Bao Zheng was a native of Luzhou (now Anhui) in the Northern Song Dynasty. Born in the second year of Emperor Zhenzong Xianping (999), he died in the seventh year of Emperor Renzong Jiayou (1062) at the age of 64. At the age of 28, he was awarded an official position. During his time as an official, he was not afraid of powerful people and strictly enforced the law. Successive magistrate, magistrate, transshipment ambassador, Kaifeng prefect Yin and Privy Council deputy envoy.
Qian Qian, an official in history, chose Bao Zheng as the representative of an upright official, which was closely related to Bao Zheng's personal character and the specific historical period of the Song Dynasty. People choose Bao Zheng because his qualities conform to the traditional Confucianism.
First of all, Bao Zheng is a very filial person. 1027 was admitted to the imperial examination. But considering that his parents are old, he resigned in front of them as a filial piety. A few years later, when his parents died, Bao Zheng couldn't bear to leave when his mourning in front of the grave expired. Many villagers persuaded him. It was not until 1039 that he returned to the officialdom and became the county magistrate of Tianchang County, Yangzhou. At this time, Bao Zheng was a 39-year-old middle-aged man. It can be said that he devoted himself to his parents in the ten years when he was most energetic and most likely to make a difference, which was very rare at that time.
Secondly, he dares to remonstrate and is not afraid of powerful people. The policy of preferential treatment for officials adopted by the rulers of the Northern Song Dynasty not only led to the problem of redundant staff, but also bred a lot of corruption. Bao Zheng named officials for corruption at the memorial service. Bao Zheng also dared to criticize some practices of Song Renzong. In Seven Things, he directly pointed out that Song Renzong "doesn't care about right and wrong", "takes cronies as his intention" and "failed to appoint virtuous and loyal people". Fortunately, Song Renzong is not such a groggy monarch, otherwise, just picking out one of these "outrageous" words would be enough to make Bao Zheng beheaded.
The reason why Bao Zheng was believed by later generations also has a lot to do with his voice for the people. In the process of being an official, he has been practicing the Confucian people-oriented concept. In Bao Zheng's library, there are at least 50 letters that he directly asked the emperor to reduce the tax corvee and severely punish corrupt officials. At that time, there were many kinds of taxes. In addition to the taxes paid twice in summer and autumn, there are also "twists and turns" that are difficult to deal with. The result of repeated folding will only increase the burden on the people. Bao Zheng spoke for the people, and it is reasonable for future generations to admire him.
There are some differences between the image of Bao Gong in Song Dynasty and the characters in reality. Many stories about Bao Gong's sentence were imposed on Bao Zheng by other people's deeds. The Biography of Bao Zheng in the History of the Song Dynasty records: "People laugh at Bao Zheng more than Huang Heqing, because she is a childish woman, and she also knows her name." Bao Zheng was a famous figure at that time. In the Song Dynasty, the commodity economy was developed, people's entertainment methods were diversified, and Goulanwa Store rose. Bao Zheng as the prototype is circulated in Goulanwa Store. At this time, he mainly appeared as an honest official, and Bao Gong's deification tendency began to appear.
In the Yuan Dynasty, society was dark and corrupt officials were rampant in the countryside. People longed for an honest official like Bao Zheng, so they deified Bao Zheng's wisdom and ability, thus realizing the worship of Bao Gong.
Guan Hanqing's zaju Bao Zhi Dai knows Jian Lu Narrow Lang describes Bao Gong's wisdom in judging cases. As an official in Beijing, Lu Zhailang often bullies the people. He thinks the silversmith Li Si's wife is beautiful and keeps it for himself. He also told him that if he refused, he would go to the yamen to sue him. Li Si went to complain to Confucius Zhang Xuan of Zhengzhou Sixth Department. As a result, Zhang Xuan gave up on hearing Lu Zhailang's name. It was interesting for Lu Zhailang to see Zhang Xuan's wife, so he asked him to escort her to the door. It's really "husband matchmaking, wife marriage". It's a human tragedy. In the face of this bully, Bao Gong added the document of "Fish Gong" approved by the emperor to "Lu Zhailang", which was equivalent to the emperor ordering the execution of Lu Zhailang. The emperor found out afterwards that he had to push the boat conveniently and said that he deserved to be beheaded. We can see that the image of Bao Zheng at this time is more exaggerated than that of Song Dynasty.
When Buddhism was introduced into China, the theory of karma was combined with the theory of ghosts, which had a great influence on the theory of hell. People think that the underworld has the same bureaucratic system as the real society, and the underworld is controlled by Yan. In people's minds, people should be judged by strictness after death. Since Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yan's prototype has been gradually replaced by some selfless people.
People place their rare fairness and justice in the underworld after death, and there is even a saying that "people's integrity makes death a ghost official". The four great princes of folk beliefs are Bao Zheng, Kou Zhun, Fan Zhongyan and Han Qinhu, among which Bao Zheng has the greatest influence.
In addition, there are many records about the connection between Bao Gong and ghosts and broken souls. The book Zhi Zao Jin Ge tells the story of a scholar named Guo Cheng who took his wife and heirloom to Beijing to catch the exam. On the way, he met Mr. Pang's son of an official and wanted to give him his family heirloom in exchange for his official position. As a result, he took the heirloom, took his wife and beheaded him, becoming a headless ghost. He found Bao Gong to avenge himself. No one else can see the ghost, but Bao Gong can see and talk to him.
Mr. Hu Shi believes that the apotheosis story of Bao Gong's verdict "originated in the Northern Song Dynasty, spread in the Southern Song Dynasty, first flourished in Yuan Zaju, then flourished in Ming and Qing novels". However, Bao Gong's image was not static in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and his worship reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty, but in the Qing Dynasty he realized the transformation from god to man.
The novels related to Ming Dynasty include Ming Chenghua rap series, Baigong case, Bao Gong case, etc., among which, the worship of the novel is more enthusiastic and the depiction is more magical. First of all, about his appearance, the book says that he is "eight points like a ghost, two points like a man" and "his ears are like silver". People express their admiration for his image of an honest and upright official by uglifying his appearance. Some people also said that he had nowhere to rest on the way to Kaifeng to catch the exam, so he sighed three times on the Bianhe Bridge. Who knows, the city god alarmed him, and he told the messenger that Wen Quxing had nowhere to rest in Tokyo and asked him to arrange accommodation. It can be seen that in the eyes of God, Bao Zheng is the satellite in the sky and belongs to the immortal system.
Bao Gong's ability to communicate with ghosts and gods is reflected in Yuan Zaju, especially in Ming Dynasty novels. He can not only go to the underworld to solve the case, but also ask the Jade Emperor for help. In The Jade Face Cat, it is recorded that five rat monsters are the Prime Minister Wang, the Son of Heaven, and the Mother of the Nation, so there is a pairing of the Prime Minister Wang, the Son of Heaven, and the Mother of the Nation. When they couldn't tell each other, Bao Gong went to the underworld to tell the Jade Emperor, and borrowed a jade-faced cat from the Jade Emperor.
In the Qing Dynasty, the image of Bao Gong changed from a god to a man. At this time, he can't judge the case in heaven and earth, and he has an ordinary secular desire. Different from the past, in the novel Three Heroes and Five Righteousness, Bao Gong arranged a wedding. Bao Gong was trapped on his way to Beijing to catch the exam, and got to know the dignified and virtuous Miss Li. Bao Zheng was filled with joy. He promised Mr. Li to go home after the exam and tell his parents to prepare a dowry. Later, they got married. This shows us an image of Bao Gong with ordinary feelings.
Secondly, compared with before, Bao Gong's ruling is no longer so selfless, but will be mixed with personal feelings. According to a Dream of Red Mansions, Bao Gong excused the three of them everywhere in the trial of Zhong Zhang, Li Yi and Di Qing who killed their bully Hulun, and even said that Hulun fell to his death, which had nothing to do with them. Under the control of his hatred of evil, Bao Gong tried his best to excuse them regardless of the truth, and his image was closer to the people in our lives.
Bao Gong's image has gone through the apotheosis from a real person to an ideal god, then from a god to an adult, and finally became the patron saint of secular desires in daily life. No matter how his image changes, Bao Gong, as a representative of an upright official, has always been the place that people admire most, such as fairness, honesty, integrity and kindness to the people. Folk people express their devotion to Bao Gong's belief by bowing down. As a cultural gene, "Bao Qingtian" has been deeply rooted in national memory.
[Yuan]: History of Song Dynasty, Zhonghua Book Company, 1977.
Sun Mengmei: Research on the Legend of Bao Gong in Anhui, Master's thesis of Guangxi University for Nationalities 20 18.
Zhang Ning: Bao Gong's story and China's traditional belief in social justice, Journal of Liaodong University, No.2, 20 16.
(Author: Haoran literature and history rotten Ke people)