Ting" in Chinese. In the movie Stephen plays a descendant of Bao Zheng called "Bao Sing" living in Qing Dynasty, whose family lost its once glorious prestige due to generations of incompetence and corruption.

Television

A large painted face of Bao Zheng in Haw Par Villa, Singapore.

Some of the more prominent TV series include:

Novels

Bao Zheng's shrine in Haiching Temple (海清宫) in Sihu, Yunlin County, Taiwan.

Bao Zheng briefly appears in the novel Iron Arm, Golden Sabre and sponsors young Zhou Tong's entry into the military as an officer.[27]

In March 2012, Frederic Lenormand, author of 18 Judge Dee's New Cases (Fayard 2004-2011), published at Editions Philippe Picquier Un Thé chez Confucius (A Tea with Confucius), first novel of his new series, The Judge Bao Cases.

Games

A side scrolling video game, Bao Qing Tian, was released for the Famicom.

Comics and manga

In the Marvel comic series New Universal, Young Judge Bao is one of the characters in an in-universe comic book.

"Les éditions Fei" also publishes a series of French-language comics about Bao Zheng. As of August 2010, two volumes have been printed.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bao Zheng.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Song Shi, ch. 316.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Bao Zheng". China Culture. 2012. Retrieved 2013-05-29.
  3. 1 2 孔繁敏 (Kong Fan-Min) (1986). 包拯年谱 [Annals of Bao Zheng] (in Chinese). Anhui: Huangshan Publishing House. Retrieved 2012-02-19.
  4. ↑ Chang, p. 823.
  5. ↑ Chang, p. 824.
  6. ↑ Chang, pp. 824-825.
  7. ↑ Chiba, p. 44.
  8. ↑ Chiba, p. 45.
  9. ↑ Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, ch. 168.
  10. 1 2 Xu Zizhi Tongjian Changbian, ch. 169.
  11. ↑ Qu Wei Jiu Wen, ch. 1.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wilt L Idema (2010). Judge Bao and the Rule of Law. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. p. xi–xii.
  13. ↑ "Bao Zheng Shi Die Shou Kai Zuo Ji". China State Finance (1): 22–24. 1960.
  14. ↑ Susan Blader (1998). Tales of Magistrate Bao and His Valiant Lieutenants. Hong Kong: Chinese University of Hong Kong. ISBN 962-201-775-4.
  15. ↑ Wilt L. Idema. “The Pilgrimage to Taishan in the Dramatic Literature of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Centuries.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), Vol. 19 (Dec., 1997), pp. 23-57, p. 34
  16. ↑ Idema, Wilt L. (2010). Judge Bao and the Rule of Law: Eight Ballad-Stories from the Period 1250-1450. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing.
  17. ↑ West, Stephen H.; Idema, Wilt L. (2010). Monks, Bandits, Lovers, and Immortals: Eleven Early Chinese Plays. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company.
  18. 1 2 Yang Hsien-yi; Yang, Gladys (1958). Selected Plays of Kuan Han-Ching. Foreign Languages Press. OCLC 459980671.
  19. 1 2 3 Hayden, George Allen (1978). Crime and Punishment in Medieval Chinese Drama: Three Judge Pao Plays. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0674176081.
  20. ↑ Idema, Wilt L. (2010). Judge Bao and the Rule of Law: Eight Ballad-Stories from the Period 1250-1450. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing Company. ISBN 9814277010.
  21. ↑ Comber, Leon (1964). The Strange Cases of Magistrate Pao: Chinese Tales of Crime and Detection. Clarendon, Vermont: Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 9810845677.
  22. ↑ Shi, Yukun; Yu, Yue; Song Shouquan (trans.) (2005). The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants. Esther Samson (ed.), Lance Samson (ed.). Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. ISBN 7507103587.
  23. ↑ Blader, Susan (1997). Tales of Magistrate Bao and His Valiant Lieutenants: Selections from Sanxia Wuyi. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. ISBN 9622017754.
  24. ↑ Li Yutang (1859). 萬花樓楊包狄演義 [Pavilion of Ten Thousand Flowers: The Romance of Yang, Bao and Di] (in Chinese). Beijing: Gold and Jade Publication House.
  25. ↑ Yuan Mei (2013). Zibuyu, What the Master Would Not Discuss. Paolo Santangelo and Yan Beiwen. Netherlands: BRILL.
  26. ↑ Royal Institute of Thailand (2009). พจนานุกรมคำใหม่ เล่ม 2 ฉบับราชบัณฑิตยสถาน [Royal Institute Dictionary of New Words, Volume 2] (pdf) (in Thai). Bangkok: Royal Institute of Thailand. p. 60. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  27. ↑ Wang, Yun Heng (汪运衡) and Xiao Yun Long (筱云龙). Tie Bei Jin Dao Zhou Tong Zhuan (铁臂金刀周侗传 - "Iron Arm, Golden Sabre: The Biography of Zhou Tong"). Hangzhou: Zhejiang People's Publishing House, 1986 (UBSN --- Union Books and Serials Number) CN (10103.414) and 464574

Further reading

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