Bao Zheng is remembered in public life for work that changed what came after it.
The record lists Bao Zheng as magistrate, judge, politician, mayor of Kaifeng, Northern Song dynasty (999-1062).
Bao Zheng was born at Feidong County in 999. His recorded nationality is Northern Song dynasty.
Power then ran through courts, church and inheritance. A ruler's reach ended roughly where the roads did.
The offices held were judge (from 1027) and Mayor of Kaifeng Fu (1057–1058).
He is described as judge, mayor and jurist.
His name is attached above all to honesty and uprightness, with actions such as impeaching an uncle of Emperor Renzong's favourite concubine and punishing powerful families. The test of a public life is what remained possible afterwards that had not been possible before.
That the career was made in Northern Song dynasty is not incidental: the institutions available, the franchise, and the constraints of the moment all shaped what could be attempted.
Bao Zheng died in 1062, aged 63. The assessment continues, as it does for anyone who held power - which is the ordinary fate of a political life.
Achievements
- judge (from 1027)
- Mayor of Kaifeng Fu (1057–1058)
