Bao Zheng
| Bao Zheng | |
|---|---|
from Illustrations of the Three Powers (1609)
|
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 April 999 Hefei, Song Empire (in today's Feidong County near Hefei, Anhui) |
| Died | 20 May 1062 (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 |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Children |
|
| Full name |
Surname: Bāo () Given name: Zhěng () Courtesy name: Xīrén () Posthumous name: Xiàosù () |
| Bao Zheng | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Bāo Zhěng |
| Wade–Giles | Pao1 Cheng3 |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Baau1 Ching2 |
| Jyutping | Baau1 Cing2 |
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.
Bao Zheng was born into a scholar family in Luzhou. 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. 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.
...
Wikipedia