Family Affection and National Law:
On the Beijing Opera Chisang Town

Bao Zheng (包拯999-1062), also commonly known as Judge Bao or Lord Bao of the Song Dynasty for his extreme honesty and uprightness, is an ever-lasting character featured in the television series and films. The reasons for the popularity are self-evident.

These television series and films about Bao Zheng are mainly adapted from traditional stories. However, in recent years, some creative plotlines with profound implications have been introduced, which reflect contemporary reality in a meaningful way.

As a fan of traditional local opera, I still have a deep feeling for those classic Beijing Opera plays featuring Judge Bao. When it comes to the grandeur of the cast and the climactic build-up of the story, the play Judge Bao and the Qin Xianglian Case (also known as The Case of Executing Chen Shimei鍘美案) starring Qiu Shengrong (1915-1971), Zhang Junqiu (1920-1997), Ma Lianliang (1901-1966), Li Duokui (1898-1974), Ma Changli (1930-2016), and Tan Yuanshou (1929-2020), naturally takes precedence.  In the final act of the play, Judge Bao, under the pressure of Empress Dowager Li, almost let the beastly prince-in-law Chen Shimei go, which shows the special intention of the scriptwriter to highlight the vulnerable side of Judge Bao. Without the resounding words from Qin Xianglian, Judge Bao might proclaim Chen Shimei’s innocence and then his image of being just and fair might have been greatly discounted. In the drama, the trial that Judge Bao faces is the “power”. Fortunately, he ultimately overcames the pressure of power, disregards personal gains and losses, and enforces the national law.

Another opera I would like to discuss here is Chisang Town (Chi Sang Zhen赤桑鎮), also performed by Qiu Shengrong and Li Duokui who does not play Empress Dowager Li but rather Judge Bao’s widowed sister-in-law, Wu Miaozhen.  The focus of this opera is how Judge Bao chooses between family affection and national law. In the play, the corrupt official Judge Bao must execute is none other than Bao Mian, his deceased brother’s only son. Through the words of his widowed sister-in-law, the audiences know that Judge Bao lost his parents and his elder brother when he was young. It was his sister-in-law who raised him and supported him to become an official through the imperial examination. Therefore, his sister-in-law, who acted the role of a mother, had an immeasurable grace upon him. Unfortunately, Judge Bao’s only nephew, Bao Mian, did not follow the right path and became a corrupt official as the county magistrate of Xiaoshan.  After Judge Bao, the Honorary Scholar of the Dragon Chart Pavilion (龍圖閣大學士), finds out his nephew’s crimes unforgivable, how will he deal with his own nephew this time? If he remains impartial and handles the matter according to the law, he must sentence his nephew to death; but if he really does so, his brother’s family line will come to the end and he will also find it hard to face his “sister-in-law mother”. So, kinship or national law, that is a question.

In order to safeguard the law and be loyal to the nation, Judge Bao ultimately chose to seek justice for people by cutting off familial ties and executing his unforgivable nephew. Naturally, his sister-in-law sharply reprimanded him for his ingratitude, accusing him of ending the family line and asking him how dare he could face his brother after death. The most touching part in the play is when Judge Bao explained himself to his widowed sister-in-law, clarifying the imperative reasons for cutting off personal attachments due to loyalty and filial piety. After hearing his words, his sister-in-law finally came to understand him.

According to the biography of Bao Zheng, he originally had a son who died soon after marrying Lady Cui, leaving no child. Unable to bear the thought of his daughter-in-law being a widow at such a young age, Judge Bao asked her to remarry. However, Lady Cui refused, choosing instead to stay and take care of her in-laws. When Judge Bao was over sixty, his wife, thinking that he had no heir despite his dedication to the country and the people, arranged for a maidservant to bear him a son, named Bao Yan. Shortly after Judge Bao’s death, Lady Cui took on the responsibility of fostering Bao Yan, her young brother-in-law. After Bao Yan grew up, Emperor Shenzong of Song Dynasty (宋神宗1048-1085), recalling Judge Bao’s past merits, summoned Bao Yan and bestowed upon him an official position. Bao Yan petitioned the emperor, stating that he would not have grown up without the nurturing of his elder sister-in-law and requested that the emperor bestow the title upon Cui instead. The emperor, moved by his behavior, granted Bao Yan the official position and additionally bestowed the title upon Cui, commemorating her virtuous deeds in The Biographies of Eminent Chinese Women (Lie Nü Zhuan烈女傳). Bao Yan has many children and grandchildren, and it is said that all of Judge Bao’s descendants today are from Bao Yan’s lineage. The interesting point here is that Judge Bao was raised by his widowed sister-in-law according to the Beijing Opera Chisang Town, however, historically, it was his son, Bao Yan, who was raised by his widowed sister-in-law.

The opera Chisang Town fully embodies the Confucian ideals of loyalty to the country and filial piety towards one’s family. In the playwright’s depiction, Confucian scholastic officials do not have any inclination for personal affection, which shows both loyalty and filial piety in the real sense. In history, Bao Zheng was not only an upright person but also a filial son. After passing the imperial examination, he chose to resign from his post and return to his hometown to mourn his deceased parents, not re-entering public service until his thirties. Thus, he was conferred the posthumous title as “Xiao Su” (literally be filial and serious,孝肃).

I hope that when we watch an opera of Bao Zheng again, we could recognize him as a virtuous official with a great temperament and a clear sense of right and wrong, not just the stern and impartial Judge Bao of the capital Kaifeng Prefecture with his iconic black face.