Judge BaoBook Day Presentation

Frances Fu / Chinese Teacher Horace Mann School New York

2013

Resources Link: http://padlet.com/wall/y07j5mlw3g

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包拯 Bao Zheng, better known for his title of

"Lord Bao" or "Justice Bao," was a historical figure and government official who lived in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).

However, due to his unparalleled honesty, fairness, integrity, Bao is remembered today mostly as the personification of justice and an icon of all honest and upright officials.

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安徽省合肥縣Bao was born into a scholar's family in today's

Hefei, Anhui Province in eastern China.

Bao was a gifted child and he studied very hard. Since his father was a close friend of the local county officer, the boy became interested in trying cases and showed his talent in reasoning and judgment.

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進士 孝順In 1027, Bao passed the highest-level

imperial examination and obtained the title of Jinshi which qualified him to become a government official.

However, in order to take care of his aging parents, he didn't begin his career until 10 years later, after his parents died and he had properly observed all the mourning rituals.

For this, Bao earned a high reputation for his filial piety. Photo used from google’s images and used for presentation only

百家龍圖公案 七俠五義Bao held a number of offices in his legendary

career, which was later dramatized in many novels,

Beijing operas and later movies and TV dramas.

Some most popular portrayals of this historical figure could be found in the detective novel "Cases of A Hundred Families Judged by Dragon-Design Bao," written in the Ming Dynasty (1368- 1644) and the novel "Seven Heroes and Five Gallants," which was created in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Photo used from google’s images and used for presentation only

河南 開封Most of these stories depict Bao as

honest and upright. They also focus on his determination to fight government corruption and matchless wisdom in settling complicated cases.

Many happened during the time when he served as the judge of Kaifeng, capital of the Song Dynasty.

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尚方寶劍According to the stories,

Bao was granted a golden rod and an imperial sword by the previous emperor, which gave him the authority to execute convicted criminals without prior approval from the emperor.

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龍頭鍘 虎頭鍘 狗頭鍘He had also been given three levels of

knives from the emperor to execute criminals:

one decorated with a dog's head for commoners,

one with a tiger's head for government officials,

one with a dragon's head for nobles. Photo used from google’s images and used for presentation only

陳世美案Once, Bao used the dragon-head knife to execute a son-in-law

of the emperor.

The famous case was about an originally poor scholar who, after winning first place in the imperial examination, married one of the princesses by hiding the fact that he had left behind a wife and two children in his hometown.

In order to prevent his secret from being disclosed, he sent someone to kill his own family.

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不怕皇親國戚Bao tried the case and eventually convicted and executed

the scholar despite interference and pressure from the imperial family.

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一百個銅錢One story about Bao, which is popular among

children,

According to the story, a young boy earned about 100 copper coins after selling his fried dough sticks in the market.

Then he took a nap on a rock in the market. But when he woke up,

his 100 coins were gone.

The boy began to cry because the money was needed to pay for medical treatment of his sick mother.

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偷錢的賊Bao, as a local official, happened to pass through the

market ,

after learning of the case, ordered everyone in the market to each put a coin into a basin filled with water.

When a coin created an oil bloom in the water,

Bao caught the man who dropped it and accused him of stealing the boy's coins.

He then explained that he had found out the boy was the only one selling oily products in the market and the caught man's coin was the only one that generated an oil bloom in the basin.

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新月胎記Today, Bao's black face with a white crescent-

shaped birthmark on his forehead is an icon loved by all common people who yearn for a clean, fair and righteous government.

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