Pieces of the Past

Honest and Upright Official Respected by the People

By staff reporter HUO JIANYING

Image of Bao Zheng in Peking Opera. Huo Jianying

IN China the epithet a "modern Bao Zheng" is the highest praise possible for government officials, especially those in judicial posts. Bao Zheng (999-1062), the best-known upright and incorruptible official in Chinese history, was born in today's Hefei in Anhui Province. After working as county magistrate and prefect, he was promoted to a series of senior positions in the imperial Song court.

Bao Zheng appealed for order in the local administration and reduction of corvee and tax. After assuming the office of chief justice, he soon established a reputation for impartiality, integrity and ability in settling lawsuits. According to historical documents, Bao: "...took decisive and rigorous measures to rectify the administration. Even senior officials and the peerage were intimidated into desisting from evil or illegitimate acts. Every malfeasant trembled at the mention of his name. Even women and children knew of Bao Zheng."

Over the past centuries, Bao Zheng's reputation has heightened, rather than falling into historical oblivion. There are numerous dramas, operas, and tales about Bao Zheng. People love, esteem and even apotheosize him, as there were few incorrupt officials in feudal times that genuinely safeguarded the interests of the populace.

The gateway bearing the 16-word admonishment of the Song Dynasty's Emperor Taizong outside the Qing Dynasty Hebei governor-general's office in Baoding. Huo Jianying

When Bao Zheng ruled Tianchang County in Anhui Province, a farmer reported a case of the tongue of one of his farm cattle being cut off. Bao Zheng told him: "Keep this to yourself, and slaughter the animal." According to the law of the Song Dynasty, unauthorized slaughter of farm cattle was prohibited, but as the animal was at its last gasp, and the county magistrate himself had given the order, the farmer returned home and killed the ox.

The next morning a person came to the court, informing on the farmer that had slaughtered one of his own cattle. Bao Zheng asked, point blank: " Why did you cut out the tongue of his ox?" The man was dumbstruck, and later confessed that he had injured the beast due to an old grudge he had been nursing against the farmer.

Sculptures in the Bao Zheng Memorial Temple in Kaifeng in Henan Province: Enforcing the Law Strictly. Xie Jun

In most of the plays about Bao, he is confronted by high-ranking officials, magnates, and even members of the royal family -- those of the feudal society with vested interests that could always escape punishment after breaking the law. The indignation and dissatisfaction the people felt in the face of this inequality inspired them to create the image on stage of Bao Zheng -- an incarnation of justice and power, who fulfills the dream of the masses for equity and equality.

In Beheading Prince Zhao, and Beheading Chen Shimei, Bao Zheng executed respectively the emperor's brother and son-in-law both of whom had committed grave crimes. In Beheading Bao Mian, he sentenced his own nephew to death for malfeasance and taking bribes. In Beating the Imperial Carriage and Beating the Dragon Robe, Bao Zheng even went so far as to penalize the emperor by thrashing the articles that symbolize imperial power.

Bao utters lines such as: "Since I enforce the law in Kaifeng, I will execute corrupt officials, punish local despots and redress in justice...No wrong-doer, including princes and princesses, can escape their due punishment."

This is a cry from the masses rather than the oath of an imperial official.

The Bao Zheng Memorial Temple in Hefei in Anhui Province, Bao's hometown. Yu Xiangjun

Apart from Bao Zheng, Hai Rui of the Ming Dynasty and Yu Chenglong of the Qing Dynasty are also famous honest officials of China's history. They were loved and revered by the people, and also acknowledged by emperors, as sound administration obviously contributes to social stability, economic growth and ultimately the solidity of imperial rule.

Zhao Guangyi (939-997), Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty, once made an inscription, which was later carved on steles to be erected in all government offices:

"Your pay and allowance are the flesh and blood of the people. It may be easy to tyrannize the commoners, but it is impossible to cheat God."

This observation was handed down right through to the Qing Dynasty, when it was carved on the gateways outside government offices, so that officials on duty could see it whenever they raised their heads. Such gateways are well preserved in the former official buildings in Baoding in Hebei Province, and in Huozhou in Shanxi Province.