Bao Qingtian
Bao Zheng (包拯) (
999–
1062) was a much-praised
judge from
Song China. His job title was the Mayor of the capital city (開封府尹) at the time. Because of his renowned fairness, he was popularly glorfied "Blue-Sky Bao" () or "Lord Bao" (). He was also nicknamed "Darkie Bao" () by his enemies due to his very dark complexion. (This is more of a myth and glorification.) His
courtesy name was Xiren (希仁).
He was born into a scholar family in
Hefei,
Anhui province, where the Memorial Temple of Lord Bao (包公祠) is still located near the city centre. It was built in
1066 close to his tomb. At the age of 29, he passed the highest-level imperial exams and became qualified as a
Jinshi. He was a magistrate in
Bian (
Kaifeng), the capital of the
Song dynasty.
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 "royal father-in-law" (國丈) who was also appointed as the Grand Tutor (太師) and was known as Grand Tutor Pang () he treated Bao as an enemy.
He had conflicts with other powerful members of the imperial court as well, including the Prime Minister, Song Yang. He had 30 high officials demoted or dismissed for corruption, bribery, or dereliction of duty. He also had Zhang Yaozhuo, uncle of the high-ranked imperial concubine impeached 6 times. In addition, as the imperial
censor, he avoided punishment despite having many other contemporary imperial censors punished for minor statements.
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Tomb of Bao Zheng, mount and altar on top |
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Tomb of Bao Zheng, entrance to burial chamber |
Bao Zheng also managed to remain in favor by cultivating a long standing friendship with one of
Emperor Renzong's uncles, the Eighth Imperial Prince ().
His burial site in Hefei contains his tomb along with the tombs of family members and a memorial temple.
In
opera or drama, he is often portrayed with a black face and a white crescent shaped birthmark on his forehead. In most dramatization of his stories, he used a set of
guillotines, given to him by the emperor, to execute criminals. The one decorated with a dog's head was used on commoners. The one decorated with a tiger's head was used on government officials. The one decorated with a
dragon's head was used on royalties. He was granted a golden rod by the previous emperor which he was authorized to chastise the current emperor with. He was also granted a precious sword from the previous emperor as a license to execute any royalties before reporting to the emperor to get approval first (from where arose the idiom "先斬後奏",
kill first, report later). In these works he was often helped by 12 deputies and detectives, collectively known as 七俠"義 (seven
Xia and five
Yi).
His name became synonymous with justice, with the clear blue sky (
qing tian; '天) became a popular
metaphor to justice in the Chinese-speaking world. 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.
There are many legends and stories about Bao and his witty approach to solve mysterious and tough cases. Some famous examples include:
* 《鍘美案》 The story about Bao executing Chen Shimei (陳世美), who abandoned his previous wife (and later tried to have her killed) in order to marry royalty.
* 《貍"換太子》 The story of a plot to discredit a
concubine by swapping her son (the new born crown prince) with a civet, in which Bao disguised as
Yan Luo to try Guo Huai (郭槐). Guo supported Bao in front of the Emperor early in his career, making the case personally difficult for the judge. The perpetrator confessed when he thought he was in hell.
*The TV series "Justice Bao"
包'天 was filmed in
Taiwan. The series became popular in
Hong Kong during the night time slot. It was also one of the first dramas that used the
NICEM technology (Dual Sound Switch Cantonese/Mandarin).
TVB bought the early seasons of the series before rival channel
Asia Television Limited bought the right to broadcast the series. However, it became less popular when ATV bought the right, since their
voice-over lacked the quality of TVB's. However, the series was so successful that it ran for nearly 5 years in the mid 90's and created
spin-off series, as well as other
merchandise products related to Bao Zheng.
The series was shown in weekdays, from Monday to Friday, and usually it took 5 episodes to solve a mystery case (the case being concluded on Friday). Most of the series were pure fiction relating to Bao Zheng, especially with some Chinese fantasy thrown in. The series taught Chinese traditional values, like respecting elders.
*Stephen Chow made a spin-off movie based on Bao Zheng called Hail the Judge or "Pale Face Bao Zheng Ting" in proper Chinese title. 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 generation of incompetence and corruption.
*
His biography as recorded in Song's historical document (in Chinese)*
Another biography (in English)
