Bao Zheng (999–1062)is the most famous Chinese judge. He was born in what is now Anhui Province from a scholar family. At the age of 29, he passed the highest-level imperial exams and became qualified as a Jinshi. He was a magistrate in Bian (Kaifeng), the capital of the Song dynasty. He is a synonym of justice - even high officials and members of the imperial family cannot escape their punishment. He had 30 high officials demoted or dismissed for corruption, bribery, or dereliction of duty. He also had Zhang Yaozhuo , uncle of the high-ranked imperial concubine impeached 6 times. In addition, as the imperial censor , he avoided punishment despite having many other contemporary imperial censors punished for minor statements.
Judge Bao is often called the "black-faced official." Due to his strong sense of justice, he is very popular in China, especially among the peasants and the poor. His adventures and cases are featured in various TV series.
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