Bao Zheng (包拯; Bāo Zhěng; 5 March 999 – 3 July 1062), commonly known as Bao Gong (包公; Bāo Gōng; 'Lord Bao'), was a Chinese politician during the reign of Emperor Renzong in China's Song Dynasty. During his twenty-five years in civil service, Bao was known for his honesty and uprightness, with actions such as 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 (Chinese: 包青天; pinyin: Bāo qīngtiān) due to his ability to defend peasants and commoners against corruption or injustice. Bao Zheng is depicted as the incarnation of the Astral God of Civil Arts (Wenquxing, 文曲星), while famous Northern Song warrior Di Qing is depicted as the Astral God of Military Arts (Wuquxing, 武曲星).
Bao Zheng today is honored as the cultural symbol of justice in Chinese society. 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's zhanjiao futou hat and a crescent moon on his forehead. Some Chinese provinces later deified Judge Bao, equating him to the benevolent war god Guan Gong.
Bao Zheng was born into a scholar family in Shenxian (慎县), Hefei, Luzhou (present-day Feidong County near Hefei, Anhui). Bao's family was in the middle class, his father Bao Lingyi (包令仪) was a scholar and an official, while his grandfather Bao Shi Tong (包士通) was a commoner. 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. As Bao grew up among low working class, he well understood people's hardships, hated corruption and strongly desired for justice.
At the age of 29, 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.
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.
After the passing of his parents, Bao Zheng, then 39, was appointed magistrate of Tianchang County not far from his hometown. 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. Bao bellowed: "Why did you cut his ox's tongue and then accuse him?" In shock, the culprit had to confess.
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.
When his tenure was up in 1043, Bao left without a single inkstone in his possession. It was in Duanzhou that he wrote this poem:
Bao Zheng returned to the capital and was named an investigating censor in 1044. For the next two 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?" The Liao subject could not respond.
In the following years, Bao held the following positions:
Vice Director of Ministry of Justice
Auxiliary in the Academy of Scholarly Worthies (直集賢院)
Vice Commissioner of Ministry of Revenue
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. 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). On July 12, 1050, Bao and two 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 four days later. But Bao did not give up. In another memorandum submitted by himself alone, he wrote:
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 as state finance commissioner, but instead appointed him a concurrent four-commission position: commissioner of palace attendants, 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:
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.