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Chinese flock to honor famous judge

A visitor pays her respects to a statue of judge Bao Gong at Kaifeng court on Aug. 2. Nearly a millennium after the legendary judge's death, Bao has resurfaced as something of a folk hero among Chinese fed up with official corruption. PHOTO: AFP

Touring the former court where China's most famous judge Bao Gong (包公) once ruled, businessman Shen Baokui laments that today's magistrates, poorly trained and often corrupt, are not more like him.

"Nowadays judges can be bribed for 500,000 yuan [US$62,500]. For 500,000 yuan, you can buy the law," said Shen, a 52-year-old vegetable wholesaler from Heilongjiang Province.

"Bao Gong was the cleanest judge in China. The central government should learn from the spirit of Bao Gong," Shen said.

Nearly a millennium after the legendary judge's death, Bao has resurfaced as something of a folk hero -- his life has been depicted in television dramas and comic books, and what was his courtroom is now a major tourist attraction.

It could be a sign of the times.

Respected for upholding justice and punishing corrupt officials, no matter how high-ranking, Bao's popularity is skyrocketing as the country's 1.3 billion people are searching for fairness, clean governance and social equality.

Shen says he came to visit Bao's court in Kaifeng, in Henan Province, because he, like many of his compatriots, has gripes about China's justice system. His younger brother was paralyzed after he was beaten by a official in Heilongjiang, but even after spending thousands of yuan in legal fees, Shen could not convince the court to award compensation for medical care.

"The official must have paid off the court," Shen said. "There are too many injustices nowadays."

Hundreds of thousands of people travel to places that honor Bao, such as the Kaifeng court, where he handled some of his most famous cases. The four-hectare site -- renovated and reopened to the public in 2002 -- has drawn 800,000 visitors so far this year, up sharply from the 600,000 recorded last year, according to the mansion's marketing department.

"In mainland China, many people wish for clean officials, so they respect Bao Gong," marketing manager Xiu Zhenming said. "He had a strong sense of justice, selflessness and he was fair in handling cases."

The country's judiciary is often criticized by ordinary people and overseas analysts for lacking independence and professionalism.

Judges are appointed by local governments and answer directly to them. Many magistrates are poorly trained and corrupt.

Efforts have been made in recent years to improve education for judges, including overseas training programs, but changes have been slow in coming.

In contrast, Bao was reportedly highly trained. He meted out justice without favor and insisted that anyone -- even relatives of the emperor -- deserved punishment if found guilty of wrongdoing.

During his approximately 30 years on the bench, more than 30 top officials -- including some government ministers -- were demoted or dismissed after Bao accused them of corruption, bribery, dereliction of duty and other offenses. In one of Bao's most famous cases, he apparently sentenced his own nephew to death for corruption.

But historians even admit that much of Bao's popularity has evolved from centuries of folklore about him, some of it semi-fictional -- evidence that the Chinese crave a hero they can believe in.

When they feel powerless to change the current political and judicial systems, they also want to believe that someone like Bao could exist to solve their problems.

But one judge in Beijing says much of the ado about Bao is just fantasy.

"The legal system in those days was actually not as good as the one we have now. Judges back then also served as prosecutors and decided everything on their own, so it was easy to have unjust rulings," said the judge, who only gave his surname Gao due to rules against giving interviews.

"There were corrupt judges back then too, but Bao Gong stood out because he was one of the few clean ones," he said.

Gao said the justice system was improving on the whole, but, he said, "it can't change overnight."

Meanwhile, even China's top leaders are eager to use Bao's good name to promote clean governance among provincial and other local officials.

High-ranking officials including former president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) have toured the Kaifeng courthouse in the few short years it has been open, Xiu said.

"As they tour the site, they think about how to deal with the country's affairs," Xiu said. "They feel Bao Gong's spirit should be spread nationwide."

The government-run CCTV television station is planning to do a major documentary on the famous judge, and the project has backing from the Chinese Communist Party's Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xiu said.

However, the Kaifeng mansion is largely focused on making a profit, rather than teaching lessons about justice.

Other than a 3.8m high bronze statue of Bao, the museum offers little about the judge. Books sold at the souvenir shop are mainly about the mansion's renovation, touching just briefly on Bao's work.

A comic book provides the only glimpse of his life, but nothing about his trials.

But for 10 yuan, you can dress up like the judge, and for 25 yuan more, you can have your picture taken sitting on a massive judge's chair behind a long desk.

Still, the mansion continues to draw admirers like Zhang Jianli, a tourist from eastern Jiangsu Province who said Bao still has a place in the hearts of the Chinese people.
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