"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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