The cruel truth that he was canonized

In the seventh year of Jiayou in the Northern Song Dynasty (1062), the 64-year-old Bao Zhengguan became the deputy envoy of the privy council, and he was only one step away from the phase. However, one day in May, while on official duty, he suddenly fell ill and died shortly after returning home.

The news spread, and Song Renzong dropped out of the day and came to the house in person to mourn him. The whole capital seems to be in a state of sorrow, "Those who are loyal to the party are crying and mourning; The officials of Beijing are all sentimental; The sound of sighs is heard in Qulu".

In the history books, the last stroke of Bao Zheng's life fell heavily, and his achievements and ideals were frozen.

However, the legend of Bao Zheng did not come to an end. In addition to the thick history, Bao Zheng frequently appeared in notes, scripts, miscellaneous plays, and **, becoming the "god of justice" in the lives of the people. In the people, Bao Qingtian's power is almost the same as Guan Erye, and even more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people than Confucius.

Mingren Zhang Xiu then asked such a question:"The famous ministers of the Song Dynasty are polite and prosperous, and the name of He Dugong (Bao Zheng) will become more and more prominent the longer it lasts? ”

Bao Zheng statue. Source: Internet.

Bao Zhengzi Xiren, a native of Hefei, Luzhou, was born in the second year of Zhenzong Xianping (999). He was born in a family of bureaucrats, and at the age of 29, he was admitted to the Jinshi and ascended to the official career. In his life, he can be called an official and prosperous, starting from a county official, serving as a Beijing official, pastorizing a place, serving as a royal historian and counselor, a transfer envoy, and finally an official to the privy deputy envoy.

Bao Zheng has worked in the local area for a long time, and the most famous is that he knew Kaifeng Mansion for a year and a half. According to the "History of the Song Dynasty", at the beginning of Bao Zheng's tenure, he opened the yamen, so that the people could enter the hall and complain directly to themselves.

If you want to paint a historical portrait of Bao Zheng, he is basically a fierce and upright scholar. He has an upright temperament and is not afraid of offending people, so the powerful are afraid of him. He adhered to filial piety, and when he first became an official, because his parents were old, he took the initiative to dismiss the official and return to his hometown, and the most demanding ten years of his life passed like this. He was honest and upright, and his clothes, utensils, and food were like those of the cloth-clothed people, and he set the rules of the house"If there are stolen goods in future generations, they shall not be released to their own families, and they shall not be buried in the big house when they die. If you don't follow my will, you are not my son or grandson. ”

But Bao Zheng is not just a moral role model. Renzong's dynasty was an era of shining stars, the emperor was enlightened, scholars dared to speak out, and famous ministers such as Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi, and Su Shi came out one after another. Although Bao Zheng did not put forward a grand reform plan like Fan Zhongyan and Wang Anshi, he will inevitably promote the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages everywhere he goes.

At that time, the Northern Song Dynasty was in short financial straits, and there was already a trend of poverty; The border was also not peaceful, and the Western Xia and Khitan were eyeing each other; Land annexation was severe, and peasants went into exile. Bao Zheng frequently gave advice, involving many aspects of official governance, friends, redundancy, finance, and border preparation, and later someone compiled his 171 recitals into a collection, called"Bao Xiaosu Public Recital".。Bao Zheng's foresight as a reformer is all in it.

The combination of Song Renzong and Bao Zheng's monarchs and ministers is also a good story. Source: Internet.

Of course, what people are most concerned about is Bao Zheng's case-solving deeds. There are only two cases recorded in the "History of the Song Dynasty", but looking through Bao Gong's epitaphs, recitals and the notes of his contemporaries, there are really a lot of stories about the cases he left behind.

What goes down in history isCutting the tongue of a cow。When a villager came to sue the official, saying that his cow had had his tongue cut out, Bao Zheng told him that he had gone home and killed the cow and sold it. Soon after, Bao Zheng received a report that a villager had committed suicide to farm cattle. Bao Zheng knew that the informant was the ** who cut the cow's tongue, so he shouted: "What is cutting the cow's tongue and telling it?" When the man heard this, he was very alarmed, and he showed his horse's feet.

When Bao Zheng was in Kaifeng Mansion, some people were robbed of firewood and were injured when they were defending. Bao Zheng ordered the looters to be flogged, and Lu Gongru, the governor of Kaifeng Prefecture, said: "Stealing and hurting the lord is not only flogging." "Resolutely disagree with Bao Zheng's punishment. Bao Zheng knew that mistakes could be corrected, and praised the public and children for adhering to principles.

Bao Gong's epitaph also recorded many cases, including an accomplice who violated the law: "The public nature is strict and resolute, and there are uncles who break the law, and the public will be punished." Sima Guang's "Records of Lianshui" said that Bao Zheng would be executed from his uncle. There is also a case of a noble minister defaulting on goods. The powerful person owed others goods, and Bao Zheng ordered him to pay it back, but the powerful person did not listen, so Bao Zheng summoned him to the court and confronted the plaintiff. The magnates were very embarrassed and returned their belongings.

An incident is recorded in Shen Kuo's "Dream Creek Writings". During Bao Gong's tenure as the governor of Kaifeng, some people broke the law and should be punished with a cane, so they bribed the officials in order to avoid the pain of flesh and skin. The officials gave him an idea and asked him to cry out when Bao Gong ordered the execution, but he deliberately shouted at him and did not allow him to plead. Bao Gong thought that the officials were bullying, so he scolded the officials and forgave the criminals. As everyone knows, this is exactly what they want. Shen Kuo finally concluded:"The villain is a traitor, and it is difficult to prevent it. ”

From these stories, it can be seen that Bao Zheng is by no means able to see everything, and he will also make mistakes. This kind of performance can be regarded as a competent and capable official, but it is far from reaching the point of judging cases like a god. However, Bao Zheng showed some valuable spiritual qualities: not afraid of the powerful, discerning and witty, killing relatives with righteousness, and loving the people like children. Since then, Bao Zheng's story has been continuously literary and dramatic, but its spirit is the same.

So, how did a state official with relatively limited significance become a god of justice who was loved by the people?

After Bao Zheng's death, two different images of Bao Gong appeared.

One appeared in the scholar's study.

Sima Guang's "Records of Lianshui" recorded a folk song that spread throughout Beijing:"The joint is not enough, there is Yama Bao Lao. ”Shen Kuo's "Dream Creek Writings" contains:Bao Xiren's smile was clearer than the Yellow River. ”Both of these ballads were selected for the History of the Song Dynasty.

In the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, the literati Zhu Ben's "Quwei Old News" recorded a story with strong literary color. In history, Zhang Guifei's uncle Zhang Yaozuo was appointed as the envoy of the Huaikang Army, the envoy of the herd system, the envoy of the Xuanhui Southern Courtyard, and the envoy of Jingling Palace. As the supervisor of the imperial history, Bao Zheng repeatedly objected, and his words were very fierce, and even when he faced Renzong, he was still noisy and rude. Renzong was very rarely angry, but after thinking about it, he still let Bao Zheng go.

Zhu Ben changed this story demon to **:

One day, Wen Cheng (Zhang Guifei) was sent to the palace gate, stroked his back and said: "Don't forget the Xuanhui envoy today." He said, "Yes, yes." "After the decree, Bao Zheng begs right. Da Chen can't do it, repeating hundreds of words. The sound is angry, and I spit on my emperor's face. The emperor is gone. Wen Cheng sent Xiao Huangmen to visit him, and he knew that he was a prisoner and thanked him. The emperor raised his sleeves and wiped his face and said: "Diancheng spoke forward and spit in my face." You just want to Xuanhui envoy and Xuanhui envoy, don't you know that Bao Zheng is the imperial historian! ”

At the same time, another image of Bao Gong appeared in the noisy teahouse restaurant and Washe Goolan, becoming the protagonist in the script and miscellaneous dramas. There are no high-ranking scholars here, only a group of unemployed vagrants, village husbands, peddlers, pawns, and talented people. They don't want to focus on the struggle at the top of the pyramid and only have their own lives in their eyes.

The Song Dynasty script "Contract Text" appeared in the story of Bao Gong's judgment.

Liu Tianrui, a farmer in Bianliang, suffered from drought and went out to escape the famine, and before leaving, he signed a contract with his brother Liu Tianxiang as evidence of his return home in the future. Many years later, Liu Tianrui died outside, and his son Liu Anzhu returned to his hometown with the text of the contract. Unexpectedly, Liu Tianxiang's wife Wang wanted to monopolize the family property, refused to recognize the contract, and instructed her husband to beat Liu Anzhu to the point of bleeding. Bao Gong took everyone to the court and compared the contracts of the two parties, and it was the same. So it was decided that Liu Anzhu would return to the sect, and Liu Tianxiang's board would be beaten. At this time, Liu Anzhu said: "I'd rather fight Anzhu than hit my uncle." Bao Gong saw that he was living in filial piety, so he recommended him to be an official.

There is also a script called "Three Appearances". Sun Wen, the priest of Xiangfu County, once saved a man who froze and fell in the snow. This person is also surnamed Sun, known as Little Sun. After being rescued, the younger Sun Qien took revenge, fornicated with the wife of the eldest grandson Sun Wen, and designed to kill him, and lied to the outside that Sun Wen threw himself into the river and died. Later, Sun Wen's ghost appeared three times in a row, leaving behind an anagram: "Big woman, little woman, the predecessors ploughed the bait of the descendants." To know the three things, go into the water. In February and March of the following year, the sentence should be solved. Through the reward, Bao Gong learned about the case and guessed the answer to the anagram. The woman is the grandson, and the younger grandson gets the family business of the eldest grandson in vain, that is, "the predecessors plough the bait of the descendants". The word "sentence" is the word "package". Bao Zheng will correct the law, and since then he has been famous all over the world, "people say that Bao Longtu, interrupt people during the day, and break ghosts at night."

The emergence of public case works put Bao Zheng into the lives of ordinary people. The stage where Bao Zheng appeared is no longer the court, but an official office that deals with trivial affairs such as adultery and family property disputes.

Although the emperor also advocated clean officials, he preferred loyal ministers, and scholars liked to use moral models to praise and disparage current affairs in order to promote Confucianism and Taoism. But these are very close to history and far from the people. Therefore, Bao Zheng in the study slowly disappeared, but Bao Zheng in the market life has been handed down.

Since the Song Dynasty, due to the prosperity of the commodity economy, the relationship between people has become complex and diverse, new disputes have been generated, and Chinese society has entered the era of "litigation". But in reality, there are too many filthy officials, and people need an embodiment of justice to lead them out of the disaster. Qing officials are the ideal officials created by the common people for themselves, and the gods who are worshiped with their own pain.

It turns out that the vitality of the flower watered with pain is endless.

Hefei Bao Park. Source: Photo.com.

After the Song Dynasty, Bao Gong became a symbol.

During the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols ruled very harshly, and ethnic discrimination and the abolition of official rule caused deep suffering, and the people at the bottom of society appealed to the Qing officials to make decisions for them. In addition, there are also masters like Guan Hanqing, polishing the script and arousing the pain in people's hearts. The meta-miscellaneous dramas of the Bao Gong case have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and the representative works include "Bao to be made of three surveys of the butterfly dream", "Bao to be made of Zhikan Lu Zhailang", "Bao to be made of Chenzhou rice" and so on.

There is such a sentence in the Golden Pavilion of "Bao Zhi Zhi Earn Life":

I only hope that the old man will hold the Xuanyuan mirror high in his arms and take care of my grief, sorrow, sorrow, endless words, and endless grievances.

Bao Zheng has two ways to judge the case: one is to find out the ins and outs of the case through reasoning and analysis; The other is to solve the case with the help of the power of ghosts and gods. When Bao Gong is investigating the case, he often complains about grievances, or the gods trust dreams, and he can even lock ** without investigating and collecting evidence.

In the sixty-fourth episode of "The Case of Longtu Gong", when Bao Gong tried the case of Zhang Han traitor and murdered his brother and sister-in-law, he got a hexagram: "The surname Yu goes to the east, and the chaff is Mixiu." The riddle is the word "Jiankang", and Bao Gong decided that there must be something strange in the area of Jiankangyi. Later, because of the sudden appearance of a black ape outside the window, Bao Gong deduced that the prisoner's surname was Yuan; Because the spider fell from the beam and ate a few words in the case file, he suspected that the surname was Zhu, but the suspect did not have the surname Zhu, only one person named Xiao Sheng, and Bao Gong thought that the spider was also called a spider. In this way, Bao Gong went all the way and solved the case.

At this time, Bao Gong's image has been "blackened", his appearance is eight points like a ghost, and two points like a person: "On the day of birth, there were three fists on the face, the eyes were triangular, and he was very ugly and 100,000, and his appearance was strange." "In ancient times, long ugliness was a natural divine trait, which showed that Bao Gong was already a half-human and half-god. During the day, the human case is judged, and the case is judged at night.

In the hearts of the common people, God is greater than the emperor after all. Although this image of Bao Gong is not true, it gives the people a hope: they can get justice without relying on the letter of the law (because these things often do not work in reality); Justice can be achieved without having to go through the cumbersome interrogation process (which often ruins people's families). In other words, in an age of decay, people need God, not man.

In the Qing Dynasty, Bao Gong became a human again. The representative works of this period are "The Case of Quanmei", "Quanbao Mian", "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness" and so on.

In "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", Bao Gong has become a familiar black face, but his ability has been greatly weakened. In the twentieth time, Master Pang held a grudge because Bao Gong beheaded his son, so he invited a mage to assassinate Bao Gong: "I saw Bao Gong sitting on a chair, his body shaking, his eyes straight, and he didn't say anything, and he didn't take tea. Seeing this, Bao Xing hurriedly put down the teacup and quietly asked, 'What's wrong with the master?' Bao Gong suddenly straightened up and said, "It's so bloody and scary!" Then he fell backwards and fell unconscious. ......Lying on the bed, his brows furrowed, his eyes hard to open, his limbs completely motionless, and he didn't say a word. ......Who knew that it was five days in a row, and Gongsun Ce saw that Bao Gong's pulse was gradually weakening, and everyone couldn't help but be anxious. "If Zhan Zhao hadn't killed the demon Dao and broken the formation, Bao Gong would probably have to go to the underworld to judge the case.

Bao Zheng and Gongsun Ce. Source: Film and television stills.

At this time, Bao Zheng is still an honest and honest and selfless civilian savior. However, he will fall in love like a worldly genius, calculate the future like an old bureaucrat, and even dare not be tough with the emperor, and his courage is much weaker than that of Bao Zheng in the notes of the Song people.

Perhaps, the supreme imperial power has penetrated into the folk world through the capillaries of power, poisoning the already unruly blood.

In the order of the empire, history belongs to those in power, criticism belongs to scholars, and the people who are "far away" cannot speak for themselves. The story of Bao Gong is their weak cry.

What is a Qing official? The first thing that comes to people's minds is the words "not powerful", "upright", and "clean air". However, is that all?

In the Yuan miscellaneous drama "Dou E's Injustice", in order to collect the "litigation fee", Taishou Taozhu ordered Dou E to be executed. However, what is the root cause of the wrong verdict? The lack of evidence, lack of ability, and rush to make a judgment do not belong to intentionally creating an unjust case. And Dou Tianzhang's ability to redress the unjust case mainly depends on the June Feixue when Dou E died, as well as the father-daughter relationship between him and Dou E. Although some ** do not have great evil, their mediocrity is also an evil.

Dou E's injustice. Source: Film and television stills.

The purity of the Qing officials has the meaning of "Qingming", that is, the intellect must be superior. But was the ancient society able to respond to the expectations of the common people?

Take "The Story of the Gray Appendix" as an example, Ma Yuanwai's eldest wife conspired with Zhao Lingshi to poison Ma Yuanwai, and the anti-framing was the poison of the little wife Zhang Haitang. Because she was afraid that Zhang Haitang's child would share the inheritance, the eldest wife lied that the child was born by herself. When the case arrived in Kaifeng Mansion, Bao Gong thought to himself how could a little wife forcibly seize the son of the main palace? So he sprinkled a circle with lime, let the child stay inside, and ordered Zhang Haitang and his eldest wife to hold the child and pull it hard with one arm to see who could pull the child out. Zhang Haitang felt sorry for the child and was unwilling to exert himself. Based on this situation, Bao Zheng judged who was the real murderer.

Intelligence is the first element of problem solving, but this intelligence is non-specialized and cannot be replicated. Assuming that a similar case happens again, the little wife loves her son and thinks that if she dies, her son will definitely not survive, so she tries her best to snatch the child back. So how is this case going to be decided?

Moreover, it is taboo to "act dangerously" in officialdom, and once it is settled, it will be over. The reason why Bao Gong dared to do this was only because he was Bao Gong, and people assumed that he would be able to avoid the slander of rumors. Assuming that a ** has a super treatment like Bao Gong, who is not afraid of gossip, he can use this unprofessional method to create a large number of unjust, false and wrongful cases.

The correct resolution of a case requires superior intelligence, and it also requires that this superior intelligence be used by good people.

The logic of a traditional empire is this: to maintain the stability of a vast territory with a minimum of manpower. A diligent parent officer often has to take on the role of criminal policeman, forensic doctor, detective and prosecutor as well. However, there will be a time when manpower will run out. ** can only rely on common sense and non-professional intelligence, work hard to investigate and analyze the case, and spend a lot of time to find the truth.

However, he was faced with a world where "the court was full of hooligans and the officials sat around the city", and the number of cases he could handle in a day was really limited. If he is exhausted in one case, then the others are likely to be perfunctory.

The most important thing is that once he makes a mistake, if there is no one to protect him, he will probably be withdrawn. No one cares if he made a mistake on purpose or unintentionally. Once again, the logic of the empire came into play, and there was no energy to review all cases in all places, unless it involved rebellion, so changing people was the most economical option.

No matter how smart and diligent a person is, he can't break through the traps of the system.

Therefore, Bao Gong will become a god.

Bao Gong hanging under the mirror. Source: Film and television stills.

In the face of the bleak historical reality, there are only three ways out for the common people: one is to be patient, the second is to rebel, and the third is to hope for a clean official.

The story of Bao Gong is like a cheap comedy, which conjures up a benevolent society and an honest yamen to satisfy people's fantasies. It's like a horror story, the leaders of the Qian, who face the loess and turn their backs to the sky, are alone in the face of the pressure of the entire bureaucracy, and are eaten one after another.

Bao Gong was an out-and-out good official, but Bao Gong's beliefs in that era only cultivated the personality of a slave. Because no matter how much a clean official loves the people, he and the people are not the same kind of people.

If the government can't bring light, then what about the reckless knights? They are free from the law, it is difficult for them to be controlled by the government, they are happy to take revenge, and they are forbidden by force. A "Water Margin" tells the story of a hero from the rivers and lakes to the eagle dog of the court, the heroes who see people kill people and kill ghosts only oppose **, but not against the emperor, which is really ridiculous. Moreover, chivalrous people are also rare characters, and there are countless behaviors of opening black shops, robbing merchants, and eating human flesh in Liangshan, how many innocent people are among the people they kill?

In "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness", the Qing official and the chivalrous man have achieved cooperation, one represents the integrity of the government, and punishes **; One represents the morality of the rivers and lakes, and does the right thing for heaven.

Nanxia "Zhanzhao. Source: Film and television stills.

If the Qing officials and chivalrous people can't solve it, then pray to the gods.

The word retribution is everywhere in Bao Gong's story. In the miscellaneous drama "Recognizing the Golden Comb", it is said: "Good is rewarded with good, evil is rewarded with evil, it's not that it is not reported, and the time has not yet come......."Feeling the hatred of the Holy Monarch and us, this is the retribution of the blue sky. ”

In "Chenzhou Rice", there have been famines in Chenzhou for many years, resulting in the displacement of the people. The powerful who were supposed to give relief took the opportunity to enrich their own pockets and killed innocent victims. However, the law is helpless against the powerful. As the play says:"I am the son of the powerful and powerful, the son of the hairpin, **don't pay for your life, such as**uncover a tile on the eaves. ”

So, Bao Gong appeared, saying that "the reason of the whole person understands", and asked the son of the deceased to "avenge his relatives". The criminals were punished, and justice was served. In fact, Bao Gong was holding the Shang Fang sword given by the emperor, which was the real "Heavenly Dao" order.

There is also such a story in "The Case of Longtu Gong", there is a small landlord Yao, who is good at giving alms on weekdays, repairing bridges and roads, but he has raised a bad descendant and lost his family. On the contrary, there is a royal clan Zhao, who encroached on other people's fields and forcibly took other people's wives and daughters, but raised a good offspring, and the family is thriving. After Yao's death, he refused to accept it and sued Bao Gong. Bao Gong said that you did good in order to sell your reputation and reputation, and Zhao's evil was actually done by a house slave, so he sentenced the house slave to the oil pot.

Such retribution is really intriguing.

All of the above is not to say that the story of Bao Gong is meaningless. When there is no better alternative in reality, perhaps the only way out is to fantasize about a kind of justice. As "immoral" as this statement may sound, it is the truth of life.

Until someone woke up the dreamer with a word: there is no savior in this world. At that time, the traditional empire had come to an end and a new world had arrived.

References:

Yang Guoyi, Bao Zhengji Proofreading, Huangshan Publishing House, 1999

Anonymous: "The Case of Longtu Gong", Yuelu Books, 2004

Yang Xurong, "Bao Zheng's Ability to Judge the Case", Fudan Journal (Duhui Science Edition), No. 2, 2001.

Lu Lin, "The Early Shaping of Bao Gong's Artistic Image: Song Jin Notes, Scripts, and Miscellaneous Dramas", Chinese Classics and Culture, No. 3, 1997.

Jiang Chang, "From "God" to "Man": The Evolution of Bao Gong's Image in the Longtu Gong Case and the Three Heroes and Five Righteousness, Journal of Henan Institute of Education (Philosophy and Social Science Edition), No. 2, 2007.

Xu Zhongming, "The Consciousness of Redress of Grievances of Traditional Chinese People: Characters and Ways", Academic Research, No.12, 2004.